Grinning Myself to Death

In news that has left me vulnerable to feather related knock-downs, Paul Heaton has announced that he will be touring Australia in October 2012 for what I think is the first ever time. 

I had long assumed our shared passion for not dying in aeroplanes ruled out any chance of me ever seeing Paul on these shores, and yet here we are. Clearly he has faith that his lucky pixie and Simon le Bon calling card (previously used as inflight lucky charms) are working well. Whatever the reason, it is ace news.

Anyone who has ever had a casual glance at these pages would know my appreciation for all things Heaton - the pop star against which all others should be judged. It's been 23 years since my first concert - a Christmas night out at Bridlington Spa with the Beautiful South. The newly formed band went to such lengths not to play Housemartins songs that they did You Keep It All In twice and offered covers of Pebbles' Girlfriend and the Bee Gees' You Should be Dancing. 

Thankfully Paul seems to have reconciled himself with his extensive back catalogue and the Australian gigs are promising a greatest hits set covering all of his career - Housemartins, the South and solo. I can hardly believe I'm typing those words.

Despite having turned 50 this month, Heaton is fresh from writing and performing The 8th (the longest pop song ever) at the Manchester International Festival and undertaking another of his cycling pub tours of the UK, so it sounds like we're going to see an energised and engaged PD. I can't help but feel it will have been worth every minute of the long wait.



• Wednesday 17 October – Jive Bar, Adelaide (http://www.jivevenue.com/)
• Thursday 18 October – Corner Hotel,Melbourne (http://cornerhotel.com/)
• Saturday 20 October – The Factory, Sydney (http://www.factorytheatre.com.au/)Sunday 21 October – Fly By Night, Perth (http://www.flybynight.org/)

So, Australian fans, let's get up off our knees and start compiling that dream set list... form an orderly queue in the comments section below. 

How the Housemartins Gave Me Back My Mojo

Back in 2009 I got all excited on these very pages at the news that the original members of the Housemartins (my favourite band, lest we forget) had reunited for the first time in 22 years to do an interview for the UK music magazine, Mojo.

I clearly wasn't alone, as the posts that I wrote on the subject (yes, there was more than one...) remain some of the most well read in Mint Custard's brief and inauspicious history. Many hundreds of people (I know, unlikely but true) have googled the Housemartins mini-reunion and arrived here hoping for either a concert announcement (I've long given up hope) or the chance to read the article online.

Sadly it isn't available anywhere, a fact that made me get off my bony bottom and write to the people at Mojo asking them to post it online or at least give permission for me to reprint it here. Frustratingly, they just ignored my email. I received an automated 'please don't bother us' and nothing more. Then I tried to find the author, David Hutcheon. I Googled and Googled but (apart from finding out he writes lots of articles about world music for The Times which I can't access because they have a paywall) again, nothing.

So now, given that the interview is almost two years old, and given that no one is going to make or lose money from it and also because I would like to improve the lives of the hopeful souls who just want to read an interview with the 4th best band from Hull, I'm going to do what most people on the internet would have done in the first place and just post it anyway.

If you are David Hutcheon or indeed anyone from Mojo and you'd like to send me an angry letter packed with threats then you know where I am. For everyone else (and with apologies for the limitations of my scanner) please enjoy the final reunion of Hugh, Paul, Stan and Norman; the mighty Housemartins.

Gone to the Birds

Once, very long ago, I did something bad. Something very bad, for which I am highly ashamed, and feel the need to confess to you here and now. It was early 1990, just a few weeks after I saw my first ever gig; the Beautiful South at Bridlington Spa. I was staying at my Grandma and Grandad’s house in Hull. With them both safely tucked up in bed, I decided to entertain myself by looking up members of the newly famous Beautiful South in the phone book.

With Paul Heaton already famous for a good few years he was always going to be ex-directory. However, clearly unprepared for the perils of fame was Mr Dave Rotheray, the South’s lead guitarist and co-song writer (and improbably one of three Daves in a band with just five full time members). Sure enough, there he was - in pre-internet black and white – Rotheray, D.

I’m not sure what possessed the teenage me to ring Dave’s house that night. I am still horrified at the thought. However, ring I did. A male voice answered with a friendly enough ‘hello.’ ‘Can I speak to Dave, please?’ I squeaked. As the voice at the other end of the line changed tone and politely told me that Dave was not in (despite clearly being he) I realised I probably wasn’t the first East Yorkshire-based miscreant to call chez Rotheray. To his credit Dave didn’t use any rude words but it was clear that he wasn’t up for a chat with an inarticulate pimply youth. I hung up quickly, grateful that caller return and 1471 was a few years away.

