Ted Key is the original bass player and songwriter for the 1980s iconic, ground breaking band from Kingston upon Hull, The Housemartins. He received BPI gold discs for his contributions to the albums “London 0 – Hull 4”, and “Now That’s What I Call Quite Good”, and toured with the Housemartins for almost two years before leaving to continue guitar and song writing duties for cult Hull punkabilly band, The Gargoyles, where he and drummer Hugh Whitaker were originally poached. Hugh eventually also left the Housemartins to fill the vacant seat at the drums with the Gargoyles. They released two seminal albums, “Mrs Twodinners” and “Steamflapper” on Reasonable Records and a handful of memorable singles. In 1990 he diverted into a 25 year career as a Maths teacher, during which time he still managed to spend 10 years as guitarist with internationally acclaimed Johnny Cash tribute band, Keep it Cash. He formed this act with childhood school friend and Cash fanatic Dave Burnham, as the Man in Black. Continuing to write and record throughout this period he released a critically acclaimed debut album, Madolescent Street in 2011 and in 2016 wrote a Hull musical based in a local history class called “The All New Kingston Ramblers’ Audio Guide”. While supporting legendary Mighty Wah! front man Pete Wylie in Hull, Ted was spotted by promoter Paul Greendale who brought him to London for a handful of solo spots. From this was born the current project, Ted Key and The Kingstons. With Paul on bass and renowned Golborne Road drummer Nick Harrison, they formed a folky, funked up reggae protest trio, with memorable tunes and thought provoking, story driven lyrics, powered on with blazing harmonica.
