this entry was written by tina lyons. not as long as neals entry but very personal and emotional. This biography has won first prize

Born in the "olden days" of 1960, September 20 to be precise, "Hammy" was named David for a brother who had pre-deceased him as an infant. Mother, Florence raised Dave and other brothers (names unknown) as a well-beloved single mum - Hammy's father Harry was never in the picture from what I know. As a teenager, one of Hammy's brothers committed suicide, I know not the circumstances, but I think the lack of a father-figure in his life began to wear on our Dave at this time. Growing up in Hull in the 1960s, Dave saw the after-effects of the "Cod Wars" of the late 1950s on the local fishing industry, so he was a ripe candidate for Socialism as practiced by the Beautiful South. He also was around Hull when the supertrawler the Gaul went missing with 36 crewmembers, and was deeply affected by that as well.

As a child, he famously took drumming lessons at school with Hugh Whitaker, and followed Hugh into bands called the Newpolitans and the Velvetones. Dave supposedly studied computers at Goldsmiths in London, but he'll tell anyone to this day that he knows nothing about computers, using the excuse that "That was back in the 70s, after all." The lyric "He'll be hiding his computer and denying ever using the net" springs to mind. He was working as a purchase ledger clerk by day when the call came that Hugh Whitaker was leaving the Housemartins after their first album, and a replacement was needed. In a rare moment of courage, Dave summoned the bottle to quit his day job and give it a go, learning the drums for the Housemartins songs already recorded. Housemartins Mark II recorded The People Who Grinned Themsleves to Death, with Dave beautifully taking over Stan's reputed vocal part in the song "Build", which was to be the Christmas-time death knell for the Housemartins at the end of 1987. The official end to the Housemartins was June 10, 1988. At that time, Paul Heaton had already been fishing in the Hull talent pool looking for new bandmates, Hemingway being one of them. But this time as a singer, not a drummer, something he still seems to struggle with to this day - no matter how many gigs and tours, he still gets stagefright, and has been known to be physically ill just before going onstage.

Dave lives in Leeds and has two children named Beth and Robert with his longtime partner. Still singing with the South, and having taken over beautifully when Jacqui Abbott quit the band in the middle of a US tour, he has even recorded solo material this year. Our shy Dave might finally be realising after all that he was born to sing!