Born in Bromborough, Cheshire, on May 9, 1962, Paul Heaton grew up in Sheffield
and Chipstead, Surrey, and took an interest in soccer before forming his first
band, Tools Down, with one of his two brothers and two friends. After a trip
through Europe, he settled in Hull, where he formed The Housemartins, a band
that made its mark on the British indie rock scene in the 1980s with the albums
London 0, Hull 4 (1986) and The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death (1987).
His bass partner, Norman Cook, went on to fame as Fatboy Slim. A wryly humorous
songwriter and composer, Paul Heat...