The House Of Love
The House of Love are an English alternative rock band, formed in London in 1986. The band rose to prominence in the UK as a leading indie rock band in 1988 and split up in 1993, eventually reforming a decade later in 2003. The House of Love is best known for its detailed psychedelic guitar sound and for the successful singles “Shine On”, “Christine” and “Destroy the Heart”. The best-known members of the House of Love are singer-songwriter and guitarist Guy Chadwick, and lead guitarist Terry Bickers, who were the creative core of the original band until an acrimonious split in 1989 and who reformed the band together in 2003.
The House of Love were formed in 1986 in Camberwell, London by former Kingdoms singer and guitarist Guy Chadwick. Chadwick had been inspired to start a new band by having recently seen the Jesus and Mary Chain play at London’s Electric Ballroom and having written a new song called “Christine”, which had given him ideas for further progress: “the idea of the sound of the group and what kind of musicians to look for… female vocals… a good take on the Velvets’ sonics… and of course the image.” Having initially made a false start by briefly recruiting an unnamed guitarist who turned out to be “a speed dealer… a complete nutter”, Chadwick teamed up with an old friend – drummer Pete Evans – and recruited the rest of the initial House of Love lineup via an advert in Melody Maker. This brought together an international band of London-born lead guitarist Terry Bickers (ex-Colenso Parade), German rhythm guitarist/co-singer Andrea Heukamp and bass player Chris Groothuizen (from New Zealand). Chadwick opted to name his new band The House of Love after Anaïs Nin’s book A Spy in the House of Love.
Signing to Creation Records, The House of Love released their debut single “Shine On” in May 1987 and toured with Felt and Zodiac Mindwarp. A follow-up single, “Real Animal” did little business, but the band consolidated by touring with The Mighty Lemon Drops. During the latter half of 1987, the band continued to tour: a third on the bill placing at a concert at the Town & Country Club was widely acclaimed in the press and convinced Creation Records to fund a third single – “Christine” – which was recorded in 1987 but not released until mid-1988.
“Christine” was the last of the band’s recordings to feature Andrea Heukamp as a full member: having become tired of touring, she quit the band at the end of 1987. Although the split was amicable, Chadwick would later comment “Losing Andrea Heukamp was a massive, massive blow for me: I loved her voice and I loved her playing, she was easily as important as Pete, Terry or Chris.” Heukamp appeared in the group shot used for the cover of the band’s first long-form release – a 1987 Germany-only compilation of the first two singles and their b-sides, all of which she had played on. This record was untitled apart from the band name and was consequently just known as The House of Love or informally as The German Album. Heukamp’s split from The House of Love would not be absolute, as she would return as a studio guest on some of the band’s subsequent albums.
Following Heukamp’s departure, The House of Love began working on their debut album. The recording sessions were completed in just over a week, but the mixing sessions – allegedly fuelled by copious use of LSD – proved more problematic, with producer Pat Collier dealing with the final mix after disagreements within the band. The album was preceded by the release of “Christine” as a single in May 1988, which reached No. 1 in the independent charts. Later in May, the debut album was released. As with The German Album, the album lacked a formal title anywhere on the sleeve, and therefore became generally known as The House of Love.
The band’s growing success ensured that The German Album also gained a release in the UK and elsewhere. A fourth single, “Destroy The Heart”, was eventually voted single of the year in John Peel’s Festive Fifty. A highly successful year for The House of Love was concluded by front cover features in both New Musical Express and Melody Maker in the same week, a headlining slot at Creation’s All-Dayer festival at the Town & Country Club, and a performance of “Christine” on the South Bank Show’s review of the year.
By this time, the band were hotly tipped as being the next British stadium rock band and a potential rival to groups of the scale of U2. Various major record labels began courting the band with large financial offers, and it became clear that the band would have to move up from Creation Records for the next career stage. Creation label head Alan McGee would later describe them as “one of the great Creation bands” and comment “I loved them and was gutted that they never stayed on Creation. For one year they could have taken on anybody live. Terry was a true genius, Guy a master songwriter, the recipe for big time success still to this day. They were a one-off in 1987. Maybe only I know how fucking crazy that band truly were. It’s better left that way for all concerned.”
The House of Love eventually opted to sign to Fontana Records, with McGee continuing for a while as manager. Ominously, by this time the band’s drug use had begun to escalate even further, as had internal problems with egos and dissension.