The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death
Appearance
The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1987 | |||
Recorded | Yellow 2, Stockport, Greater Manchester | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 38:06 | |||
Label |
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Producer | John Williams | |||
The Housemartins chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Robert Christgau | (A−)[2] |
The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death was the second and last studio album by The Housemartins. It was released in 1987, and produced three singles - "Five Get Over Excited", "Me and the Farmer" and "Build". The title song is about the British Royal Family, which found them gaining controversy in the tabloid papers similar to that of other bands such as the Sex Pistols, The Smiths and The Stone Roses.
Track listing
All tracks written by Heaton/Cullimore.
- "The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death" – 3:33
- "I Can't Put My Finger on It" – 2:28
- "The Light Is Always Green" – 3:59
- "The World's on Fire" – 3:20
- "Pirate Aggro" – 1:52
- "We're Not Going Back" – 2:53
- "Me and the Farmer" – 2:54
- "Five Get Over Excited" – 2:44
- "Johannesburg" – 3:55
- "Bow Down" – 3:04
- "You Better Be Doubtful" – 2:32
- "Build" – 4:45
Personnel
The Housemartins
- Norman Cook – bass, vocals
- Dave Hemingway – drums, vocals
- P.d. Heaton – vocals, guitar, trombone
- Stan Cullimore – guitar, vocals
Additional musicians
- Guy Barker – trumpet
- Sandy Blair – tuba
- St. Winifred's School Choir – backing vocals
- Pete Wingfield – piano, keyboards
Technical personnel
- John Williams – producer
- The Housemartins – producer
- Phil Bodger – engineer
- David Storey – sleeve design
- John Sims – sleeve design
- Phil Rainey – front cover photography
- Derek Ridgers – band photography
- John Woods - band photography
Critical reception
The album ranked number 9 among "Albums of the Year" for 1987 in the annual NME critics' poll.[3]
References
- ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Review: The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death - The Housemartins". Allmusic. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "Review: The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death - The Housemartins". Retrieved 25 June 2009.
- ^ "Albums and Tracks of the Year: 1987". NME. 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.