The House of Love

The House of Love are a British rock band who were primarily active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They officially reformed in 2005. The band's original lineup was: Guy Chadwick (vocals, guitar), Terry Bickers (guitar), Andrea Heukamp (vocals, guitar), Pete Evans (drums) and Chris Groothuizen (bass).

Bickers left the band in 1989, and was replaced by Simon Walker, who himself was replaced by Simon Mawby in 1992. Andrea Heukamp left the band in 1988 briefly returning for a year in 1991.

From the same genus as Echo & the Bunnymen, My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain, The House of Love arrived on the scene in the late 1980s with a psychedelic, textural rock sound. Songwriter Guy Chadwick provided personal, romantic musings of the folk era over lush layers of 80's studio bliss, enhanced by Terry Bickers' guitar-playing.

The band formed in Camberwell, London, England in 1986, and released a series of singles leading into their untitled 1988 album (none of the LP releases had titles until 1991). They signed to the label Fontana in a whirl of publicity and money. However their first singles for the album failed to go top 40 and work on their new album went badly and cost a considerable amount to produce. They did have some chart success in 1990 with their second album 'House of Love' (or, as it became known, the 'Butterfly' album) going into the top ten. Its lead single Shine On is the song perhaps most associated with them, along with the single The Beatles and The Stones.

Drugs created tension between Chadwick and Bickers and the emergence of the LSD-fueled 'Second Summer of Love' Madchester sound (and hot on its heels, grunge) conspired to effectively kill the band in 1991. With Bickers gone and the UK tripping balls at the Hacienda, the band's album Babe Rainbow sank that year without a trace. Audience With The Mind, their final release in 1993, barely made it onto the shelves.

Considering the previous animosity between Guy Chadwick and Terry Bickers, there was some surprise when in 2005 the two reformed The House of Love. Pete Evans returned on drums and Matt Jury handled bass duties. They went on to tour the U.K. and Ireland and release an album Days Run Away to some praise.

In March 2008 House Of Love played in Lima, Peru, for their first South American performance ever. Almost the entire concert is to be seen on YouTube. The gig featured two new songs bringing hope to fans that the band is still working on new material. In September 2008 Guy played solo at the South Pop festival in Isla Cristina, Spain.