Twas many a moon ago when a certain English gentleman, Marty I believe his name was, was here from the Great Isle visiting a friend of a friend.  I don’t think I had known him for more than (5) minutes before, naturally, I felt it my solemn duty to pester him until he told me the name of at least one band from the UK that no one was yet listening to here in the States.  After several not so veiled threats of violence he finally gave up a name.  ”The Housemartins,” he said.  ”The what Martins?” I replied.  This cat was setting me up for sure.  ”The Housemartins,” he said again.  ”It’s boppy English music played by nerdy white guys.”  Oh…this I just had to hear.

He lent me a cassette (I told you it was a while ago) and the first song I heard is featured above.  ’Me and the Farmer’ was released as a single in August 1987 and then later released as part of what would be both their 2nd and final studio album The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death.  Quite honestly, while I dug this tune and another song from the same album called ‘Build’, the rest of the album didn’t thrill me.  It did however make me curious enough to procure a copy of their debut release entitled London 0 Hull 4.  I was (and still am) completely enamored with tracks like ’Happy Hour’, ‘Flag Day’, ‘Sitting on a Fence’ and ‘Think for a Minute’.  The music was the furthest thing from complicated and yet seemed to sparkle with a certain brilliant simplicity that was quite intriguing.  What I struck me most, though, was that it was, and still is, instant sing-a-long music.  Take gander at the vid above and see if you don’t agree!

- Drago