RIP Beautiful South

By Mark Rabinowitz in Music | The World Outside America on February 26, 2007 6:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

News of the recent demise of one of my favorite British bands of the past 20 years had escaped me until a friend mentioned it in an email. The band is The Beautiful South and their stated reason for the split is yet another reason I loved this band: "Musical similarities." An offspring of "the fourth best band in Hull" The Housemartins, The Beautiful South were formed in 1988 when the former band split. The Beautiful South carried on the Housemartin's penchant for a witty turn of phrase ("I love you from the bottom of my pencil case" from their first big hit Song For Whoever) often with contrasting musical styles. For example, Song For Whoever plays like a love song but if fact is anything but. At one time, the band was so huge in the UK that an oft quoted stat is that their greatest hits collection Carry On Up The Charts can be found in 1 in every 7 UK households.

She's a PHD in I told you so, you've a knighthood in I'm not listening

One of my favorite songs by the band is "Don't Marry Her," a delightfully direct and to the point ditty about the choices one makes in love. It contains both the above lyric as well as "When your socks smell of angels, But your life smells of brie, Don't marry her, fuck me." Straight and to the point, eh?

Interested in picking up some Beautiful South CDs (and helping a brutha out with a few coins)? Here's a link or two for ya:

For my US readers, a couple of Barnes & Noble links:
Carry on up the Charts: The Best of the Beautiful South

Welcome to the Beautiful South

And for those of you in the UK and Europe: