"Happy House" is a song recorded by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. The song was written by Banshees members Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin and it was released as the first single from the band's third album Kaleidoscope.

"Happy House" and the Kaleidoscope album marked a change in musical direction for Siouxsie and the Banshees due to the arrival of two new musicians: drummer Budgie previously from The Slits, and guitarist John McGeoch, previously from Magazine.

Interested into African polyrhythms, Budgie uses here a reggae vibe on drums and McGeoch plays both atmospheric and edgy guitars. Siouxsie stated that the band almost invented a new sound with this single : it was "Banshees - phase two".^[1]

When asked if "Happy House" is a cynical song, Siouxsie replied that it is "sarcastic. In a way, like television, all the medias, it is like adverts, the perfect family where as it is more common that husbands beat their wives. There are mental families really. The projection is everyone smiling, blond hair, sunshine, eating butter without fat and everyone perfect".^[2]

The single became the band's second top twenty hit, peaking at number seventeen in the UK singles chart.

The song was later revisited by several acts. The Italian dance act Cappella had a hit single in 1993 with the song "U Got 2 Know", which used the distinctive riff from "Happy House". Cappella was later sued for without paying publishing, and they lost.^[3] In 2003, European band Ginger Ale covered the song on their debut album.^[4]

In 2011, The Weeknd sampled several elements of the original version in their song called "House of Balloons" of the mixtape from the album of the same name. Pitchfork wrote in their review :

"Happy House" is worked into a softly anthemic slow-burn number full of diva-ish vocals tied to a chilly beat. John McGeoch's riff remains untouched and runs throughout most of the track, giving it a filmy pop feel that periodically peaks with a generous swipe from the "Happy House" chorus".^[5]

Notes[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

The Housemartins were an English indie pop band that was active in the 1980s.^[1] Many of the Housemartins' lyrics were a mixture of Marxist politics and Christianity, reflecting singer Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time (the back cover of London 0 Hull 4 contained the message, "Take Jesus - Take Marx - Take Hope").

Career[link]

Formation[link]

The band was formed in late 1983 by Paul Heaton (vocals) and Stan Cullimore (guitar), and they initially performed as a busking duo. Note that throughout his tenure with the band, Heaton idiosyncratically billed himself as "P.d. Heaton".

The Heaton/Cullimore duo recorded a demo tape with Ingo Dewsnap of Les Zeiga Fleurs, which brought them to the attention of Go Discs.^[2] They then expanded by recruiting Ted Key (bass), former guitarist with The Gargoyles, and Justin Patrick [drummer on loan from Udomsuksa!] who was then replaced by Chris Lang. The band's membership changed considerably over the years. Key left at the end of 1985 and was replaced by Norman Cook (the future Fatboy Slim). Drummer Chris Lang was replaced by Hugh Whitaker, former drummer with The Gargoyles, who in turn was replaced with Dave Hemingway.^[1]

The band often referred to themselves as "the fourth best band in Hull", referring to Hull, their home base. The three bands that were "better" were Red Guitars, Everything but the Girl and The Gargoyles.^[1]

Break[link]

In 1986, having recorded two John Peel sessions, the band broke through with the single "Happy Hour", which reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart.^[3] The single's success was helped by a claymation animated pop promo of a type that was in vogue at the time, featuring a cameo by television comedian Phill Jupitus, who toured with the band under his stage name of 'Porky the Poet'.

Caravan of Love[link]

At the end of 1986 they had their only UK #1 single on 16 December with a cover version of Isley-Jasper-Isley's "Caravan of Love".^[1] It was knocked off the top spot by Jackie Wilson's "Reet Petite" on 23 December, denying the Housemartins the coveted Christmas #1 single.

The a cappella style of "Caravan of Love" was not to the taste of all Housemartins' fans, although a cappella material had always been part of the band's repertoire. "Caravan of Love" was first performed by the band in their second Peel session in April 1986, prior to their initial chart success. At Peel's suggestion, the band then recorded another session (under the name The Fish City Five), consisting entirely of a cappella performances, and on at least one occasion (at The Tower nightclub in Hull, the same concert at which they were filmed as the Housemartins for the BBC programme Rock Around the Clock) played support act for their own performance under this alternative name. The "Caravan of Love" single featured four a cappella gospel songs on the B-side.

Split[link]

The band split in 1988, but the members have remained friends and have worked on each other's projects. Norman Cook has enjoyed significant success with Beats International and then as Fatboy Slim, while Heaton, Hemingway and roadie Sean Welch formed The Beautiful South.

In August 2009, Mojo magazine arranged for The Housemartins' original members to get together for a photo-shoot and interview, for the first time in many years, but in the interview all the members maintained that the band would not re-form.

In December 2009, Cullimore co-wrote songs for (and appeared in) a pre-school music series called The Bopps, which first showed on Nick Jr. in the UK in April 2010.

