However, in recent years there has been a drop off in the number of musicians from Hull that have gone on to international fame so to counteract this we hope to inspire you, as well as our guitar students, to bridge that gap.
We are extremely passionate about encouraging our guitar students here at Guitar Lessons Hull to aim big so hear a few of the stories of those musicians that started in Hull and have gone on to make careers out of music.
Paul Heaton formed his first band, The Housemartins, in Hull during the early 1980s with their breakthrough recording being Happy Hour which reached number 3 in the UK single charts. In 1986 The Housemartins had their only UK No. 1 single with a cover version of Isley-Jasper-Isley's Caravan of Love before splitting in 1988 having released two top 10 albums: the aptly names London 0 Hull 4 and The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death. After the split Heaton, with another former member of The Housemartin formed The Beautiful South, a group that would sell over 15,000,000 records worldwide with numerous hits & world tours. With two number one UK albums and three number twos, The Beautiful South were one of the most successful groups during the 90s. Their fanbase remains strong even today, with many listeners during the 90s continuing to buy their music well into the late naughties - evident in their 2006 number 6 UK album. Heaton, therefore, remains one of the most successful musicians that Hull has ever produced, with two internationally famous bands being formed around his immense songwriting talents.
Mick Ronson David Bowie's guitarist and one of the infamous "Spiders from Mars", is by far the most famous guitarist Hull has ever produced! Named the 64th greatest guitarist of all time by the Rolling Stones magazine in 2003, Ronson was a musical powerhouse recording guitar parts as a session guitarist for the likes of Van Morrison, Morrissey and Bowie as well as releasing his own material. One of these solo albums, Slaughter on 10th Avenue, reached number 9 in the UK album charts in 1974 confirming the genius that was Ronson! Yet this was no smooth rise to fame from his humble roots being born in Hull, Ronson in the early days was more often found marking out a rugby pitch, one of his duties as a Parks Department gardener for Hull City Council, than on stage to try and earn enough money to make a living. It was upon meeting David Bowie that his career really took off, working on albums like The Man Who Sold The World and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Sadly Ronson passed away at the young age of 46 in 1993 after suffering from cancer - he will remain one of the great Hull musicians for a long time to come.
Roland Gift of the Fine Young Cannibals grew up in Hull during the 1960s and was educated at Kelvin Hall School forming his second band Fine Young Cannibals in the mid-80s. Although Fine Young Cannibals released only two albums both charted extremely well - with their self-titled debut album reaching number 11 in the UK album charts including the hits Suspicious Minds and Johnny Come Home while their second album The Raw and the Cooked reaches number 1 in the American album charts producing two number 1 American singles, She Drives Me Crazy & Good Thing. This unusual American fame while being perceived as a medium band in the UK put pressure on the group causing them to spill in 1992 - Roland Gift, however, went on to pursue a successful acting career and remains a well-known face even today.
Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) was originally one of the members of The Housemartins joining as the bass guitar player way back in the early 80s! Strange to think of it now as Norman Cook went on to be incredibly successful in his own right after learning the tricks of the trade within Hull's most famous band. After the split of The Housemartins in 1988 Cook went on to form Beats International which had reasonable success with Let Them Eat Bingo, a UK number 17 album spawning the number-one singles hit Dub Be Good to Me. Yet it was under the Fatboy Slim pseudonym that Norman Cook would become internationally famous for producing some of the most influential beat tracks including Right Here, Right Now, Praise You & Gangster Trippin as well as the number one UK album You've Come a Long Way, Baby! Having sold over 7 million records worldwide Norman Cook will go down as probably the best DJ Hull has ever produced.
