Our House
BACKGROUND
‘Our House’, a song penned by Chas Smash and Chris Foreman, made a significant global impact. It was the lead single from their fourth studio album, The Rise & Fall, and was released on 12 November 1982. The song’s popularity soared, charting within the top ten in numerous countries. Notably, it became the band’s biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and even won the category of Best Pop Song at the May 1983 Ivor Novello Awards.
The song “Our House” was released in November 1982 and became a hit in the UK, peaking at No. 5 on the Singles Chart. It also gained popularity in the US, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983, becoming their biggest hit there. On the US rock chart, it peaked at No. 9 and reached No. 21 on the US dance chart. The song received extensive airplay on radio stations.
The band portrays a working-class family in the video, including one with a stubbly face, dressed in an apron and bonnet, playing the mother. The band members perform with their instruments in the living room as they prepare for work and school. The family play squash and relax in a hot tub. The video includes exterior shots of other houses like the Playboy Mansion, Stocks House in Hertfordshire, and Buckingham Palace. The domestic property featured in the video is a terrace house on Stephenson Street in north-west London, near Willesden Junction station.
Cathal: ‘Our House’ was a very positive take on my home-life as a kid. There was a lot of shouting, a lot of noise, my Dad yelling, my Mum trying to get everyone up, out of bed, fed, dressed and out the door. Mum and Dad are no longer with us and there’s more that could be said behind the lyrics, but I’ll leave it here, with love, a testament to a time past.
Mike: I remember Chris coming in with the chords to ‘Our House’ and thinking it wasn’t going to work… But then, when the words and melody were fitted, it just suddenly came together. We tried it in a kind of Motown style, like ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’. It sounded good, but that possibly made it less original. I have a pleasant memory of a sunny afternoon coming home from the recording studio, sitting in Whittington Park on Archway Road, thinking we’d have to change it, and moving some of the crotchets around in my head, in order to take it out of that genre without losing the feel.
RELATED RELEASES
RELEASE DETAILS
TRACK LISTING
Disc | Position | Track | Version | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | A1 | Our House | 3:20 | |
1 | B1 | Cardiac Arrest | 2:58 |
CHART HISTORY
MUSICANS
Musican | Instrument | Role | Credit |
---|---|---|---|
Mike Barson | Piano, Organ, Tubular Bells | Band | |
Chris Foreman | Guitar, Sitar | Band | |
Lee Thompson | Tenor Saxophone | Band | |
Mark Bedford | Bass | Band | |
Daniel Woodgate | Drums | Band | |
Graham McPherson | Vocals, Percussion | Band | |
Cathal Smyth | Trumpet | Band |
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Role | Credited | Notes |
---|---|---|
Producer | Clive Langer | |
Producer | Alan Winstanley |
COPYRIGHT AND Licencing
Ownership | Company | Notes |
---|---|---|
Copyright © | The David Geffen Company | |
Phonographic Copyright ℗ | The David Geffen Company |
Representation
Representation | Company | Notes |
---|---|---|
Record Label | Geffen Records | |
Publisher | Nutty Sounds Ltd. | |
Publisher | Warner Chappell Music Ltd. | |
Manufacturer | WEA Music Of Canada, Ltd. | |
Distributor | WEA Music Of Canada, Ltd. |
SHARE YOUR OWN RELEASE REVIEW WITH OUR COMMUNITY
References
Extensive efforts have been made to gather factual information and knowledge on madness from various sources and document them. These sources include publicly accessible websites, books and publications, historical artefacts, and other pertinent materials. As a result, a comprehensive index of resources has been compiled and integrated into the website. These resources, if relevant to this article, are listed below.
Reference | Source |
---|---|
wikipedia.org | Website |
discogs.com | Website |
officialcharts.com | Website |
Reviews