Dave, I’d like to apologise for this invasion of your privacy two decades ago. I’ve lived many embarrassed moments since thinking about it and am slightly flushed now as I type. I’m sorry Mr Rotheray. Perhaps I could make it up to you by encouraging people to buy your new album The Life of Birds. I mean people should, and no doubt will anyway, whether you forgive me or not, but I thought it might help a little and assuage some of my guilt.

After all, the Life of Birds is a wonderful album. Less a solo album than a collection of collaborations with some of Dave’s favourite folks artists, the result is beautiful, moving and highly diverse. Fans of the Beautiful South - especially songs that put their various leading ladies in the spotlight - will be sated by Eleanor McEvoy’s Almost Beautiful and Nat Johnson’s Flying Lessons but there is more on offer here than the South with new singers.

Draughty Old Fortress features the striking vocal talents of Alasdair Roberts and sounds like the soundtrack to The Wicker Man re-recorded by the Fence Collective. There are hints of the Divine Comedy in Jim Causley’s The Sparrow, The Rush and the Nightingale and Jack L’s The Best Excuse in the World, whilst the slide guitar on Jim Causley’s too-brief The Hummingbird and Camille O’Sullivan’s Sweet Forgetfulness reminded me of listening to Radio Humberside’s weekly Country by Request as a lad. Elsewhere there are few voices as lovely as Kathryn Williams and her Crows, Ravens and Rooks is an album highlight.

As you may have picked up from the title and song names, The Life of Birds is also something of a concept album about our fine feathered friends. The theme hangs in the air well with some clever imagery and metaphors, but that said all the songs sit comfortably on their own and the bird references are not overdone. I’d challenge anyone to listen to Draughty Old Fortress out of context and know what it’s about, but knowing just adds an extra dimension to an already powerful moment.

Reviews have been very positive for the Rotheray and the album, which is nice considering all the shit the media hung on the Beautiful South over the years. Coinciding with former partner Paul Heaton’s own creative renaissance, it proves that they really are national treasures that we took for granted, but also that they were right to go their separate ways in 2008. Oh and by the way Dave, if you’d like to call me, uninvited in the middle of the night then please, feel free. I think I probably owe you one.

Watch this YouTube interview with Dave to hear him talking about Life of Birds. You can also watch live performances of songs from the album by visiting propertv on YouTube including Crows, Ravens and Rooks with the gorgeous Kathryn Williams. You should you know.

Acid House-martin

It feels a little odd to be advocating concerts that I’ll never attend in promotion of an album that is unlikely to be released in Australia, but since Paul Heaton is afraid of aeroplanes and unlikely to tour here any time soon I have to live vicariously to get my Heato-related kicks.

The musical world's foremost collector of crisp packets (and former Beautiful South and Housemartins frontman) releases his new album, Acid Country next Monday in the UK and whilst I've only heard the snippets available on his website and MySpace page it's enough to make me part with my money. There's unquestionably more of a raw, jangly Housemartins feel to Paul's recent material compared to some of the more polished Beautiful South stuff. This is no bad thing at all as you can see from this live performance of Acid Country's lead single The Ladder's Bottom Rung (though don't look at the audience who all seem like they've ended up there by mistake...)

Mr Heaton will be promoting Acid Country with his second solo tour of 2010 and, as I said back in June, those attending will be chuffed to know that Paul has been playing a few Housemartins songs in his set for the first time in over 20 years. The Acid Country tour starts in Liverpool on the 20th September, winding up in Wexford, Ireland on the 8th October. Tickets are available now from gigsandtours.com. Enjoy it you lucky swines.

Elsewhere Heaton is also the support for the evergreen Madness on their Do Not Adjust Your Nut tour from 26 November to 17 December. Madness were surprisingly wonderful when they toured Australia 18 months ago, so that's not a bad bill, even for a bit of a nostalgia show.

