Welcome to the Beautiful South
| Welcome to the Beautiful South | ||||
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| Studio album by The Beautiful South | ||||
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Publication |
October 1989 |
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| Label (s) | Go Records Ltd. | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
11 (LP = 10) |
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running time |
50 min 19 s |
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| occupation |
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Mike Hedges , John Rowley (last song) |
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Studio (s) |
Go Records Ltd. |
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Welcome to the Beautiful South is the debut album by the British band The Beautiful South . It was released in October 1989 and reached position two on the UK charts.
History of origin
The album was created a year after the previous band The Housemartins broke up . Due to musical differences, the members could no longer work together. While Norman Cook turned to electric, danceable music under the pseudonym Fatboy Slim , Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway joined forces to form The Beautiful South and played a style that was based on the previous band. Hemingway and Heaton shared the vocals. In addition, they took on a singer in the band, Briana Corrigan. David Rotheray and Sean Welch completed the band.
Cover
The original cover consisted of two images: the first showed a woman putting a revolver in her mouth; the second picture showed a man lighting a cigarette. The British retail group " Woolworth " initially refused to distribute the album with this cover on the grounds that it would encourage children to smoke. An alternative cover design then showed a rabbit and a teddy bear.
Single releases
From this album the singles Song For Whoever (number 2 in the British charts), You Keep It All In (number 8) and I'll Sail This Ship Alone (number 31) were released.
Lyrics and music
Musically, the record was kept in very melodic pop sounds, which were, however, partly political (“Have You Ever Been Away” as an accusation against Stammtisch strategists) partly critical (“Song For Whoever”, in the album version almost 2 minutes longer than on the maxi single- Extraction, treats the writing of a love song as a purely commercial activity with no real feelings, “From Under The Covers” contrasts the regulated, imposed daily work with the desire for hedonism ) conveyed texts whose sometimes cynical content (“Woman in the Wall” describes the murder of one Alcoholic in his wife and his suppression of the same) would not be suspected by superficial listening.
Track list
- Song for Whoever - 6:10
- Have You Ever Been Away - 5:40
- From Under the Covers - 3:59
- I'll Sail This Ship Alone - 4:47
- Girlfriend - 2:55
- Straight In At 37 - 4:25 (CD only)
- You Keep It All In - 2:52
- Woman in the Wall - 5:15
- Oh Blackpool - 3:06
- Love Is - 7:00
- I Love You (But You're Boring) - 4:30