The House of Love are an English alternative rock band, formed in London in 1986 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Guy Chadwick and co-founder and lead guitarist Terry Bickers.

"[6] Chadwick teamed up with an old friend, drummer Pete Evans, and recruited the rest of the initial House of Love lineup via an advert in Melody Maker.

Signing to Creation Records, The House of Love released their debut single "Shine On" in May 1987[8] and toured with Felt and Zodiac Mindwarp.

"[6] Heukamp appeared in the group shot used for the cover of the band's first long-form release, a 1987 Germany-only compilation of the early recordings, eight songs of which she had played on.

[5] Following the success of the first album which topped the indie charts in Europe, the band opted to sign to Fontana Records (and PolyGram in the US), with Creation label head Alan McGee continuing for a while as manager.

Having always been unhappy with the implications of the Fontana deal, and now feeling justified in his fears, he began to retreat into anxiety and drugs, eventually succumbing to manic depression.

[4] By this time, Chadwick's own responsibilities and external pressures, fuelled by his growing drug and alcohol habit, would turn him into what he would later describe as "(a) monster.

[5] A sixty-plus date UK tour was set for the end of the year, with an important press covering and public attention, but this would prove to be the last straw for the band's initial lineup.

[8] At one day's notice, Simon Walker was recruited directly from My White Bedroom and The Dave Howard Singers as replacement lead guitarist.

[5] It soon became clear that the break was permanent, having followed a notorious incident inside the House of Love's tour van when Bickers had begun chanting "Breadhead!"

[10] In the UK, the album had been preceded by a newly recorded version of the band's first single, "Shine On": released in seven different formats, the song saw them break into the top 20.

[5] The House of Love continued to tour in both America and Europe, with former member Andrea Heukamp returning to the band later in the year to add backing vocals.

[7] A second compilation album called A Spy in the House of Love was released in late 1990, consisting of older scrapped material and a sampling of the band's large backlog of b-sides.

A stopgap measure to keep up the band's momentum, it failed to match the sales of Fontana (although a promo single, "Marble", reached number 5 in the U.S. Modern Rock charts).

[10] In early 1991, they undertook a 10 date French tour which peaked at the Olympia in Paris; the concert was broadcast live in prime time on radio France Inter.

[5] Evans, Walker and Groothuizen then took advantage of the time off to return to My White Bedroom, which released its lone album after two years of delay.

Although this was hailed in the press as another piece of beautiful pop by the band, it failed to chart (amid accusations of record company distribution incompetence).

In contrast to previous efforts it was recorded in under two weeks, with Chadwick playing all of the guitar parts and with Groothuizen and Evans contributing (for the first time) to songwriting.

Uncertain of how to proceed, The House of Love kept Evans' departure under wraps while Chadwick concentrated on promoting the new album, Audience with the Mind, by himself.

Without a drummer, with a group reduced to only two members and a vanishing commercial profile, Chadwick admitted defeat later in the year and disbanded The House of Love.

Ironically, Chadwick's battles with depression enabled him to better understand why Terry Bickers had left the band, and would eventually lead to a reconciliation between the two.

[4] Despite his difficulties, he made more attempts at a musical career, going on to form The Madonnas in 1994 (splitting the band in 1995) and subsequently the similarly short-lived, Belgium-based Eyedreams in 1996.

He resurfaced as a solo artist in 1997, releasing one album, 1998's Lazy Soft and Slow produced by Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie.

[11] Groothuizen would subsequently coproduce and engineer the debut album for British chansonnier Simon Warner in 1996 before taking on a new career as an architect and lecturer.

He went on to form another short-lived space rock band, Cradle, and was involved briefly with other projects during the late 1990s, but never returned to the prominence or consistent work he had enjoyed with The House of Love and Levitation.

Although Chris Groothuizen was invited to re-join and thus reform the "classic" band line-up, he amicably declined, opting instead to remain in his architectural career.

[4] In 2005, the band went on to tour throughout the UK, Ireland and Sweden, and released a comeback album, Days Run Away, on the Art & Industry label; it received some praise from critics.

In November 2012, Cherry Red announced the release of a 3-CD deluxe edition of their debut self-titled album, adding all the remaining Creation recordings and a disc of unissued demos and alternative versions.

[21] In 2020, Chadwick announced a new line-up for planned concert dates in the United States,[22] with Keith Osborne (lead guitar, formerly of The Past Present Organization, Idlewild, Helicopter Girl and Reuben's Train), Harry Osborne (bass guitar, also of Someone Anyone) and Hugo Degenhardt (drums, previous work with Bryan Ferry, Rod Stewart and Steve Hackett).

On 7 October 2022, it was announced in Traueranzeigen im Munsterland that former House of Love band member Andrea Heukamp had died in Münster at the age of 57.