The House Of Love - biography


The House Of Love came together in early 1986 in a shabby bedsit at 8 Allingham Street, Islington when Guy Chadwick (vocals and guitar) played a new song to his girlfriend Suzi Gibbons. Chadwick's previous band, Kingdoms, had enjoyed a one-single career on RCA, and in their wake he found himself with a batch of songs, but no band and no label. The song was Christine and suddenly the seeds of his new band were sown. Guy had decided to form a new guitar based band having seen the Jesus and Mary Chain play one of their famous riot gigs at the Electric Ballroom, London. He decided to name his new band after the book "A Spy In the House Of Love" by Anais Nin.

He placed an advert in Melody Maker and recruited Terry Bickers (guitar), New Zealander Chris Groothuizen (bass) and Andrea Heukamp (guitar and vocal) alongside old friend Pete Evans (drums). The House of Love was now properly born and they soon began jamming together at Terry's Camberwell squat. Word spread quickly through the area and they soon began to play gigs at various squats, a disused cinema last used by Dickie Dirts jeans warehouse. The Dickie Dirts gigs soon became a local 'happening' as did gigs at Stoke Newington's The Three Crowns.


The House Of Love - 1987


Knowing that Alan McGee was involved with the Jesus and Mary Chain, Guy began to bombard him with tapes and phone calls. McGee wasn't overly impressed but his wife Yvonne kept playing "Shine On" and finally persuaded the creation label boss attend their gigs . His first impression was that they 'don't even have a bass player' whilst songs 'played at 33rpm and lasted seven and half minutes.' But he was bewitched and booked them into Livingstone Studio's to record their debut single in May 1989. The charming simplicity of its chorus ensured favourable reviews, Danny Kelly making it "Single of the Week". The band set out to tour with Felt and Zodiac Mindwarp and came close to being beaten up in London.

Debut single cover
During the summer a follow up single was recorded, "Real Animal" again it was brilliant but ignored by the mass media, onyl Janice Long at Radio 1 championed the single. Where its predecessor almost glided along, "Real Animal" was a routine rocker and was generally ignored by the media. Heavy touring with the likes of The Mighty Lemon Drops helped them gain a wider fan base. Around this time Guy and Suzi became the proud parents of a baby daughter, Cydney. They played third on the bill at The Town and Country Club in London and were described as "devastating". As a result Alan McGee asked them to record an album. Naturally the band agreed and began their next single "Christine;. Everyone tried to mix the song, Alan McGee describing his version as 'chainsaw hoovermatic'. Eventually the band ask studio owner Pat Collier to have a go.

The album was recorded in eight days with Pat Collier but again mixing became difficult. Everyone had been doing a lot of acid and the mixes were described by McGee as "the Cramps meet Dr. Mix and the Remix - where's the vocal honey?". Various band members and friends were asked to mix the album but finally Pat Collier, the studio owner, completed the final mix. Tired of the constant touring in the latter half of 1987, Andrea Heukamp had left the band to return to Germany before the release of their third single, "Christine", a foretaste of the debut LP. A haunting, almost mesmeric, guitar soundscape from Bickers provided the perfect backdrop to Chadwick's pained vocals, a recipe repeated to great effect on "The House of Love" (1988). The single shot to no.1 in the independent charts ahead of the album in May 1988.

The album started to sell and became no.1 in loads of independent charts throughout Europe. Thrust into the media spotlight, Chadwick and his cohorts suddenly could do no wrong. A compilation of the first two singles plus two unreleased tracks, intended for release abroad, was imported back into the UK and sold well. Guy approached the band and Alan McGee with what he felt should be their next single, "Destroy the Heart", but no-one seemed to like the slow dirge like song. However when Guy decided to speed the song up and back it with a gentle acoustic song called "Blind", written about his girlfriend and band photographer Suzi Gibbons, everyone new it would be a success Their fourth single, "Destroy The Heart", ensured the boom continued and placed them on the covers of N.M.E and Melody maker in the same week and was later voted single of the year in John Peel's festive fifty. To top it all the band headlined the Creation All-dayer festival at the 2,500 capacity Town & Country Club in London. As a finishing touch to the year the band were asked to perform "Christine" on Melvin Bragg's South Bank Show's review of the year. Everyone agreed they were going to be massive!! Already the music press were starting to declare them the next English stadium band, "a band to rival U2"!!