However if, like me, you can't make it to either tour then why not treat yourself to a bit of Heaton live, from his own kitchen table no less, with this acoustic version of I Do from his last album, the Cross Eyed Rambler

Paul's Solo Tour (Tickets on sale from gigsandtours.com)

UK - September

· 20 - O2 Academy, Liverpool

· 21 - King Tuts, Glasgow

· 22 - O2 Academy, Newcastle

· 24 - O2 Academy, Manchester

· 25 - Thekla, Bristol

· 26 - Glee Club, Birmingham

· 28/29 - Borderline, London

· 30 - Leadmill, Sheffield

IRELAND - October

· 2 - SET Theatre, Kilkenny

· 3 - Ruby Rooms, Castelbar

· 5 - Cyprus Avenue, Cork

· 6 - Academy, Dublin

· 7 - Auntie Annie's, Belfast

· 8 - Arts Centre, Wexford

Paul’s new album Acid Country is out on 13 September 2010. For more details visit Paul's website at paulheatonmusic.co.uk

East Yorkshire (Slight Return)

It’s the first day of winter here in Melbourne and there must be something in the air because I’m down with a bad case of the fed-ups. I’d therefore like to extend my enormous mittened hand of gratitude to the good folks at the Suitable Mouth, home of all things Housemartins, Beautiful South and Paul Heaton for warming my insides with the news that Paul has been playing Housemartins songs on his peddle-powered jaunt around the UK.

No I won't play any bloody Housemartins... oh go on then

It may not be the Housemartins reunion that five people a day land on these pages looking for but I hope that these performances of Flag Day and Build from his gig in the East Yorkshire rock and roll hamlet of Hutton Cranswick give you similar tingles to the ones I had. As far as I can figure out it must be 22 years since these songs were last played live… they still sound ace.

P's Off

Well, it had to happen sometime - this week I finally got my full drivers' licence. Yes, some 18 years after my mum and dad promised me fifty quid's worth of driving lessons for my 17th birthday (never received) and a lifetime spent as a professional passenger, I now have a proper grown up driver's licence.

I should explain that here in Australia new drivers are required to spend three years on probation. Unlike the UK passing your test merely moves you from yellow L plates to red P plates. This is a bittersweet status whereby you are finally able to drive on your own whilst simultaneously joining the ranks of one the most despised, mistrusted and frequently insulted groups in Australian culture. Nothing unites Australians more than their hatred for Red P platers. It doesn't matter what race, gender or age you are, Aussies nationwide will be ready to toot their horns and call you a 'farckin' useless c**t' at every opportunity.

Fortunately this only lasts a year before you can graduate to Green P's. This colour change permits you to drive at 100 km per hour (10km more than on your Red P's) but otherwise it's pretty much the same with just a little less venom from your fellow road users. Personally I never really minded being on my Green P's. Some drivers do afford you a bit of leniency, which can be useful on the inny-outy tram-laden lane-changing streets of Melbourne.

Still, all good things must come to an end and after two years of diligently affixing my little green squares to the front and back windows of our car, I am finally P free. And my thoughts on this auspicious occasion? On becoming the very last of all my peers to get my licence? On it being almost two decades since those first terrifying car trips along dark country lanes in their rusty old bangers and parents' borrowed Mini Metros? On being technically old enough to have a child now able to drive? Am I not slightly embarrassed that the average age in the licencing office this week was about 22?

Sadly not. My main thought as I lined up for my latest passport sized photo was of an NME interview I read back in 1992 with a ramshackle and inebriated Dave Rotheray and Paul Heaton (then of the Beautiful South), responding to accusations that their band lacked ambition. "I have ambition," Heaton retorted "I'll start smoking when I'm 28 and I'll learn to drive when I'm 35." I remember reading that and thinking 'God love you, you contrary drunken buggers' and being glad that I'd just spent that summer schlepping wide-eyed and legless around the French countryside on my own for the first time of many when, according to the rite-of-passage rules I should have been learning to drive. So anyway here I am; a little late but I did it. And frankly if 35 is good enough for P(d) Heaton, it's plenty fine for me.

Pedals and Pumps

How many people need to do something before it becomes a trend? If you’ll accept two as an answer then please permit me to be the first to announce the latest celebrity trend: people who I like circumnavigating the British Isles under their own steam.

Yes, hot on the (kitten) heels of Eddie Izzard’s still frankly astonishing 43 marathons in 52 days for Sports Relief, Paul Heaton is undertaking a UK tour with a difference; on his bicycle. True to form, the former Beautiful South-er and Housemartin is performing each gig in a different pub where he and his small crew will stay for the night. They will then cycle on to the next gig whilst their equipment goes ahead.

Says Heaton: “I’m looking forward to pedalling around the country to promote cycling and the British pub. Both are very close to my heart. I’ve been cycling all my life and the British pub has provided most of my favourite stop-off points. It saddens me to hear about so many British pubs closing on a weekly basis so I want to do all I can to get people back to their local.”

Dates are still to be announced but details of the Pedals and Pumps tour will be posted on Paul’s just-launched website at paulheatonmusic.co.uk.

