London 0 Hull 4

London 0 Hull 4
Studio album by
The Housemartins
ReleasedJune 1986
StudioStrongroom Studios, London
Genre
Length46:55
LabelGo! Discs
ProducerJohn Williams
The Housemartins chronology
London 0 Hull 4
(1986) 		The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death
(1987)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideA−[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Q[4]
Record Collector[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]

London 0 Hull 4 is the debut album by The Housemartins, released in June 1986. It contains the singles "Flag Day" (#124 UK), "Sheep" (#54 UK), "Happy Hour" (#3 UK) and "Think for a Minute" (#18 UK).

The title refers to the band's home city of Kingston upon Hull and is in the format of a football score. It also refers to Paul Heaton's assertion that the Housemartins were only the fourth best band in Hull. In other words, Hull had four great bands, compared to none from London. The other three Hull bands in question were Red Guitars, Everything but the Girl and The Gargoyles.[7] The title 'London 0 Hull 4' was used by various newspapers[8][9] as a headline in October 2008 after the city's newly promoted football team, Hull City, beat West Ham United to take a fourth win out of four against London-based clubs (having previously beaten Fulham, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur).

The liner notes and lyrics reflect singer Paul Heaton's interest at that time in Christianity and Marxism. For example, the back cover of the album contains the message, "Take Jesus – Take Marx – Take Hope".

The CD release of the album featured four additional tracks along with the front cover phrase, "16 songs – 17 hits!".

The album was re-released on 22 June 2009, as London 0 Hull 4 Deluxe, containing a second CD of bonus tracks, B-sides and live recordings.[10]

  1. ^ Anderson, Rick. "London 0 Hull 4 – The Housemartins". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "The Housemartins: London 0, Hull 4". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  4. ^ "The Housemartins: London 0 Hull 4". Q: 137. [The album] remains a surprisingly deft combination of faux-gospel, skiffle, indie jangling and lyrics of depth and hushed anger that were already setting Paul Heaton apart from his peers.
  5. ^ Staunton, Terry (July 2009). "The Housemartins – London 0 Hull 4". Record Collector (364). Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  6. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly, eds. (1992). "The Housemartins". The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. ISBN 0-679-73729-4.
  7. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 460–461. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  8. ^ "London 0 Hull 4 as City beat Hammers". thisishullandeastriding.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  9. ^ Rej, Arindam (12 October 2008). "London 0 Hull 4..." The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  10. ^ "Album listing at HMV.co.uk". hmv.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2009.