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The Beautiful South were an English Pop Group formed at the end of the 1980s by former members of Hull group The Housemartins - Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway . The duo who had provided vocals for "Hull's 4th best band" were joined by Sean Welch (bass), Dave Stead (drums) and Dave Rotheray (guitar). Rotheray and Heaton co-wrote the band's compositions. They broke up in January 2007, claiming the split was due to "musical similarities".1 they have sold 15,000,000 records world wide BIOGRAPHY In The Beautiful South, Heaton remained lead singer but was joined by Hemingway and female singer Briana Corrigan to create a trio of lead vocalists. This set-up helped to characterize the bittersweet Kitchen Sink Drama s played out in Heaton's often barbed songs. The band's music was bubbly, catchy, lightweight pop but Heaton's sour, savage and amusing worldview on everything and anything (alcoholism, religion, sex, politics and, mostly, the down side of relationships) is always lurking beneath the surface of the quirky melodies. The tastes and smells of the local pub are never far away either, with the band gaining a reputation for boozing. 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 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 criticized British 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".234 In 1994 , St Helens supermarket shelf-stacker Jacqui Abbott was brought on board to fill in. Heaton had heard her sing at an after show party in St Helens and remembered her vocal talents. Abbot's first album with the band was '' Miaow '' in 1994 . Hits included "Good as Gold (Stupid as Mud)" and a cover of Fred Neil 's "Everybody's Talkin'," previously popularized 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 very noteworthy because it became the fastest-selling album in UK music history. '' Blue Is The Colour '' ( 1996 ), '' Quench '' ( 1998 ) and '' Painting It Red '' ( 2000 ) followed with varying success. Abbot quit the band in 2000. After a second Greatest Hits album '' Solid Bronze '' in 2001 , they recorded '' Gaze '' in 2003 with yet another female vocalist, Alison Wheeler . Wheeler was still in place for 2004's '' Golddiggas, Headnodders And Pholk Songs '' (An album of unusually arranged cover versions including " Livin' Thing ", " You're The One That I Want ", "Don't Fear The Reaper" and "I'm Stone In Love With You"). The 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 the 30 January 2007 , they decided to 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
Singles REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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