Meanwhile in other Housemartins-related news, I’ve only just become aware of this special Subbuteo Edition of London 0 Hull 4. As well as last year’s Deluxe Edition of their debut album the package contains four badges, a 12" x 18" poster and a six inch replica Subbuteo figure in Hull City colours. The downside is they cost 40 quid plus postage and packing. But hey, there are only 1000 in the world … mmmm, limited edition tat I’ve already got and won’t listen to… limited edition… must … have…one…

Anyway, let’s see how far this new trend extends. Look out for Beth Orton going coast to coast on a pogo stick, Daniel Kitson and Vic Reeves racing go-karts between Britain’s finest pie-shops, Gruff Rhys touring National Trust heritage homes on a large goat and Bill Drummond driving around the M25 for 25 hours straight. Oh wait… he already did that…

Paul Heaton's Scrapbook

You’ll have to forgive the stream of Housemartins-related posts of late but after a 20-year famine the re-release of London 0 Hull 4 has produced a bit of a ‘martins feast.

I’m still to find a newsagent in Melbourne selling the air freight copy of Mojo with the Housemartins reunion interview. Whilst this is a tad frustrating, I was sated somewhat to discover that the Mojo website currently has a section devoted to Paul Heaton’s scrapbook collection. It should come as no surprise that a man who collected crisp packets would keep a fastidiously-ordered scrapbook of Housemartins-related newspaper cuttings, but there are great rewards to be had from Paul’s OCD tendencies.

His scrapbooks contain everything from cuttings of Norman and Paul’s first band (the Stomping Pond Frogs), record label rejection letters, early Housemartins reviews, Smash Hits and Record Mirror features to a lovely felt-tip picture of the band (replete with a sheep) by a six year old fan. The Housemartins versus The Sun battle (in which the right-wing rag accused them of the 'crimes' of being gay and middle-class out of spite for their open attacks on Thatcher and the monarchy) is all there, as is a lovely piece written just before they split up and giving the reasons why.

I’m not sure how much of the clippings feature in the Mojo magazine article itself (can anyone reading in the UK let me know?) but for those of us waiting for the next clipper to reach the far corners of the Empire this is a nice taster.

Hopelessly Devoted to Them

Of all the ramblings I’ve posted on Mint Custard it’s fair to say that the most read has been June’s piece on the Housemartins mini-reunion for the Radcliffe and Maconie Show and Mojo magazine. Over twenty people a day are still popping by, although I won’t flatter myself that it’s due to the quality of my writing.

However, it does warm the cockles of my heart to know that hundreds of people from all around the world care enough about Paul, Stan, Hugh, Norman and Dave to type ‘Housemartins Reunion’ hopefully into Google, looking for some good news. Sadly for them they end up at my lonely outpost of the internet with no more hope of seeing them play again than they started with. Hopefully they still got the same joys as I did from hearing the interview and seeing the pictures of a band seemingly both proud of and at ease with their past.

Paul, Norman, Hugh and Stan – Summer 2009 (with thanks again to Kipjaz for the photo)

Still, it’s understandable that the band have reservations about playing together again, even for a short while. After all, this is the band who stuck to their three year plan to call it quits at the top with the immortal words 'in an age of Rick Astley, Shakin' Stevens and the Pet Shop Boys, quite simply they weren't good enough.’ Life shouldn’t be lived in the past and reunions are rarely as good as people hope they will be. Still, you can’t help but feel that the personalities involved would ensure this was something special and not a tacky cash-in. One show at the Adelphi in Hull as a benefit would be lovely… as long as I got a ticket.

I still don’t think it will happen, but if there’s anyone from Universal Mercury reading this please take note of the huge amount of goodwill out there for Hull’s finest. They deserve better than the threadbare 2004 Best of and the opportunistic joint Beautiful South compilation Soup and I hope the great reaction to the remastered London 0 Hull 4 shows that any other gems you’ve got hanging around in the archives will be gratefully received. And not just by me…

The September issue of Mojo magazine featuring the Housemartins reunion interview is out now in the UK. It might reach Australia by Christmas… to help pass the time here’s Think for a Minute; my favourite Housemartins video and a great example of why less is always more…

Housemartins United!

Great thing this here t’internet – I reckon it’ll go far…  I was looking around for a press release for the reissued London 0 Hull 4 (see yesterday) and discovered there was a virtual Housemartins reunion and I knew nothing about it. Paul and Stan did an interview together with Mark Radcliffe on Radio 2 – there’s a picture and everything! 

