2. The Beautiful South – The Band

A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
Following the disbandment of the British indie-pop group the Housemartins in 1989, vocalist Paul Heaton and drummer David Hemingway formed the Beautiful South. Where their previous group relied on jazzy guitars and witty, wry lyrics, the Beautiful South boasted a more sophisticated, jazzy pop sound, layered with keyboards, R&B-inflected female backing vocals and, occasionally, light orchestrations. Often, the group’s relaxed, catchy songs often contradicted the sarcastic, cyncial thrust of the lyrics.

Nevertheless, the band’s pleasant arrangements often tempered whatever bitterness there was in Heaton’s lyrics, and that’s part of the reason why the Beautiful South became quite popular within its native Britain during the ’90s.

Though the group never found a niche in America — by the middle of the decade, their records weren’t even being released in the U.S. — their string of melodic jazz-pop singles made them one of the most successful, if one of the least flashy, bands in Britain. Their popularity was confirmed by the astonishing success of their 1994 singles compilation, Carry on Up the Charts, which became one of the biggest-selling albums in British history.

The Beautiful South released their follow-up to Miaow, Blue is the Colour, in the fall of 1996. Quench followed two years later and Painting It Red was issued in fall 2000.

In 2001 The Beautiful South, against their greater wishes were forced to release a second Greatest Hit’s Compilation – Solid Bronze, which proved a more popular hits collection than the first among die hard fans, however sales were low. It did however prove a valuable stop gap while the band looked for a new female vocalist. Jacqui Abbott walked out on the band during the Painting It Red tour the previous year.

In 2003 The Beautiful South released their first studio album for 3 years – Gaze. The album features the new singer Alison Wheeler for the first time!

In 2004 The Beautiful South signed a 3 album deal with Sony Music and released an album of cover versions called Gold Diggas Head Nodders & Pholk Songs

Alasdair

I can never work out why people think I’m joking when I say that the South are one of my favourite bands. I honestly don’t think we’ll ever see a band like them again.