The Beautiful South
265912
226010326
2008-07-16T12:46:53Z
Kylet
9282
/* Biography */
{{Infobox Musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| Name = The Beautiful South
| Img = Paul Heaton w mic Beautiful South concert.jpg
| Img_capt = The Beautiful South in concert.
| Img_size = <!-- Only for images smaller than 220 pixels -->
| Background = group_or_band
| Origin = [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]], [[England]]
| Genre = [[Pop music|Pop]], [[Rock music|Rock]]
| Years_active = 1989 - 2007
| Label = [[Universal Records|Universal]], [[Go! Discs]], [[Ark 21]], [[Mercury Records|Mercury]], [[Sony BMG]]
| Associated_acts = [[The Housemartins]]
| URL = http://www.beautifulsouth.co.uk/
| Past_members = [[Paul Heaton]]<br />[[Dave Hemingway]]<br />[[Sean Welch]]<br />[[Dave Stead]]<br />[[Dave Rotheray]]<br />[[Briana Corrigan]]<br />[[Jacqui Abbott]]<br />[[Alison Wheeler]]
}}
'''The Beautiful South''' were an [[England|English]] [[pop group]] formed at the end of the 1980s by former members of [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] group [[The Housemartins]] - [[Paul Heaton]] and [[Dave Hemingway]]. The duo were initially joined by [[Sean Welch]] (bass), [[Dave Stead]] (drums) and [[Dave Rotheray]] (guitar), all of whom stayed with the group throughout their 19-year career. Later additions included female vocalist [[Briana Corrigan]]; she was replaced by [[Jacqui Abbott]], who in turn was replaced by [[Alison Wheeler]].
The group broke up in January 2007, claiming the split was due to "musical similarities"<ref name="bbc-split">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6318345.stm | title=Pop group Beautiful South split | publisher=BBC | date=January 31, 2007}}</ref>, having sold 15,000,000 records worldwide.
==Biography==
The Beautiful South was originally conceived as a quintet with two lead vocalists, Heaton and Hemingway. Rotheray and Heaton, meanwhile, co-wrote the band's compositions.
On the band's first album, Briana Corrigan would also be featured as a background vocalist; she would be promoted to full membership status in 1990, and thereafter feature as a lead vocalist on numerous Beautiful South tracks, which helped to characterise the bittersweet [[kitchen sink drama]]s played out in Heaton's often barbed songs. Also important to the band's sound was studio keyboard player Damon Butcher, who, though never an official member of the group, played virtually all the piano and keyboard parts on the band's albums.
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)|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 criticised British [[Glamour photography|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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beautifulsouth.org/tbs/articles/1997_09_01_archive.shtml|title=Contemporary Musicians, Volume 19|author=|publisher=beautifulsouth.org|date=1997-09-01|accessdate=2007-07-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A638967|title=The Beautiful South - the Band|author=|publisher=BBC|date=2001-11-29|accessdate=2007-07-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=6115|title=A Little Time|author=|publisher=songfacts.com|date=|accessdate=2007-07-26}}</ref>
In 1994, [[St Helens, Merseyside|St Helens]] supermarket shelf-stacker [[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.
Abbott's first album with the band was ''[[Miaow (album)|Miaow]]'' in 1994. Hits included "Good as Gold (Stupid as Mud)" and a cover of [[Fred Neil]]'s "Everybody's Talkin'," previously popularised 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 noteworthy because it became the fastest-selling album in UK music history. {{Fact|date=April 2007}}
In 1995, the band was one of the support acts for [[R.E.M. (band)|R.E.M.]] on the British leg of their world tour.
The 1996 album ''[[Blue Is the Colour]]'' sold over a million copies, and featured hit singles [[Rotterdam (song)|Rotterdam]] and [[Don't Marry Her]]. The album demonstrated the band's gradual shift towards a [[country music]] sound, and was well-received by the public and on [[BBC Radio 2]]. In 1997 the Beautiful South headlined stadium concerts for the first and last time, in Huddersfield and at [[Selhurst Park]] in London.
The albums ''[[Quench (album)|Quench]]'' (1998) and ''[[Painting It Red]]'' (2000) were received with a mixed critical reception, and sold in relatively low numbers. Abbott quit the band in 2000. After a second Greatest Hits album ''[[Solid Bronze]]'' in 2001, the band took a little time off so that Heaton could release a [[Paul Heaton#Biscuit Boy (a.k.a. Crakerman)|solo project]].
Regrouping in 2003, they recorded ''[[Gaze (album)|Gaze]]'' with yet another female vocalist, [[Alison Wheeler]]. Wheeler was still in place for 2004's ''[[Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs]]'', which was 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". One track from the album, "[[This Old Skin]]", was presented as a cover of a song by an obscure band known as ''The Heppelbaums''; it was later revealed to be an original Heaton/Rotheray composition.
