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".
|
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 2 Split
and forthcoming solo careers
- 3 Discography
- 4 References
- 5 External
links
|
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, "A Little Time". 0898
Beautiful South followed in 1992,
with hits including "Old Red Eyes Is Back".
However, in 1992, Corrigan left the band to pursue a solo
career, a decision that was prompted partly by a desire to record and
promote her own material (which she felt was not getting enough
exposure in The Beautiful South) and partly by ethical disagreements
with some of Heaton's lyrics, particularly songs such as 36D,
which criticized British glamour models and the industry
that employed them. Hemingway later remarked, "We all agree that we
should have targeted the media as sexist instead of blaming the girls
for taking off their tops".
In 1994, 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.
Abbot'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.
Blue Is the Colour
(1996),
Quench (1998)
and Painting It Red
(2000)
followed with varying success. Abbot 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.
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.
Since the split, Dave Rotheray, has released two albums with
the band 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
External links
The Beautiful South
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