The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death

The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death is the second and final studio album by The Housemartins. It was released in 1987, and produced three singles - "Five Get Over Excited" (#11 UK), "Me and the Farmer" (#15) and "Build" (#15 UK). 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
ReleasedSeptember 1987
StudioYellow 2, Stockport, Greater Manchester
Genre
Length38:06
Label
ProducerJohn 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)

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Sounds[2]
The Village VoiceA−[3]

The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death was ranked number nine among "Albums of the Year" for 1987 in the annual NME critics' poll.[4]

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

Charts
Chart (1987) Peak
position
Australian (Kent Music Report)56[5]

Personnel

The Housemartins

Additional musicians

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

References
  1. Ankeny, Jason. "The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death – The Housemartins". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  2. Phillips, Shaun (26 September 1987). "The Grin Reapers". Sounds. p. 35.
  3. Christgau, Robert (29 December 1987). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  4. "NME's best albums and tracks of 1987". NME. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 141. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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