Happy Hour Again: The Music Of Paul Heaton Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Paul Heaton became regarded as one of the cleverest songwriters of his era, although some people believed he did not get the recognition he deserved. Where was Paul born?

Answer: Bromborough, Cheshire

Paul Heaton was born in Bromborough, a town about seven miles from Liverpool, on May 9, 1962.

When he was aged just four, the family relocated to Sheffield, before moving to Surrey. When he was about 21, he moved to Hull and later settled in Manchester.

2. After settling in the north east of England, which band did Paul Heaton form in 1983?

Answer: The Housemartins

The original members were Paul, Dave Hemingway, Norman Cook, and Stan Cullimore. In a five-year period, they had six top 20 hits in the UK.

The Housemartins, and Heaton's subsequent bands, often sang songs that reflected his socialist views and social commentary.

3. What was the name of the song that gave Paul Heaton and his first professional band their first top ten hit in the UK?

Answer: Happy Hour

"It's happy hour again
I think I might be happy if I wasn't out with them
And they're happy it's a lovely place to be
Happy that the fire is real the barman is a she

Where the haircuts smile
And the meaning of style
Is a night out with the boss
Where you win or you lose
And its them who choose
And if you don't win then you've lost..."

The song was was about women being harassed in public places and appeared on the album 'London 0 Hull 4' in 1986.

Heaton wrote the song in preparation for an appearance by The Housemartins on one of the "Peel Sessions" hosted by the influential radio broadcaster John Peel.

Heaton recalled: "On Tuesday 3 June [1986] it was at No 58. Then it just kept rising. I didn't know that my life would never be the same again. When we did TV shows I thought it would be the first and last time so I pestered the other acts for autographs. I got Paul McCartney's at 'Razzmatazz' and Bill Oddie's in BBC reception after we did 'Top of the Pops'..."

The LP also reached number three on the UK album charts that year.

4. In 1986, Paul Heaton and his band scored their first UK number one with a song that had first been been recorded by Chris Jasper, Marvin Isley and Ernie Isley. What was it called?

Answer: Caravan Of Love

All three were involved in the writing, with the main duties falling to Chris Jasper.

"Every woman every man
Join the caravan of love
(Stand up) stand up
Stand up
Everybody take a stand
Join the caravan of love
(Stand up) stand up
Stand up..."

Jasper had wanted to show his own Christian feelings in popular song. It reached number one on the Billboard R&B singles chart and number 51 on the Billboard pop chart in 1985.

The Housemartins reprised the a capella sound of the original and recorded a memorable video in a church.

5. In 1988, Paul Heaton"s first band split up and he formed a new band, The Beautiful South. What was their first number one UK single?

Answer: A Little Time

"I need a little time
To think it over
I need a little space
Just on my own
I need a little time
To find my freedom
I need a little

Funny how quick the milk turns sour
Isn't it, isn't it
Your face has been looking like that for hours
Hasn't it, hasn't it
Promises, promises turn to dust
Wedding bells just turn to rust
Trust into mistrust..."

"A Little Time" was not the band's first single release, that had been "Song For Whoever".

Although co-written by Heaton, it was mainly a duet featuring vocalists Dave Hemingway and Briana Corrigan.

The video won a 'Brit Award' in 1991 for 'Best Video'.

The Beautiful South had nine UK top 30s in seven years before breaking up in 1986. The band joked that the break-up was due to "musical similarities".

6. After the break-up of The Beautiful South, Paul Heaton embarked on a solo career and also formed a new band. What was it called?

Answer: The Sound of Paul Heaton

The band did not have a lot of commercial success and Heaton released three solo albums to critical acclaim, but again without troubling the charts.

7. Begun as an attempt to write the longest pop song ever, Paul Heaton wrote a stage show involving a cast of singers, an orchestra and a preacher-style narrator berating the seven deadly sins. What was it called?

Answer: The 8th

The show contained Heaton's trademark social commentary with a strong moral compass.

It was set in a downtrodden, unnamed American city. Heaton told 'theGuardian' in 2011: "Usually in most rough areas, unholy alliances are formed between different people, maybe between a prostitute and a pimp, or a drug dealer and a drug user."

The cast of singers presented the traditional seven deadly sins. These songs, and the preacher/narrator led up to a new eighth deadly sin - which Heaton refused to detail in interviews ahead of the show.

The show was commissioned by the Manchester International Festival, co-written with theatre director Che Walker and first performed in July 2011.

8. Which Paul Heaton song by The Beautiful South needed some censoring before it could be played on mainstream radio?

Answer: Don't Marry Her

"When the Sunday sun shines down on San Francisco Bay
And you know that you can't have it anyway
You gotta wash the car
Take the kiddies to the park
Don't marry her, have me..." were the lyrics in the break after they were cleaned up. Originally the lyrics used another four-letter word in place of "have".

This was one woman's plea to a lover not to settle for the safe and boring with another woman but to go for a more adventurous life with her.

With Jacqui Abbott on lead vocals, the song was a UK number eight hit in 1996.

9. Six years after The Beautiful South broke up, Paul Heaton reunited with one of its lead vocalists to record and perform in concert. Who was she?

Answer: Jacqui Abbott

Okay, deliberate misdirection time: Jacqui Abbott and Briana Corrigan were both vocalists with The Beautiful South. Abbott replaced Corrigan, who had left over differences with the song-writing direction the band was taking.

Heaton and Abbott began to work together in 2011 when she performed in his musical show "The 8th".

10. In 2018, a compilation album of some of Paul Heaton's best songs in his various bands was released. What was its rather tongue-in-cheek name?

Answer: The Last King Of Pop

The album contained 23 songs from his time with The Housemartins, The Beautiful South and tracks with Jacqui Abbot.

It reached Number Ten in the UK Charts in January 2019.

The wrong answers are all made up plays on actual song or album titles: "What Have We Become", "You Keep It All In", and "Song For Whoever".

Source: Author darksplash

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Paul Heaton was an English singer who penned some catchy pop songs, often with a social message. See if, like Paul, you can score a "Perfect 10".

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