House Of Love

House Of Love are an English alternative rock band. Formed 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 band is best known for its detailed psychedelic guitar sound and for the successful singles "Shine On", "Christine" and "Destroy the Heart". The band took its name from Anaïs Nin's book A Spy in the House of Love.... (more on Wikipedia)

Links To Peel
The band did six sessions for Peel's show and had four Festive Fifty entries, including the 1988 number one, ‘Destroy The Heart’. The band also played a live set at Peel's 50th birthday celebration, broadcast on 30 August 1989, with the Fall and Wedding Present, as a late substitute for a reformed Undertones, who had been due to play a one-off gig to mark the occasion. On 14 June 1988, Peel suggested that he rated House Of Love most highly as a live act:


 * "The House of Love. The odyssey of live. Somehow their records are fine, but they're better live."

The DJ appears to have been won over by the band when he saw them at Leeds Irish Center in May 1988. In his review for The Observer, he wrote:


 * “The House of Love showed within seconds that they have that inner tension that makes for a great rather than a merely good band. This was one of those rare performances that I wished I could have taken away with me."

In a 2013 interview for the same paper, singer Guy Chadwick recalled the effect of Peel’s change of heart:


 * “It was fantastic. And the reason it was so good was that he started playing the record on the radio. Things really did change then – he was playing a track every night for weeks."

Peel long viewed the Leeds gig as a personal highlight. On his 16 May 1997 (BFBS), he recalled:


 * "One of the great gigs, actually ... they were magnificent. I thought, 'This band is going to dominate the world.' Well, they made a good go at it, you know, but didn't get quite as far as that, obviously."

Festive Fifty Entries

 * 1988 Festive Fifty: Love In A Car #18
 * 1988 Festive Fifty: Christine #09
 * 1988 Festive Fifty: Destroy The Heart #01
 * 1989 Festive Fifty: I Don't Know Why I Love You #10

Sessions
Six sessions. #1-#3 released on The John Peel Sessions: 1988 - 1989 (Strange Fruit, CD, 2000). #1-#6 released on The Complete John Peel Sessions (Mercury, 2xCD, 2006).

1. Recorded: 1988-06-07. Broadcast: 20 June 1988. Repeated: 11 July 1988, 20 December 1988 2. Recorded: 1988-08-26. Broadcast: 14 September 1988. Repeated: 10 October 1988
 * Destroy The Heart / Nothing To Me / Plastic / Blind


 * The Hedonist / Don't Turn Blue / Safe / Love In Car

3. Recorded: 1989-04-02. Broadcast: 12 April 1989. Repeated: 01 June 1989


 * In A Room / The Beatles And The Stones / Christine / Loneliness Is A Gun

4. Recorded: 1989-12-12. Broadcast: 01 January 1990. Repeated: 15 February 1990 5. Recorded: 1991-11-05. Broadcast: 15 December 1991. Repeated: 07 March 1992, Peel Spring 1992
 * Se Dest / 32nd Floor / 7.45 A M


 * Into The Tunnel / Fade Away / High In Your Face

6. Recorded: 1992-08-04. Broadcast: 22 August 1992. Repeated: 21 November 1992


 * Cruel / Burn Down The World / Crush Me

Live

 * Recorded live at Subterranea: 1989-08-29. Broadcast: 30 August 1989
 * 1) Christine
 * 2) Love In A Car
 * 3) Shine On
 * 4) Salome
 * 5) Destroy The Heart
 * 6) Man To Child
 * 7) Can't Stand It

Other Shows Played
(The list below was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive. Please add further information if known.) 1987
 * May 1987 (BBC World Service): Shine On (single) Creation
 * 26 October 1987: 'Real Animal (12")' (Creation)
 * 02 November 1987: Shine On (LP - Doing God's Work) Creation

