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.
After the band's first album, Welcome to the Beautiful South (1989, recorded as a quintet), they were joined by a succession of female vocalists. All of the following artists performed lead and backing vocals alongside Heaton and Hemingway–Briana Corrigan for albums two and three after appearing as a guest vocalist on one, followed by Jacqui Abbott for the fourth to seventh albums, and finally Alison Wheeler for the final three Beautiful South albums.
The group were known for wry and socially observant lyrics. They broke up in January 2007, saying the split was due to "musical similarities",[2] having sold around 15 million records.[3]
Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway had initially come to attention as (respectively) the lead singer and "singing drummer" of the successful Hull jangle pop band the Housemartins, who had scored seven UK Top 40 singles and two Top 10 albums between 1986 and 1988. (Heaton was with the Housemartins for their entire existence; Hemingway joined in time for their second and final album.) The band was known for blending overt socialist politics and a form of Christianity, having baited the British monarchy, the building industry, and South Africanapartheid in their songs as well as including gospel elements in their music. The Housemartins said they had set a fixed lifespan for themselves; the members duly brought the band to an end in 1988 at the height of its success. Heaton and Hemingway immediately began work on setting up a new band, naming it "the Beautiful South" as a sarcastic comment on their staunch Northern roots.
The third initial bandmember was Dave Rotheray, a songwriting guitarist who had previously played with Hemingway in two other Hull bands, the Newpolitans and the Velvetones. At the time Rotheray was studying for a PhD at the University of Hull and living on Grafton Street, where Heaton also lived. Rotheray and Heaton became the songwriting team for the Beautiful South, which was conceived as a quintet with Heaton and Hemingway (who was no longer drumming) as the two lead singers. The core band was completed by Dave Stead (ex-Luddites/Vicious Circle) on drums, and former Housemartins roadie Sean Welch on bass guitar. Also important to the band's sound was studio keyboard player Damon Butcher—although never an official member of the group, he ended up playing virtually all the piano and keyboard parts on the band's albums.
1989: Welcome to the Beautiful South, addition of Corrigan
Their first album, Welcome to the Beautiful South, was released in 1989 and promptly produced a number two UK singles chart hit, "Song for Whoever". With the follow-up single "You Keep It All In" reaching number eight and "I'll Sail This Ship Alone" reaching number 31, the band were soon set to equal or surpass the success of the Housemartins, while the songwriting built on and expanded the trenchant social critiques which the previous band had been known for. Topics included nationalism, domestic violence, football hooliganism and the self-serving industry of love songs, and the album's disturbing cover art also drew attention. Northern Irish singer Briana Corrigan was featured as a background vocalist on the album. Her contributions proved so successful that she was soon promoted to full membership status, as the band's third vocalist.
1990-91: Choke
In 1990, the Beautiful South released their second album, Choke. Two singles—"My Book" and "Let Love Speak Up Itself"—charted outside the Top 40, but the album also provided the band's only Number 1 hit, a Hemingway/Corrigan duet called "A Little Time". The video, featuring the aftermath of a domestic fight, won the 1991 BRIT Award for Best Video.[4]
1992: 0898 Beautiful South, Corrigan's departure
The band's third album, 0898 Beautiful South, followed in 1992. It provided another Top 20 hit, "Bell Bottomed Tear", as well as two further Top 30 hits, "Old Red Eyes Is Back" and "We Are Each Other", although a fourth single, "36D", only placed in the Top 50. "We Are Each Other" also became the band's biggest hit in the United States, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1992.[5]
Both Choke and 0898 Beautiful South illustrated the growing fullness of the band's sound. Both featured Pete Thoms and Gary Barnacle as regular contributors on brass and woodwind, and also featured Corrigan as lead vocalist on several tracks. Her contribution helped to characterise the bittersweet kitchen sink dramas played out in the band's often barbed songs, and allowed Heaton and Rotheray to explore and express female perspectives in their songwriting. However, the latter approach had mixed success, demonstrated later in 1992 when Corrigan chose to leave the band to pursue a solo career. Although her decision was partly prompted by a desire to record and promote her own material (which was not getting exposure within the Beautiful South), she had also had ethical disagreements over some of Heaton's lyrics, most notably "Mini-correct", "Worthless Lie" and the 0898 Beautiful South single "36D", which criticised the British glamour industry via scathing comments about glamour models. Five years later, Hemingway admitted, "we all agree that we should have targeted the media as sexist instead of blaming the girls for taking off their tops".[6][7][8] Heaton corroborated this view in 2022, stating, "'36D' hasn't dated well. I like the idea of blaming the newspapers, but blaming the model involved was wrong."[9]
1993: Abbot joins, Miaow
In 1993, St Helens supermarket shop-worker Jacqui Abbott was brought on board to fill in as the new third lead vocalist for the band. Heaton had heard her sing at an after-show party in St Helens and remembered her vocal talents. Heaton referred to her as "the lass from the glass"[10]—a reference to the Pilkington factory in St Helens. Abbott's first album with the band was Miaow in the same year. Hits included "Good as Gold (Stupid as Mud)" and a cover of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'", previously popularised by Harry Nilsson.
