Welcome to the Beautiful South
Occupation
- Bass: Sean Welch
- Vocals: Dave Hemingway, Paul D. Heaton, Briana Corrigan
- Guitar: David Rotheray
- Drums: David Stead
Welcome To The Beautiful South is the debut album by the British band The Beautiful South. It was released in October 1989 and peaked in the UK charts, number two.
Genesis
The album was one year after the dissolution of the previous band The Housemartins. Due to musical differences, the members could no longer work together. While Norman Cook, under the pseudonym Fatboy Slim turned electric, danceable music, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway merged to form The Beautiful South and played a voltage applied to the predecessor band style. Hemingway and Heaton shared the vocals. In addition, they took with Briana Corrigan, a singer in the band. David Rotheray and Sean Welch completed the band.
Cover
The original cover consisted of two images: The first was a woman who put a gun in his mouth; on the second picture was to see a smoking man. The British retail group " Woolworth " initially refused to distribute the album with this cover - on the grounds that it encourage children to smoke. An alternative cover design then showed a rabbit and a teddy bear.
Singles
For this album the singles Song For Whoever were released ( # 2 in the UK charts ), You Keep It All In ( 8th place) and I'll Sail This Ship Alone ( # 31 ).
Lyrics and music
Musically, the record was held in a very melodic pop sounds, which, however, partly political ( " Have You Ever Been Away " as an indictment against Stammtisch strategists ) partly kommerz critical ( "Song For Whoever ", in the album version just under 2 minutes longer than on the maxi-single - extraction, treatment, writing a love song as a purely commercial activity without real feelings, " from Under the Covers " represents the regulated imposed workday the desire for hedonism opposite) texts transported, which partly cynical content ( "Woman in the Wall" describes the murder of a alcoholic to his wife and his displacement thereof) at the superficial hearing would not suspected.