The Suitable Mouth

Taken from BASE magazine – Interview by Danny Brogan 

It’s been seventeen years since former Housemartins, Paul Heaton, and Dave Hemingway formed The Beautiful South, and thirteen albums later, they remain one of the UK’s most popular bands. The line up might have changed slightly over the years, but the Hull based band continue to produce contemporary, contagious classics. 

 

In 2003, the band recruited its latest vocalist and currently only female member, in the shape of Alison Wheeler. “Dave Hemmingway was recording a solo album. I was in a gospel choir, and three of us got asked to do a session for backing vocals for his album,” she explains. “He took me to one side and said, ‘I really like your voice. I think it would suit The Beautiful South, would you like me to recommend you?’ Which obviously I responded with ‘erm, let me think about this’,” laughs Wheeler. 

 

The singer didn’t hear anything for another year, and subsequently began to forget about any dreams of performing with the band, when out of the blue, Heaton called her up. “I presumed it was pretty dead in the water. I now know that’s how the music world’s timetable works – nothing is urgent. So a year later I heard from Paul, who said he’d heard my voice, and that I should come up and meet the band. Having lost two vocalists before, he wanted to make sure that I got on with the boys, and then to take it from there.” 

 

Having recently completed a whistle stop tour of the States, playing nine dates in sixteen days, it seems Wheeler has been well and truly accepted as one of the boys. “They started off minding their P’s and Q’s, but that soon went out of the window, and I’m now a token lad. A ladette in the true sense of the word, especially when I’m on the road with them.” 

 

Talking to Wheeler, who had a baby back in February, it becomes evident that whilst keeping her feet very much on the ground, she is enjoying the ride, particularly when it comes to touring. “It was a bit weird to go on the road and leave her [Wheeler’s daughter] behind, but live performances are what it’s all about. I just hope the guys have got a few more years left in them because I’m just ready to do as much as I can,” she adds before breaking into her infectious laugh. 

 

Performance wise, she says she gets a kick from playing crowd favourites ‘Perfect Ten’, ‘Rotterdam’, and ‘Don’t Marry Her’, but says one of her favourite Beautiful South tracks is ‘Mediterranean’, a song that was never actually released as a single. “I just think it’s a beautiful atmospheric track.” 

 

This last summer saw Wheeler achieve a life long ambition, by playing live on Top of the Pops. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite how Wheeler had imagined it being. “I’ve always been a big fan since I was a kid. I was so chuffed to be in the studio doing Top of the Pops. But then I couldn’t believe it when someone said ‘You know there’s no audience’,” states Wheeler, trying her hardest to conceal her disappointment. “Apparently there was some council controversy about noise. It was the one-week in the entire history of Top of the Pops that they weren’t allowed an audience. So I got to do Top of the Pops, but they had to invite employees of the BBC office to come and be the audience. I think I had all the accountants in front of me,” she giggles. 

 

Although Top of the Pops may be no more, Wheeler is hoping for the chance to continue playing live with the rest of the guys for some time yet, although she concedes that it is somewhat out of her hands. “It’s pretty much Paul’s baby, so if anything happens with the band it’s pretty much his decision. Paul’s already writing new material so I hope that means there’s another album in the line.” 

 

Wheeler will be joined by many more in hoping that The Beautiful South, will be around for at least another seventeen years.

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