The Beautiful South
The Beautiful South |
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The Beautiful South were an English pop group formed at the end of the 1980s by former members of Hull group The Housemartins - Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway. The duo who had provided vocals for "Hull's 4th best band" were joined by Sean Welch (bass), Dave Stead (drums) and Dave Rotheray (guitar). Rotheray and Heaton co-wrote the band's compositions. They broke up in January 2007, claiming the split was due to "musical similarities".[1]
Biography
In The Beautiful South, Heaton remained lead singer but was joined by Hemingway and female singer Briana Corrigan to create a trio of lead vocalists. This set-up helped to characterize the bittersweet kitchen sink dramas played out in Heaton's often barbed songs.
The band's music was bubbly, catchy, lightweight pop but Heaton's sour, savage and amusing worldview on everything and anything (alcoholism, religion, sex, politics and, mostly, the down side of relationships) is always lurking beneath the surface of the quirky melodies. The tastes and smells of the local pub are never far away either, with the band gaining a reputation for boozing.
The band's first album was Welcome to the Beautiful South (1989) and spawned the hits "Song For Whoever" and "You Keep It All In." The release of 1990's Choke album saw the band claim its only Number 1 hit to date, "A Little Time". 0898 Beautiful South followed in 1992, with hits including "Old Red Eyes Is Back".
In 1994, after Corrigan quit the band when she saw Paul's lyrics for the forthcoming album "Miaow", St Helens supermarket shelf-stacker Jacqui Abbott was brought on board to fill in. Heaton had heard her sing at an after show party in St Helens and remembered her vocal talents.
Jacqui's first album with the band was Miaow in 1994. Hits included "Good as Gold (Stupid as Mud)" and a cover of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'," previously popularized by Harry Nilsson. The end of that year saw the release of Carry on up the Charts, a "best of" compilation consisting of the singles to date plus new track "One Last Love Song". This album is very noteworthy because it became the fastest-selling album in UK music history. [citation needed]
Blue Is the Colour (1996), Quench (1998) and Painting It Red (2000) followed with varying success. Jacqui also quit the band in 2000. After a second Greatest Hits album Solid Bronze in 2001, they recorded Gaze in 2003 with yet another female vocalist, Alison Wheeler. Wheeler was still in place for 2004's Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs (An album of unusually arranged cover versions including "Livin' Thing", "You're The One That I Want", "Don't Fear The Reaper" and "I'm Stone In Love With You").
The last album Superbi was released on May 15 2006. Superbi was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, a farm in Bakewell and at producer Ian Stanley’s place in Enniskerry, County Wicklow. It was mixed by Bill Price (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Guns N' Roses). Paul Heaton’s hand is recognisable in quirky song titles such as 'The Rose of My Cologne', 'The Cat Loves The Mouse' and 'Never Lost A Chicken To A Fox'. First single 'Manchester' started off as a poem - "If rain makes Britain great, then Manchester is greater" – 'a sodden tribute' to the city in which he now lives, says Heaton. The tracks cover love and loss and all that happens in-between …"So many pop songs are written about 15-20 year olds. We've never really targeted them, or newly weds. We write about people who've lived together most of their lives."
Split and forthcoming solo careers
After a band meeting on the 30 January 2007, they decided to split.[1] They released a statement on 31 January 2007, in which they joked their reasons for splitting were "musical similarities" - an ironic reference to "musical differences" which are often cited as the reason for a band's split. "The band would like to thank everyone for their 19 wonderful years in music," the statement also said. It is highly speculated that another reason behind the split is that lead singer and founder member Paul Heaton is reviving his solo career now under his actual name[citation needed]. Previously he had a small solo career under the name of Biscuit Boy aka Crackerman however due to not many people realising who it was[citation needed], it wasn't very successful and both his singles and album missed the top 40. It is now rumoured that he has been offered a new solo record contract by a so far unnamed label and that he will be releasing a new album and a single in Autumn 2007.[citation needed] Another member of the group, Dave Rotheray, has released two albums with Homespun.
Discography
Albums
- Welcome to the Beautiful South (1989) UK No.2
- Choke (1990) UK No.2
- 0898 Beautiful South (1992) UK No.4
- Miaow (1994) UK No.6
- Carry on up the Charts (1994) UK No.1
- Blue Is the Colour (1996) UK No.1
- Quench (1998) UK No.1
- Painting It Red (2000) UK No.2
- Solid Bronze (2001) UK No.10
- Gaze (2003) UK No.14
- Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs (2004) UK No. 11
- Gold (2006)
- Superbi (2006) UK No. 6
Singles
| Year | Song | UK singles | U.S. Modern Rock | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | "Song For Whoever" | 2 | - | Welcome to the Beautiful South |
| "You Keep It All In" | 8 | 19 | ||
| "I'll Sail This Ship Alone" | 31 | - | ||
| 1990 | "A Little Time" | 1 | - | Choke |
| "My Book" | 43 | - | ||
| 1991 | "Let Love Speak Up Itself" | 51 | - | |
| 1992 | "Old Red Eyes Is Back" | 22 | - | 0898 Beautiful South |
| "We Are Each Other" | 30 | 10 | ||
| "Bell Bottomed Tear" | 16 | - | ||
| "36D" | 46 | - | ||
| 1994 | "Good As Gold (Stupid As Mud)" | 23 | - | Miaow |
| "Everybody's Talkin'" | 12 | - | ||
| "Prettiest Eyes" | 37 | - | ||
| "One Last Love Song" | 14 | - | Carry on up the Charts | |
| 1995 | "Pretenders to the Throne" | 18 | - | (released later on Solid Bronze) |
| 1996 | "Rotterdam" | 5 | - | Blue Is the Colour |
| "Don't Marry Her" | 8 | - | ||
| 1997 | "Blackbird on the Wire" | 23 | - | |
| "Liars' Bar" | 43 | - | ||
| 1998 | "Perfect 10" | 2 | - | Quench |
| "Dumb" | 16 | - | ||
| 1999 | "How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?" | 12 | - | |
| "The Table" | 47 | - | ||
| 2000 | "Closer than Most" | 22 | - | Painting It Red |
| 2001 | "The River/Just Checkin'" | 59 | - | |
| "The Root of All Evil" | 51 | - | Solid Bronze | |
| 2003 | "Just a Few Things That I Ain't" | 30 | - | Gaze |
| "Let Go with the Flow" | 47 | - | ||
| 2004 | "Livin' Thing" | 24 | - | Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs |
| "This Old Skin" | 43 | - | ||
| 2005 | "This Will Be Our Year" | 36 | - | |
| 2006 | "Manchester" | 41 | - | Superbi |
| "The Rose of My Cologne" | 99 | - |
References
- ^ a b "Pop group Beautiful South split". BBC. January 31, 2007.
External links
- The Beautiful South - Official site