Hugh Whitaker is the former drummer for the British indie rock band The Housemartins. He replaced original drummer Chris Lang and drummed for the band's first album, London 0 Hull 4, and its attendant single releases. He left the band before the recording of their second album, The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death. Whitaker left the band on amicable terms and even participated in the piss-taking video for the band's first single without him, "Five Get Over Excited", wherein he was kidnapped by his replacement, Dave Hemingway, and locked in a burlap sack. Hugh Whitaker went on to play drums in several Hull rock bands including The Penny Candles, The Juniper Chute and The Gargoyles. In 1993, Whitaker was convicted of assault after attacking his former business partner James Hewitt with an axe after Hewitt had seemingly cheated him. Whitaker has since been released from prison and now lives in Leeds, where he occasionally drums with a local band called Percy.
