The Beautiful South - Choke (1990)

2011-10-30T09:29:27Z

The Beautiful South - Choke (1990)


1. Tonight I Fancy Myself					play
2. My Book
3. Let Love Speak Up Itself
4. Should've Kept My Eyes Shut
5. I've Come For My Award
6. Lips
7. I Think The Answer's Yes
8. A Little Time
9. Mother's Pride
10. I Hate You (But You're Interesting)
11. The Rising Of Grafton Street			play

Personnel
Paul Heaton - vocals
Dave Hemingway - vocals
Briana Corrigan - vocals
Dave Rotheray - guitar
Sean Welch - bass
Dave Stead - drums
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Gary Barnacle – Flute, Saxophone
Kevin Brown – Saxophone
Damon Butcher – Piano, Keyboards
Jody Kitson – Percussion
Tony Robinson – Trumpet
Pete Wingfield – Piano

Choke (released October 1990) is The Beautiful South's second album. It was pushed to number 2 in the charts after the release of the South's first and only number 1 single "A Little Time".

The album was followed by two more singles, both of which were flops. "My Book", which became the band's first non top-40 single, peaked at number 43 and finally "Let Love Speak Up Itself", the last release from this album, only managed to reach number 51.

Earlier versions of the album, regardless of format, contained only 11 tracks. The twelfth track (appearing at the end of later presses of the CD) was intended for the album from the beginning, but was removed at a late stage of production. Only in much later editions of the CD did the track finally appear, added without explanation to the end of the album. Original copies of "Choke" on cassette tape feature a long silence at the end of Side One, possibly indicating that this would have been the location originally intended for the track. ---wiki

Their 1989 debut was hailed for reinserting cynicism, doubt, and biting sarcasm into pop music. But when Choke arrived a year later, Paul Heaton and the Beautiful South encountered a good amount of critical blowback. "Too clever!" they cried. "Too cynical!" It was true -- kind of. As before, tales of codependence and things seen that should never have been unfolded over the course of irresistible little pop songs. But "I Hate You (But You're Interesting)" twisted the knife even deeper. While the main thrust of the song suggested sitting on a beach lost in painful memory, sprightly piano kept drowning out the seagulls like a memory too strong to shake.

Maybe this sort of thing hit too close to home for some; for others, it was just an extension of the Smiths' self-love/hate. So even if Choke wasn't as successful as its predecessor, that it would give people fits at all probably pleased Heaton to no end. A lounge-y cover of "What You See Is What You Get" smirked with its own effeteness, "Tonight I Fancy Myself" gave the band's three vocalists a peppy arrangement over which to harmonize and numerous songs showcased the bracing vocals of Briana Corrigan playing off of Heaton's ironic croon. All of Choke's light, jazz-tinged arrangements had a great time concealing the Beautiful South's ghastly tales in their own way. Perhaps the only reason they were accused of being too clever was because their skewering of society was too accurate. ---Johnny Loftus, Rovi

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The Beautiful South - Superbi (2006)

2018-02-02T14:18:00Z

The Beautiful South - Superbi (2006)


1 	The Rose Of My Cologne 	3:50
2 	Manchester 	3:57
3 	There Is Song 	4:11
4 	The Cat Loves The Mouse 	3:39
5 	The Next Verse 	4:56
6 	When Romance Is Dead 	3:04
7 	Meanwhile 	3:21
8 	Space 	3:40
9 	Bed Of Nails 	4:13
10 	Never Lost A Chicken To A Fox 	4:17
11 	From Now On 	4:46
12 	Tears 	4:08

Banjo, Dobro, Mandolin – Jonny Scott
Bass – Sean Welch
Drums – David Stead
Guitar – Dave Rotheray
Keyboards – Damon Butcher
Percussion – Gary Hammond
Sequenced By [Protools] – Louis Read
Strings – The London Session Orchestra
Vocals – Alison Wheeler, Dave Hemingway, Paul Heaton

Superbi was the ninth album by the Beautiful South, eleven if you count two different greatest-hits packages, produced by former Tears for Fears keyboardist, Ian Stanley. For nearly two decades, they had been winning sales by singing melancholy, bittersweet love songs with a twist, lyrics that never quite added up to straightforward boy meets girl, and here was more of the same. Why change a winning formula, even when it's ceased to be so winning? Had they been around at the time, none of the tracks from Superbi would have made it onto either of the hits compilations, Carry on Up the Charts or Solid Bronze, but with so many big chart hits to choose from, the Beautiful South were spoiled and did not have to worry about the track "Manchester" only reaching number 41 (the dreaded number 41) or "The Rose of My Cologne" not even hitting the Top 75 at all. In better times, they would have done considerably better, but by 2007 the band was not at their peak. Alison "Lady" Wheeler joined Paul Heaton on the counter boy/girl harmonies as the band served up their classic two styles of song, either the wistful romantic ballad with "Bed of Nails," "There Is Song," and "The Next Verse," or the country dancing style-like tracks "Space," "Meanwhile," "The Cat Loves a Mouse," and "Never Lost a Chicken to a Fox." [The CD was also released with a bonus track.] ---Sharon Mawer, AllMusic Review

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The Beautiful South - Choke (1990)

The Beautiful South - Superbi (2006)