The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Hull group The Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members throughout the band's existence were former Housemartins roadie Sean Welch (bass), Dave Stead (drums) and Dave Rotheray (guitar). The band's original material was written by Heaton and Rotheray.
Paul David Heaton is an English singer-songwriter. He was the frontman of the Housemartins, who had success with the singles "Happy Hour" and the UK number one "Caravan of Love" in 1986 before disbanding in 1988. He then formed The Beautiful South, whose debut single and album were released in 1989 to commercial success. They had a series of hits throughout the 1990s, including the number-one single "A Little Time". They disbanded in 2007. He subsequently pursued a solo career, which produced three albums, and in 2014 he released What Have We Become?, a collaboration with former Beautiful South vocalist Jacqui Abbott. As of 2022, he has recorded four more albums with her: Wisdom, Laughter and Lines in 2015, Crooked Calypso in 2017, Manchester Calling in 2020 and N.K-Pop in 2022.
The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christianity, reflecting the beliefs of the band. The group's a cappella cover version of "Caravan of Love" was a UK number one single in December 1986.
Miaow is the fourth album by English pop rock group the Beautiful South. It was released in 1994 via GO! Discs. As with most Beautiful South albums, the songs were written by Dave Rotheray and Paul Heaton. The cover originally depicted numerous dogs seated in a music hall with a gramophone on the stage. However, HMV made the band withdraw it as it mocked their trademark dog, and the band put out a second cover depicting four dogs in a boat. Both paintings were created by Michael Sowa.
Blue Is the Colour is the fifth studio album from English band the Beautiful South, released in October 1996 through Go! Discs and in America through Ark 21 Records. The album was released following the two singles "Pretenders to the Throne" and "Dream a Little Dream", which never featured on any album until the release of the second greatest hits Solid Bronze in 2001.
Quench is the Beautiful South's sixth original album, released in the UK on 12 October 1998. Including the compilation Carry On Up The Charts, it was the band's third album in a row to reach the top of the charts.
Solid Bronze: Great Hits is The Beautiful South's ninth album and second greatest hits compilation. It was released in November 2001 and contains 19 tracks. The album contains two songs that were released between Carry on up the Charts and Blue Is the Colour, and never made it onto any album.
"Perfect 10" is a song by English pop rock band the Beautiful South, released on 21 September 1998 as the first single from their sixth studio album, Quench (1998). It debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart, selling 89,000 copies during its first week of release, and is the band's last UK top-10 single to date. It received a platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry in 2021 for sales and streams exceeding 600,000 units.
Jacqueline Abbott is an English singer who was a vocalist with the band The Beautiful South from 1994 to 2000, following the departure of Briana Corrigan.
Alison Wheeler is a British singer, best known as the female vocalist for The Beautiful South from 2003 until they disbanded in 2007.
"All This Time" is a song written for the winner of the second and final series of Pop Idol in the United Kingdom. The last two acts in the show, Michelle McManus and Mark Rhodes, both performed the song in the final. McManus went on to win and released "All This Time" as her debut single on 5 January 2004. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 11 January 2004 and remained there for three weeks, later being included on her debut album, The Meaning of Love. Subsequent releases failed to duplicate its success, and McManus was dropped by BMG.
"Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)" is a song by English pop rock music group the Beautiful South, taken from their fifth studio album, Blue Is the Colour (1996). It features Jacqui Abbott on lead vocals. Released in September 1996, the song reached number five on the UK Singles Chart and stayed in the UK top 40 for nine weeks.
Stephen Large is an English, London-based keyboard player, composer, arranger, and long-term member of UK band Squeeze.
John Owen Williams is an English A&R executive, record producer, photographer, manager, recording artist, and songwriter. In a career that has spanned over 35 years at major record labels, he has guided, A&R'd, mentored, and produced many artist careers including The Housemartins and The Proclaimers, as well as producing and signing Alison Moyet, Simple Minds, The Waterboys, Robert Plant, The Blue Nile, Status Quo, Cathy Dennis, Petula Clark, Ocean Colour Scene, J. J. Cale, Blancmange, Shriekback, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Jethro Tull, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Debbie Harry and Luciana.
What Have We Become? is a studio album by the former The Beautiful South collaborators Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, which was released on 19 May 2014 through Virgin EMI Records.
Long Lost Suitcase is the 40th studio album released by Welsh singer Tom Jones, released on 9 October 2015. It is the third in a trilogy of albums, following 2010's Praise & Blame and Spirit in the Room in 2012. Like the previous two albums, it was produced by Ethan Johns.
Wisdom, Laughter and Lines is the second album by Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott. It was released on 23 October 2015 by Virgin EMI and was produced by long-time collaborator John Owen Williams.
Crooked Calypso is the third studio album by Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, both formerly members of the Beautiful South. The album was released in the UK on 21 July 2017 by Virgin EMI.
City of Love is the ninth studio album by Scottish pop rock band Deacon Blue, released through Earmusic on 6 March 2020. It is their first album since 2016's Believers. It was promoted by the lead single, the title track "City of Love".
N.K-Pop is the fifth studio album by Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, both formerly members of the Beautiful South. The album was released on 7 October 2022 by EMI Records, and preceded by the release of the lead single "Still". The album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart.