1994-95: Carry On Up the Charts
In November 1994 Carry On Up the Charts was released, a "best of" compilation consisting of the singles to date plus new track "One Last Love Song". Released at a time when the group's album sales had been waning, the album was a huge commercial success.[11] It secured the Christmas number one spot on the charts and became the second-best selling album of the year. In 1995, the band briefly supported R.E.M. on the British leg of their world tour when they covered for Oasis, who pulled out of R.E.M's concerts at McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield on July 25 and 26.[12][13] The Beautiful South performed Oasis' "Some Might Say", dedicating the song to Oasis fans in the audience.
The album Quench (1998) was released with similar commercial success, again reaching number one in the UK album charts. "Perfect 10", the first single to be released from the album, also provided the band with further singles chart success. The album is also notable for being more uptempo, and being the first on which Heaton and Hemingway's former Housemartins colleague Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) was used in a consultancy role.[15]
2000-00: Painting It Red, Abbott's departure
Although 2000's Painting It Red album reached Number 2 in the UK charts, the band suffered difficulties in its promotion and in touring, and a substantial number of the CDs were faulty. Jacqui Abbott left the band in the same year, discouraged by the pressures of touring and needing to concentrate on looking after her son, who had just been diagnosed with autism.[16][17][18]
2001-02: Solid Bronze, band break, Heaton solo work
After completing their tour obligations, the band marked time with a second greatest-hits album, Solid Bronze, in 2001, and took time off to refresh themselves. Heaton embarked on a solo career under the Biscuit Boy (a.k.a. Crakerman) alias[19] and released the Fat Chance album in 2001. It did not sell well, although it was critically acclaimed and was reissued under Heaton's own name the following year.
2003-5: Wheeler joins, Gaze and Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs
The Beautiful South regrouped in 2003, with new recruit Alison Wheeler taking on the role of female singer. The lineup recorded Gaze in 2003, following it with 2004's Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs, an album of unusually arranged cover tunes, including "Livin' Thing", "You're the One That I Want", "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" and "I'm Stone in Love With You". A track from the album, "This Old Skin", was presented as a cover of a song by an obscure band called "The Heppelbaums"; it was later revealed to be an original Heaton/Rotheray composition.
2006: Superbi
The final Beautiful South album, Superbi, was released on 15 May 2006. The first single, "Manchester", started off as a poem—"If rain makes Britain great, then Manchester is greater"—and was, in Heaton's words, "a sodden tribute" to the city in which he now lived.[20]
2007-: Split, post-split projects
After a band meeting on 30 January 2007, the Beautiful South decided to split. They released a statement on 31 January 2007, in which they joked that 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 said.[2]
In June 2007, the band's music was featured in a jukebox musical entitled The Slide (the book is by Adrian Davis); it premiered at the Phoenix Theatre at New College, Swindon.[21]
In 2009, band members Dave Hemingway, Alison Wheeler and Dave Stead joined with regular Beautiful South session musicians Damon Butcher, Gaz Birtles and Tony Robinson to form The South, performing the music of the Beautiful South as well as releasing a new album, Sweet Refrains, in 2012.[22][23] In 2013, Paul Heaton reunited with former Beautiful South vocalist Jacqui Abbott to perform as Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott.[24]
Paul David Heaton is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and main lyricist of the Housemartins, who had commercial success in the UK and other European countries between 1985 and 1988, releasing several singles including "Happy Hour" and the UK number-one single "Caravan of Love" in 1986, before the band disbanded. Heaton then formed the Beautiful South with the Housemartins' drummer, Dave Hemingway, and the band's debut single, "Song for Whoever", and debut album, Welcome to the Beautiful South, 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.