1988
 * HO John Peel 5 1988: Sulphur (album - The House Of Love) Creation CRELP 34
 * 30 May 1988: Love In A Car (Album: The House Of Love) Creation Records
 * 01 June 1988 (Rockradio): Christine (album -  The House Of Love) Creation
 * 10 June 1988 (BFBS) (Peel 086 (BFBS)): 'Love In A Car (LP-House Of Love)' (Creation) (JP: 'I apologise for the fact that it was marginally defective in the middle, but somebody had managed to spray the record with chocolate, and I thought I'd scratched all of it off. How these things happen, I simply don't know. It really wasn't me on this occasion.')
 * 14 June 1988: Christine (LP - The House Of Love) Creation (JP: 'The House of Love. The odyssey of live. Somehow their records are fine, but they're better live.')
 * July 1988 (BBC World Service): Plastic (LP - Various - Take 5) Shelter
 * 27 July 1988: 'Destroy The Heart (7")' (Creation) (JP: 'Ah, I think you'll hear that one again.')
 * HOUSE OF LOVE - Christine]]01 August 1988: 'Destroy The Heart (7")' (Creation)
 * 17 August 1988: Destroy The Heart (single) Creation CRE 057 (T)
 * 02 September 1988 (BFBS) (Peel 089 (BFBS)): 'Destroy The Heart (7")' (Creation) (JP: 'I love the way that just collapses at the end.')
 * 23 December 1988 (BFBS) (Peel 095 (BFBS)): 'Shine On (12")' (Creation) (JP: 'Are they destined for greatness or have they already been left behind? It's difficult to say: we'll find out next year.')

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1997 1999 2000
 * 27 December 1988: 'Love In A Car (LP-The House Of Love)' (Creation) FF #18
 * 28 December 1988: 'Christine (LP-The House Of Love)' (Creation) FF #09
 * 28 December 1988: 'Destroy The Heart (7 inch)' (Creation) FF #01 (JP: 'Anyway, the best ending of any of the tracks in this year's Festive Fifty.')
 * 02 January 1989: Shine On (Cassette - Indie City 2) New Musical Express
 * 10 January 1989: Real Animal
 * 04 April 1989: Never (12") Fontana
 * 20 April 1989 (Rockradio): Never (7") Fontana
 * 06 September 1989: Christine played for Pat Nevin's birthday
 * 19 October 1989: I Don't Know Why I Love You (12") Fontana
 * 23 October 1989: I Don't Know Why I Love You (single) (Fontana) (JP: 'I bet that will have you squealing with delight in your bedsits.')
 * 26 October 1989: I Don't Know Why I Love You (single) (Fontana)
 * 04 November 1989 (BFBS) (Peel 122 (BFBS)]]):  'I Don't Know Why I Love You (7")' (Fontana)
 * 28 December 1989: 'I Don't Know Why I Love You (7 inch)' (Fontana) FF #10
 * Peel Festive Period 1989-1990: 32nd Floor (Session)
 * Peel 133 (BFBS): 'Shine On (7")' (Fontana) 27 January 1990 (JP: 'I don't think it's as good as the original version...I do think the last 45 seconds or so of that are a waste of vinyl.')
 * 19 February 1990: In A Room (album - The House Of Love) Fontana
 * 19 February 1990: Shine On (album - The House Of Love) Fontana
 * 08 March 1990 (Rockradio): Shake and Crawl (LP: House of Love, Fontana)
 * Peel Late November 1990: Scratched Inside (album - A Spy In The House Of Love) Fontana
 * Peel Snubbed 1990: Shine On (12") Creation
 * 20 January 1991: Shine On (12") Creation
 * Mainly Peel January 1991: Shine On (12") Creation
 * 21 September 1991: Purple Killer Rose (CD single) Fontana
 * Best Of Peel Vol 36: 'Purple Killer Rose (12"-The Girl With The Loneliest Eyes)' (Fontana)
 * 24 April 1992: Feel (10 inch) Fontana (JP: ‘And I hope you heard them [The House Of Love] on Tuesday night on that concert on Mark Goodier’s programme from the Waterfront in Norwich, because they were exceptionally good I thought. I mean they only played a 30 minute set or so, but a lot harder than I thought they were gonna be; and just a real treat. As were Jacob’s Mouse from Bury St Edmunds, and of course most particularly The Fall.)
 * 05 June 1992: 'You Don't Understand (7 inch)' (Fontana)
 * 14 June 1992 (BFBS): You Don't Understand (7")
 * Best Of 1992 Vol 2: You Don't Understand (7")
 * Best Of 1992 Vol 4: You Don't Understand (7")
 * 21 February 1993 (BFBS): Love In A Car (album - The House Of Love) Creation
 * 16 May 1997 (BFBS): 'Shine On (LP-The House Of Love)' (Fontana)
 * 31 August 1999: Destroy The Heart (7") Creation
 * 21 November 2000: 'Destroy The Heart (CD-The John Peel Sessions)' (Strange Fruit)