Offers arrived thick and fast and the music press were busy reporting on offers of one million pounds, along with copious amounts of drugs!! Despite the huge sums of money being waved in front of them, the band eventually agreed to sign for a reputed 400,000 pounds with Dave Bates from Fontanna/Phonogram, now known as Mercury. With the label keen to issue a new single as soon as possible the band entered the studio's once more. Although the band had wanted to release "Safe", the legendary 'lost' Creation single that they had recorded with Daniel Miller, as their next single their wishes were overridden and "Never" was released to an unsure press reaction. To make matters worse "Safe" was tucked away on the 'B' side along with "Soft As Fire", which Guy described as "one of my favourite House Of Love songs". The single just missed the UK charts but live performances through Europe showed that The House Of Love were still growing, and quickly!!

In the early summer of 1989 The band decided to play a week long residency at London's prestigious I.C.A venue. They performed differing sets each night combing old material with the new. Supported by the likes of Pere Ubu and the Rainbirds the band perform sets that range from "good rock" to "pure brilliance". Throughout the year the press was paying an increasing amount of attention not only to the House of Love's music, but also to their rock 'n' roll lifestyle. Stories of alcohol and drugs that make Oasis look tame were being printed each week. Terry Bickers was burning money backstage whilst Guy was smashing up his favourite guitar. The hedonism was getting the better of the band whilst the recording of the second album dragged on. New producers were hired and fired. New studios were moved into and moved out of.

Having decided to re-record their second album (four different producers eventually received credits), the band released "I Don't Know Why I Love You" in November 1989. It too failed to crack the Top 40, despite being hailed as Single of the Week on Radio 1 it only reached number 41, but the audience and press reaction to the start of their sixty-something date UK tour ensured the band remained firm favourites for making it big. They still adorned covers of the music press and in early December when Terry Bickers left the band the press were scrambling for the top story. Originally the band declared that Terry was exhausted and would return after Christmas. However, Guy and Terry soon began trading insults in the music press and it was clear that having been dropped of at a Welsh train station to make his own way home, Terry wouldn't be invited back into the house!!

Simon Walker, then guitarist with the Dave Howard Singers, was asked at one day's notice to fill the gap and made his first performance, rather nervously, at Portsmouth Polytechnic on December 4th 1989. Although cited as irreplaceable Terry's shoes were soon filled and Simon became a firm band member.


With Simon Walker.

The new year brought about the release of the newly recorded version of "Shine On" , a single released in no fewer than seven different formats with a variety of extra tracks, which saw them break the top forty and appear heavily on UK radio and TV. The subsequent release of their next album, often referred to as "Fontana" or the "Butterfly" album established them as a critical and commercial success. The album went on to sell over 400,000 copies around the world and entered the UK top ten. The UK tour continued and culminated in a sold out Royal Albert Hall gig, described by Guy as his favourite venue.

The band then toured Europe and America in heavy rotation whilst "The Beatles and the Stones" was released, this time on ten different formats!!, leading to another UK top forty hit. The original video director wanted all the band to dress up as the Beatles and the Stones, an idea vetoed by the band! The record company wanted to release "Shake and Crawl" as the next single but the band insisted they could come up with something new. The next scheduled single was to be called "Sigh" but although performed live, the song never saw the light of day.

To help tide the fans over the band compiled an album of 'B' sides that had got lost in the rash of formats and added four previously unreleased tracks from the aborted 1989 sessions to the collection that became known as "Spy in the House of Love". The compilation gave the band some breathing space but the fans and critics wanted new material, now!!

To keep the fans in touch the band decided to play three concerts in London, all in the same evening!! On 31st August they performed at ULU, Town & Country Club and finished at London's Boston Arms. With a different set at each venue the band proved they could still deliver the goods and fans and critics were quick to lavish their praises.

It was almost twelve months before any new material was forthcoming, as spending the best part of a year on the road took its toll on Chadwick. "The Girl With the Loneliest Eyes" was eventually released in 1991 but sunk almost without a trace as the media who had hailed The House of Love as great white hopes just eighteen months previously began to look to America and the grunge phenomenon for their front-page stories. Although the single was widely regarded as a beautiful pop single it failed to impact upon the charts - rumour has it that this was due to the record company failing to ensure it was available in the main high street shops. Whatever the reason it started to look like the foundations of the house were crumbling!! Around the same time the band and Alan McGee decided to part company.