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.
Welcome to the Beautiful South is the debut album by the English band the Beautiful South. It was released in October 1989 by Go! Discs and the next year in the United States by Elektra Records. Three singles were released from the album, which became top 40 hits in the United Kingdom: "Song for Whoever", "You Keep It All In" and "I'll Sail This Ship Alone".
David Robert Hemingway is an English musician and songwriter, best known as a vocalist for the Hull based band The Beautiful South until they disbanded in 2007. Previously he had been a member of The Housemartins.
0898 Beautiful South, also referred to as 0898, is the third studio album by English band the Beautiful South. After the success of their previous work over 1989–1991, the band hired prolific record producer Jon Kelly and recorded the album at AIR Studios in London. The album contains a more "muscular" yet sometimes more sombre sound than their previous albums, although still entirely retains lyricist Paul Heaton's witty and bitter lyrical style. The album "deals in fragile melodies and harmonies, soulful but low-key instrumentation, and lyrics full of subtle social commentary and humour." The album title refers to the 0898 premium rate dialling code associated with sex hotlines in the UK at the time.
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.
Carry On Up the Charts: The Best of the Beautiful South is an album by English Alternative rock band The Beautiful South. It is the group's fifth album and their first greatest hits collection. It was a major commercial success, reaching number one in the UK Albums Chart and going on to become the second biggest selling album of 1994.
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.
Painting It Red is the seventh album by the Beautiful South, released in 2000. A concept album about impending middle age, Painting it Red is among the band's longest. A two-disc UK bonus version contains 20 tracks. The American release on Ark21 has only 17 tracks.
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.
"A Little Time" is a song by English pop rock group the Beautiful South, the first single to be released from their second album, Choke. It consists of a duet featuring vocalists Dave Hemingway and Briana Corrigan. Produced by Mike Hedges, "A Little Time" is the band's only single to reach number one on the UK singles chart, and it peaked inside the top 20 in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
Gaze is the eighth studio album by the rock band The Beautiful South. It was released in 2003 on Mercury Records. The release was accompanied by the Gaze With The Beautiful South tour. This was also the band debut for Allison Wheeler who replaced the departing Jacqui Abbott. All songs were written by Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray.
Briana Corrigan is a Northern Irish singer. She was a member of The Beautiful South from 1988 to 1992.
David Rotheray is an English rock and pop musician, best known for being the lead guitarist for The Beautiful South.
Jacqueline Abbott is an English singer who was a vocalist with 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.
"36D" is a song written by Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray and performed by The Beautiful South. The song was originally found on the album 0898 Beautiful South and later appeared on two greatest hits compilations - 1994's Carry on up the Charts and 2007's Soup. As a single it reached no. 46 in the UK Singles Chart, spending two weeks in the Top 75 in 1992. The album version ran for 5 minutes 15 seconds.
Soup is an album released in November 2007 by The Housemartins and The Beautiful South on Mercury Records. It is in effect a greatest hits album for both of the bands, the first seven tracks bracketed together as "The Housemartins Condensed" and the remaining fifteen as "The Cream of The Beautiful South". All twenty-two songs were released as singles by the bands, and the track listing runs in chronological order by year of song release from 1985's "Flag Day" to 2003's "Just A Few Things That I Ain't". An associated DVD of the bands' music videos was also released.
"Old Red Eyes Is Back" is a song written by Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray and performed by the Beautiful South. The song was originally released on the album 0898 Beautiful South. It features as the opening track and was the first single released from the album in late 1991. Paul wrote the song following a heavy night of drinking Guinness with a Contractor from Hartburn, Stockton-on-Tees. The single reached a peak of No. 22 in the UK and became the band's 5th UK top 40 single.
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