Birth To The Death of A House
Couse was born in Perrystown in 1965. He met some of his future bandmates while attending school in Templeogue College and formed the band Last Chance.
The disintegration of Last Chance gave birth to A House which consisted of Couse on vocals and guitar, Martin Healy on bass, Dermot Wylie on drums, and Fergal Bunbury on guitar. A House's earliest appearance on record appears to be from the record Live at the Underground (UK, 1986) alongside other up and coming bands such as Something Happens and The Stars of Heaven, while their first single release was "Kick Me Again Jesus" in 1987. These were the beginnings of a band that would endure more than a decade, during all of which time Couse, Healy, and Bunbury would remain as its constant core members. Bunbury, in particular, still frequently collaborates with Couse.
For the entirety of its career, A House maintained a loyal fan base, primarily in Ireland and the UK, while its releases, with Couse always as the main writer, were generally well received by critics. A House had a reputation as a hard-working band with a great deal of stamina, touring regularly and releasing 5 albums, as well as singles and EPs. After their second album (I Want Too Much, released in 1990) the band were dropped by their label, Blanco y Negro Records, only to be picked up by Setanta Records. As well as enabling A House to continue, this signing led to Couse developing a strong collaborative and personal bond with Edwyn Collins, and to an enduring relationship also with The Frank and Walters, all of whom were with Setanta at that time.
Unfortunately, however, A House never experienced more than sporadic commercial success and eventually decided to call it quits in 1997, bowing out with a farewell concert at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin in February.
Read more about this topic: Dave Couse
Famous quotes containing the words birth to, death and/or house:
“My demon,
too often undressed,
too often a crucifix I bring forth,
too often a dead daisy I give water to
too often the child I give birth to
and then abort....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“I mourn the safe and motherly old middle-class queen, who held the nation warm under the fold of her big, hideous Scotch-plaid shawl and whose duration had been so extraordinarily convenient and beneficent. I felt her death much more than I should have expected; she was a sustaining symbol—and the wild waters are upon us now.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)
“When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery...”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 8:12-14.