Sadly the broadcast has been taken down already, so an enormous tip of the hat and a hearty pat on the back to Cassette Archive for uploading the whole shindig.

(L-R) Stan Cullimore, Mark Radcliffe, Paul Heaton, Stuart Maconie (courtesy of BBC Radio 2)

Apparently they also did an interview for Mojo magazine along with Hugh and Norman and it was the first time they've all been in the same room for 22 years. For me this is akin to John Lennon and George Harrison rising from the dead and I'll admit to getting all emotional hearing Stan and Paul talking about the band so openly and so warmly. 

It was interesting to hear that the stumbling block for any possible reunion is more perception of naffness a-la-Eighties-reunion-comeback-tours (as Mark Radcliffe put it, nipping out to do Happy Hour in between Toyah and Rick Astley) rather than any animosity or general arse-iness like there is between Ian Brown and John Squire or Morrissey and Marr.  No one wants a Housemartins arena tour anyway - even a couple of concerts like the ones Lloyd Cole and the Commotions did for the 20th anniversary of Rattlesnakes would be enough for me to go to my grave happy.  

Of course band-reforming is evil and wrong… but this is the Housemartins and I’ll walk to Hull from Australia if it ever happens… So come on Norman – put your records down for a day, drive over to Hugh’s house, pick up Paul and Stan on the way and let’s get this show on the road. 

If Liking Them is Wrong I Don't Want to Be Right

It would be rude of me not to share the news that London 0 Hull 4, the debut album by the Housemartins, has just been rereleased as a remastered Deluxe Edition double CD package. Sadly, I can offer no reliable advice whether you should buy this album because I love the Housemartins a bit too much and have no capacity for discerning between my feelings and the quality of their work. But I'm sure it's ace.

I can tell you that Flag Day, Freedom, Get Up off Our Knees, Sheep, Anxious and Think for a Minute (fast and slow versions) mean as much to me as the more celebrated Happy Hour. And We’re Not Deep beats them all hands down.

For the totally uninitiated, musically London 0 Hull 4 is a jaunty, jangly pop album punctuated with the odd piano driven gospel-inspired number. Peppered with the barbershop harmonies they became famous for after Caravan of Love (not included here) it doesn’t try to be arty or cool like their more lauded eighties indie contemporaries which only added to their purposefully dorky appeal.

Gently simmering under the surface are Paul (then P.d.) Heaton's biting and often very funny lyrics railing against greed (Anxious), apathy (Get Up off Our Knees, Sitting on a Fence), sexism (Happy Hour), the herd mentality (Sheep), the right wing press (Freedom), self-righteous hypocrisy (Flag Day) and the death of communities (Think for a Minute). Just to seal the deal an inscription inside says 'don't try gate crashing a party full of bankers. burn the house down.' Admittedly not everyone’s mug of tea but definitely one of my favourite brews.

That said, the CD version of London 0 Hull 4 I grew up with (“16 songs – 17 hits!”) always felt a bit imbalanced by the retrospective addition of three gospel covers. As much as I like them they add to the view that their a capella Jesus period had greater significance than was the case. You only have to watch the video for Caravan of Love or listen to the ‘sermonette’ on b-side Heaven Help Us All to know that they were taking the piss a bit, even if their love of a capella was totally genuine (they once supported themselves at a gig as the Fish City Five, performing only a capella).

The lure of remastering and the chance to get hold of the early b-sides on compact disc are enough for me to part with my money but in truth the disc of b-sides, live tracks and radio sessions is a little disappointing – especially as many of the tracks are already available across 1988’s excellent Now That’s What I Call Quite Good and 2006’s Live at the BBC. It would have been more interesting to include some of the better unreleased songs from their Demostatic or Themes for the Well Dressed Man bootlegs. Maybe Paul and Stan just don’t like them. Better still would have been a DVD of peak period Housemartins with film clips, live performances and especially the London 0 Hull 4 documentary featuring Hugh’s guide to toast and a tour of the local bun shop by Stan. Hopefully next time.

There is no anniversary to mark (the album was first released in 1986, with the band splitting two years later) so it’s not clear why this reissue is coming out now. It could have been prompted by the London 0 Hull 4-themed sports headlines in 2008 when Hull City were flying high in the Premiership and beat four London teams on the trot. But I doubt it.

