Songs in the Key of Hull

Another Housemartins reunion of sorts to report on with the news that Ted Key, the original bass player and co-writer of many tracks on London 0 Hull 4 including Freedom, Get Up Off Our Knees and the superlative Flag Day, has just released what is technically his first solo LP. I say technically because he’s recording under the moniker Ted Key and the Human Voice whose number apparently includes Mr Hugh “I like toast” Whitaker on drums and congas.

Lest we forget Ted and Hugh were also erstwhile members of the Gargoyles, one of three groups ahead of the Housemartins in their own list of Hull’s best bands (the others being Red Guitars and 3-Action!).



Ted’s album is called Madolescent Street and you can hear decent sized snippets on his Myspace page, here. It’s all nice stuff with echoes of Half Man Half Biscuit and Sheffield troubadour Richard Hawley, especially on the pretty Other Side of the Day. Meanwhile The Boats on the River Go Sailing By is a jaunty paean to the surreal events of the 2007 Hull floods and comes across like East Yorkshire’s answer to Johnny Cash’s Five Feet High and Rising.

Madolescent Street is out now for a mere nine quid. For more information, visit Ted’s website here.