The band's 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 studio 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 [[30 January]] [[2007]], they decided to split.<ref name="bbc-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 (album)|Choke]]'' (1990) UK No.2
*''[[0898 Beautiful South]]'' (1992) UK No.4
*''[[Miaow (album)|Miaow]]'' (1994) UK No.6
*''[[Blue Is the Colour]]'' (1996) UK No.1
*''[[Quench (album)|Quench]]'' (1998) UK No.1
*''[[Painting It Red]]'' (2000) UK No.2
*''[[Gaze (album)|Gaze]]'' (2003) UK No.14
*''[[Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs]]'' (2004) UK No. 11
*''[[Superbi]]'' (2006) UK No. 6
===Compilations===
*''[[Carry on up the Charts]]'' (1994) UK No.1
*''[[Solid Bronze]]'' (2001) UK No.10
*''[[Gold (The Beautiful South album)|Gold]]'' (2006) UK No. 139
*''[[Soup (The Housemartins and The Beautiful South album)|Soup]]'' (2007) UK No. 15
*''The BBC Sessions'' (2007) UK No. 165
===Singles===
{| class="wikitable"
!align="center" valign="top" width="40"|Year
!align="left" valign="top"|Song
!align="center" valign="top" width="40"|<small>[[UK Singles Chart|UK singles]]<small>
!align="center" valign="top" width="40"|<small>[[Modern Rock Tracks chart|U.S. Modern Rock]]<small>
!align="left" valign="top"|Album
|-
|rowspan="3"|1989
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Song For Whoever]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|2
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="3"|''Welcome to the Beautiful South''
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[You Keep It All In]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|8
|align="center" valign="top"|19
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[I'll Sail This Ship Alone]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|31
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="2"|1990
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[A Little Time]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|1
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="3"|''Choke''
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"My Book"
|align="center" valign="top"|43
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="1"|1991
|align="left" valign="top"|"Let Love Speak Up Itself"
|align="center" valign="top"|51
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="4"|1992
|align="left" valign="top"|"Old Red Eyes Is Back"
|align="center" valign="top"|22
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="4"|''0898 Beautiful South''
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"We Are Each Other"
|align="center" valign="top"|30
|align="center" valign="top"|10
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"Bell Bottomed Tear"
|align="center" valign="top"|16
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[36D]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|46
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="4"|1994
|align="left" valign="top"|"Good As Gold (Stupid As Mud)"
|align="center" valign="top"|23
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="3"|''Miaow''
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"Everybody's Talkin'"
|align="center" valign="top"|12
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"Prettiest Eyes"
|align="center" valign="top"|37
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"One Last Love Song"
|align="center" valign="top"|14
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="1"|''Carry on up the Charts''
|-
|rowspan="1"|1995
|align="left" valign="top"|"Pretenders to the Throne"
|align="center" valign="top"|18
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="1"|<small>(released later on ''Solid Bronze'')</small>
|-
|rowspan="2"|1996
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Rotterdam (song)|Rotterdam]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|5
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="4"|''Blue Is the Colour''
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Don't Marry Her]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|8
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="2"|1997
|align="left" valign="top"|"Blackbird on the Wire"
|align="center" valign="top"|23
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"Liars' Bar"
|align="center" valign="top"|43
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="2"|1998
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Perfect 10 (single)|Perfect 10]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|2
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="4"|''Quench''
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"Dumb"
|align="center" valign="top"|16
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="2"|1999
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|12
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"The Table"
|align="center" valign="top"|47
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="1"|2000
|align="left" valign="top"|"Closer than Most"
|align="center" valign="top"|22
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="2"|''Painting It Red''
|-
|rowspan="2"|2001
|align="left" valign="top"|"The River/Just Checkin'"
|align="center" valign="top"|59
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"The Root of All Evil"
|align="center" valign="top"|50
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="1"|''Solid Bronze''
|-
|rowspan="2"|2003
|align="left" valign="top"|"Just a Few Things That I Ain't"
|align="center" valign="top"|30
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="2"|''Gaze''
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"Let Go with the Flow"
|align="center" valign="top"|47
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="2"|2004
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Livin' Thing#Covers|Livin' Thing]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|24
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="3"|''Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs''
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[This Old Skin]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|43
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="1"|2005
|align="left" valign="top"|"This Will Be Our Year"
|align="center" valign="top"|36
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|-
|rowspan="2"|2006
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Manchester (song)|Manchester]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|41
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|rowspan="2"|''Superbi''
|-
|align="left" valign="top"|"The Rose of My Cologne"
|align="center" valign="top"|99
|align="center" valign="top"|-
|}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{commons|The Beautiful South}}
*[http://www.beautifulsouth.co.uk/ The Beautiful South] - Official site
*[http://www.paulheatonmusic.com/ Paul Heaton]
{{The Beautiful South}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beautiful South, The}}
[[Category:English musical groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1989]]
[[Category:Music from Hull]]
[[de:The Beautiful South]]
[[fr:The Beautiful South]]
[[it:The Beautiful South]]
[[nl:The Beautiful South]]
[[ja:ザ・ビューティフル・サウス]]
[[sv:The Beautiful South]]