Anyway, if you don’t have this album, then yes, buy now. You won’t be disappointed and you'll discover a few gems for your shuffle playlist. This is the sound of a totally original band, completely out of step with everything and happy to remain that way. However for those short on cash I’d be tempted to find a cheap copy of Now That’s What I Call Quite Good and join me in waiting for the eventual release of the goodies that the band and/or record label are still sitting on, including hopefully a remastered People Who Grinned Themselves to Death.

London 0 Hull 4 (Deluxe Edition) Tracklisting

DISC 1 (original album)
Happy Hour - Get Up Off Our Knees - Flag Day – Anxious - Reverends Revenge - Sitting On A Fence – Sheep - Over There - Think For A Minute - We’re Not Deep - Lean On Me - Freedom

DISC 2
1. Flag Day (original single version) 2. Stand At Ease (Flag Day B-side) 3. You (Flag Day B-side) 4. Coal Train To Hatfield Main (Flag Day B-side) 5. I’ll Be Your Shelter (Sheep B-side) 6. People Get Ready (Sheep B-side) 7. Drop Down Dead (Sheep B-side) 8. The Mighty Ship (Happy Hour B-side) 9. He Ain’t Heavy (Happy Hour B-side) 10. Think For A Minute (original single version) 11. Who Needs The Limelight (Think For A Minute B-side) 12. I Smell Winter (Think For A Minute B-side) 13. Joy Joy Joy (Think For A Minute B-side) 14. Rap Around The Clock (Think For A Minute B-side) 15. Lean On Me (unreleased outtake) 16. Anxious (Janice Long BBC session 6/11/85) 17. We’re Not Deep (Janice Long BBC session 6/11/85) 18. Freedom (Janice Long BBC session 6/11/85) 19. Think For A Minute (Saturday Live BBC session 4/1/86) 20. Drop Down Dead (Saturday Live BBC session 4/1/86) 21. Happy Hour (John Peel BBC session 6/4/86) 22. Get Up Off Our Knees (John Peel BBC session 6/4/86)

Be Careful What You Wish For

Some news that will likely slip under the world’s radar (indeed I only found out several weeks after the event) but apparently the Beautiful South have reformed - sort of. Two years after their official split and twenty years after their first incarnation was unleashed on the world, some of Hull’s second finest have decided that enough wasn’t enough and have become (wait for it) the New Beautiful South. I say some, because technically the only original members will be drummer Dave Stead and Dave Hemingway, singer and erstwhile second drummer of the Housemartins. They will be joined by Alison Wheeler, the last of the South’s three female vocalists (the one who never sang on any of their hits). So, there’s no Jacqui Abbott, no Sean Welch on bass, no Dave Rotheray on guitar and no Paul Heaton; the groups eccentric leader and, with Rotheray, chief songwriter.

It’s a path well-trod by many other bands - including cabaret circuit versions of Motown bands (checkout the website for the Drifters – precisely no original members!), glam stompers (Slade II - all Dave, no Noddy!) and ska revivalists (especially Neville Staples’ Specials - though it should be noted that the current ‘official’ Terry-Hall-included Specials doesn’t feature Jerry Dammers). Other higher profile car-crashes include the reality TV horrors undertaken by iNXS (I see that JD Fortune recently got the boot… poor love) and, lest we forget the original grave robbers, Queen. However, the New Beautiful South are unique in that they fulfill a prophecy created at their inception.

The Beautiful South circa 1989

Tired of the attention given to him as lead singer of the Housemartins, Heaton quite liked the idea of having more than one singer to front the Beautiful South. As well as offering some musical diversity, having three singers (theoretically at least) took some of the focus off him. On several occasions he half-joked that he saw the band as a franchise that he would leave when established. As Paul told NME spin-off Vox Magazine in 1992, “I was hoping to gradually wean myself out of the band, but I don't think they're ready for that - and it doesn't look like they will be for a while". Well, it only took 20 years and a second try at a solo career by Heaton but it looks like the kids are ready to flee the nest.

To be fair to Dave Hemingway, he has a great voice, and the South had plenty of good songs that didn’t feature Heaton. In fact for a while it was a bit of joke that any song featuring Paul on lead vocal would flop, evidenced by their biggest hit – A Little Time – being a #1 duet between Dave and Brianna Corrigan, followed up by Paul’s autobiographical My Book, getting to number 43. To be honest, what else are they going to do after 20 years in the same band? Said Hemmingway: "Dave, Alison and I wanted to continue. We've been twiddling our thumbs for a while, but this is what we do best." That cabaret circuit just got a little fuller.

THE NEW BEAUTIFUL SOUTH will perform at the Welly Club in Hull on 29 March 2009.