The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death

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.

The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death
Studio album by The Housemartins
Released	September 1987
Studio	Yellow 2, Stockport, Greater Manchester
Genre	Indie rock jangle pop
Length	38:06
Label	Go! Discs (UK) Elektra Entertainment (US)
Producer	John Williams
The Housemartins chronology
London 0 Hull 4 (1986) The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death (1987) Now That's What I Call Quite Good (1988)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	(A−)[2]

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul Heaton and Stan Cullimore

1. "The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death" – 3:33
2. "I Can't Put My Finger on It" – 2:28
3. "The Light Is Always Green" – 3:59
4. "The World's on Fire" – 3:20
5. "Pirate Aggro" – 1:52
6. "We're Not Going Back" – 2:53
7. "Me and the Farmer" – 2:54
8. "Five Get Over Excited" – 2:44
9. "Johannesburg" – 3:55
10. "Bow Down" – 3:04
11. "You Better Be Doubtful" – 2:32
12. "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 on "Bow Down"
• 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

1. Ankeny, Jason. "Review: The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death - The Housemartins". Allmusic. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
2. Christgau, Robert. "Review: The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death - The Housemartins". Retrieved 25 June 2009.
3. "Albums and Tracks of the Year: 1987". NME. 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.