Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 325 - Carry On Up The Charts - The Beautiful South (1994)

Carry On Up The Charts - The Beautiful South

Go! Discs

Released November 1994

UK Chart #1

Personnel
    Paul Heaton — vocals
    Dave Hemingway — vocals
    Briana Corrigan — vocals (Tracks 1-12)
    Jacqui Abbott — vocals (Tracks 11-14)
    Dave Rotheray — guitar
    Sean Welch — bass
    Dave Stead — drums

Single Released from Carry On Up The Charts

A One Last Love Song    
B Right Man For The Job / Java

7" and CD1

UK Chart #14

CD2

1 One Last Love Song    
2 Mr. Obsession    
3 You're Only Jealous

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Carry On Up The Charts was the fifth album to be released by The Beautiful South and their first Greatest Hits compilation. It was a major success reaching #1 in the UK Album Chart and a year after its release had been acredited Platinum five times!

All fourteen tracks on the album had charted as singles, some more successful than others with 9 of them being Top 20 - A Little Time was their only #1 single in the UK. Add to that four Top Ten albums and The Beautiful South were really on a roll - Welcome To The Beautiful South (October 1989 #2), Choke (November 1990 #2), 0898 Beautiful South (March 1992 #4) and Miaow (March 1994 #6). That's pretty good going for the first six years of their existence.

I had been a huge fan of The Housemartins and so was very excited when Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway formed The Beautiful South after the split of Hull's favourite band. Hemingway had impressed vocally on The Housemartins single Build and seemed to blend well with Heaton's rich vocal stylings. Sean Welch had been a roadie for The Housemartins and was a founding member of The Beautiful South as Bassist. Along with Dave Rotheray on Guitar (and a co-writer of much of the music) and Dave Stead on Drums that was the first line-up of the band and the one that recorded the Debut Album and the first three singles.

Singles from the Welcome To The Beautiful South album

Song For Whoever

May 1989 UK Chart #2

You Keep It All In

September 1989 UK Chart #8

I'll Sail This Ship Alone

November 1989 UK Chart #31

Briana Corrigan had sung backing vocals on the Debut album but for the second album she was a member of the band (she recorded two as a member) and straight away her presence was felt when A Little Time, a beautiful duet between her and Hemingway shot to the top of the singles chart in the UK. In addition to Corrigan was Keyboardist Damon Butcher, who whilst never a "full-time" member of the band (he was invited to be) played on pretty much all the remaining albums by The Beautiful South.

Singles from the Choke album

A Little Time

September 1990 UK Chart #1

My Book

November 1990 UK Chart #43

Let Love Speak Up Itself*

March 1991 UK Chart #51

*On the Limited Edition 2CD version of the album (the second disc being B-Sides of the singles) a version featuring the vocal of Jacqui Abbot is featured rather than the single version with Paul Heaton's vocal. The version was recorded originally for the Emma Freud Show for the BBC in March 1994 and was included as a B-Side to Everybody's Talkin' in May 1994. I must admit that I prefer the Abbott vocal to Heaton's.

 0898 Beautiful South was the final album with Briana Corrigan on vocals and four singles were released from the album. A few of these should have been much bigger hits I think.

Singles from the 0898 Beautiful South album

Old Red Eyes is Back

December 1991 UK Chart #22

We Are Each Other

March 1992 UK Chart #30

Bell Bottomed Tear

June 1992 UK Chart #16

36D

September 1992 UK Chart #46

Jacqui Abbott joined the band in 1994 after the departure of Briana Corrigan - she had been unhappy regarding some of the lyrics that Heaton had written for the next album Miaow. Heaton had heard Abbott sing at a party and invited her to join the band. She would be with the band for six years and recorded four albums as a member.

Singles from the Miaow album

 Good As Gold (Stupid As Mud)

February 1984 UK Chart #23

Everybody's Talkin'

May 1994 UK Chart #12

Prettiest Eyes

August 1994 UK Chart #37

The band would continue on to have more hit albums (Blue is the Colour 1996 #1; Quench 1998 #1; Painting It Red 2000 #2; Solid Bronze - singles compilation 2001 #10; Gaze 2003 #14; Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs 2004 #11; and their final album Superbi 2006 #6) and hit singles but I think none of them bar Pretenders To The Throne, Rotterdam and Perfect 10 stand up to the first fourteen releases.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!