Recording now began on the new album, which originally was not to have included "The Girl With The Loneliest Eyes", at Eel Pie Studios with Warne Livesey, who also helped co-write several of the albums songs. Spread over three main sessions, Chadwick struggled to find the sound he was looking for in the studio. In one four week session the band managed to record "Cruel", "Burn Down The World", "High" and "Feel". Six months passed before "Feel" was released, but it couldn't crack the Top 40 either. "You Don't Understand", rush-released to give a much needed publicity boost in advance of the now completed third album, also failed in its task of breaking into the Top 40.

"Babe Rainbow" (1992), named after the painting by 60's pop artist Peter Blake and released almost two and a half years after "Fontana" had stormed into the Top 10, received largely tepid reviews and spent only two weeks on the chart. Despite long deliberations in the studio the band had lost the edge that had distinguished The House of Love's earlier releases. Simon Walker left the band due to musical differences, and strangely seemed to have his name changed to Simon Fernsby in every subsequent press and fan club release!!, and was replaced by Jimmy Somerville's guitarist Simon Mawby. Although the band publicly spoke highly of Simon Mawby, he never appeared to fit the groups image or sound completely.

The band toured heavily, especially in America where they appeared with Ocean Colour Scene and Catherine Wheel as band of a triple touring bill, but the album never really reached the commercial heights everyone had hoped for. Some claimed it was "too polished" but no one could deny the songs were Guy's strongest yet. After a heavy year of touring and still waiting to reap the rewards of the success that always seemed to be around the corner, Guy announced his intention to return to the band's roots.


With new guitarist Simon Mawby.


The following January the band, now a three piece, entered a London studio to begin work on their next album. Twelve days later the now three piece band of Chadwick, Evans and Groothzuizen had finished recording the twelve new songs. Eight days later the entire album was recorded and mixed for the small price of £40,000, pounds. As a slight change the new album featured tracs written by Guy, Pete and Chris, plus at last a soaring version of "Into The Tunnel" a song written by Guy in the mid-80's but never fully recorded. Most of the rest of the songs had been written during the previous years US tour. The idea was to release the album before entering the studio to record and release their second album of the year, Guy maintains most of the songs for the next album were already written and we know these included "Slaughterhouse Friend" amongst others that turned up during his solo career.

The band then returned to France, a country that had always supported them well, for a short tour as a three piece band. Although the tour was well received, when they returned to London Pete announced that he wished to leave the group and the music business. Unsure of what to do the band kept this news quiet whilst Guy travelled the world promoting the new album.

The album was released in June with very little promotion. The band wouldn't tour, no singles would be released it was just sort of out there for the fans. The motives behind the album was entirely honourable and the sound was noticeably less polished than it had been at any time since the band's days on Creation, but the critics found the songs lacking in any real substance. The album spent one week in the UK chart and then vanished.

Realising that The House of Love were no longer a viable proposition, Chadwick consigned the name to rock's heritage. He has since formed and disbanded both The Madonnas in 1994/95 and Eyedreams in Belgium in 1996, neither releasing any records. Guy released a limited edition single in November 1997 and his debut solo album, "Lazy, Soft & Slow" in February 1998 to a warm welcome.

In 1998 Mercury records a "Best Of The House Of Love" album but despite favourable reviews it failed to even break into the Top 100. Since then the band have a released an album of John Peel Sessions which went largely ignored.

However, in June 2001, the band released their entire Creation Records recordings on a single album to highly favourable reviews. It was also reported that Guy was near to finishing his second solo album with the help of Simon Walker, with whom he'd played several shows in Japan in 1998.

In late 2002 it was announced that Guy was back working with Terry Bickers under the name The House of Love. In early 2003 the pair were been re-joined by the bands original drummer Pete Evans and a new bass player Matt Jury to play their first gigs together in over a decade with a host of new songs. The five gigs were extrmely low key and at times found the band playing third on the bill to a Japanese ska band.

Time went by and again little was heard until summer 2004 when it was reported that the band had entered Gravity Shack studios with Pat Collier to record a new album. The subsequent album, "Days run away", saw the light of day in February 2005 with a handful of live shows demonstraint that the band hadn't lost the energy and creative spark that had made them special in the late 80's and early 90's.

For many years it looked as though the re-emergence of The House of Love would be only a dream for their many worldwide fans, but now it appears to be becoming a reality. Maybe this time they'll receive the critical attention they've long deserved.

By Dave Roberts - February 2005
All photographs Copyright Suzi Gibbons


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