[edit] London 0 Hull 4 re-release

London 0 Hull 4 was re-released on 22 June 2009, with a bonus disc featuring tracks released as additional content on 12-inch singles and demo tracks.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

• "Flag Day" (October 1985)
• "Sheep" (March 1986, UK # 56)
• "Happy Hour" (May 1986, UK # 3)
• "Think for a Minute" (September 1986, UK # 18)
• "Caravan of Love" (November 1986, UK # 1)
• "Five Get Over Excited" (May 1987, UK # 11)
• "Me and the Farmer" (August 1987, UK # 15)
• "Build" (November 1987, UK # 15)
• "There Is Always Something There to Remind Me" (April 1988, UK # 35)^[1][3]

Compilation albums[link]

• The Housemartins Christmas Box Set (November 1986) UK # 84
• Now That's What I Call Quite Good (April 1988) UK # 8
• The Best of the Housemartins (March 2004)
• Live At The BBC (2006, Universal)
• Soup (December 2007) UK # 15^[1][3]

Videography[link]

(does not include "live" appearances on TV programmes)

• "Sheep"
• "Happy Hour"
• "Think for a Minute"
• "Caravan of Love"
• "Five Get Over Excited"
• "Me and the Farmer"
• "Build"
• "There Is Always Something There to Remind Me"
• "We're Not Deep"

Biography[link]

• The Housemartins: Now That's What I Call Quite Good by Nick Swift (1988) ISBN 0-7119-1517-2

References[link]

External links[link]

• Fan site
• The Housemartins's channel on YouTube

Antoine Clamaran
Antoine Clamaran in September 2007.
Background information
Born	(1964-11-18) November 18, 1964 (age 47)
Origin	France
Genres	House
Website	www.antoineclamaran.com

Antoine Clamaran (born 1964) is a French house music artist and music remixer. Clamaran was born in Villeurbanne. In the early 90's, his local fame interested Maximum FM, the leading parisian dance radio station at that time. Impressed by his mixing gift, Clamaran gained a huge audience and started to be booked for one off parties.^[1] But Palace headquarters (Palace in Paris is the NYC equivalent of Studio 54) asked him to run the mythical Gay Tea Dance every Sunday, instead of French icon Laurent Garnier.

Biography[link]

Antoine Clamaran in Malta

In 1992 Clamaran, eager to get involved into production, teamed up with Laurent Pautrat. Their first Production "I've got music in me" by 400 Hz made him one of the most promising French producers. Released on House Trade Records, this track was licensed by BMG France and sold over 100,000 units.

Then record companies started to flood Clamaran with remixing requests such as : "Funky Music" by Calvin Stone, "oxygene" by Jean Michel Jarre, "party time" by Gloria Estefan, "you spin me round" by Dead or Alive and "Encore Une Fois" by Euro smash. His own productions under the names of Carayca, 400 Hz, D-Plac, LAC, Unchain & House Train were always at the top the DJ playlists but it was not until 1998 was he again to enter the French top 50 best-sellers list.

As a DJ he switched his residency from Palace to the Temple of Dance in Paris: Le Queen.

During 1998 he produced 3 club smashes under the name Omega: "Dreaming Of A Better World", "Peace & Harmony", "The Mission". All these tracks went gold status in France (250,000 units) but didn't make any sales abroad.

By 1999, Clamaran had reached a blockbuster status in France but he chose to come back to house music, leaving behind the commercial path laid out for him. He decided to produce tracks under his own name and oriented for the international markets. His first productions under his name; "Do The Funk", "Get Up" and "After", were written with the now famous "french filtered sound".

These tracks were licensed by US based label Filtered records and released on the Discoland EP. The record became a "must have" for most of the world's key DJs including Boris Duglosch, Erick Morillo, Pete Tong, Danny Rampling and Robbie Rivera. With "We Come To Party" feat. Blue James (Basement jaxx singer), the filtered disco style of Clamaran, became an asset for the house community.

In 1999, a few days before New Year's Eve, Clap production (Clamaran /Pautrat label) merged into Penso Positivo (firm of another famous DJ in France : Claude Monnet).

Antoine is now managing 4 labels, as producer and a&r, within Penso Possitivo: Academy, North Club, House Trade Records and Basic traxx.

In 2000, he achieved charts success with Vibration INC. Antoine Clamaran is currently the resident in the two biggest parisian clubs: Les Bains Douches and Le Queen.

The leading single from his 2009 album Spotlight, "Gold", reached #5 position in Russia and topped the Moscow Airplay Chart.^[2]

Now, Antoine works with Soraya Arnelas for her new album.

Discography[link]

• Release Yourself, 2003
• Let's Get Together, 2005
• Take Off, 2005
• The Best of Antoine Clamaran - Inside, 2007
• Spotlight, 2009

References[link]

External links[link]

• Antoine Clamaran website