Tracksandgigs will receive no credibility points and certainly will not get a mention in Drowned In Sound or Pitchfork for admitting to a liking for the work of Paul Heaton. But, we don't care.
The Beautiful South may be unfashionable but Heaton is and always has been a superb songwriter and a great singer. I have seen the Beautiful South live on two occasions. The first time was in a very small venue and Heaton was extremely drunk, the second was in a much larger venue and Heaton appeared to be sober. Both gigs were great and unlike some I wasn't bothered by the amount of middle-aged couples wearing matching sweaters at the gigs. Who cares if they know that some of the lyrics are 'ironic'? I have to say I know little of the drug fuelled world of Holly, Gideon and Charlemagne but that doesn't stop me singing along to all the songs when I see The Hold Steady play live. Some people liked TBS because Heaton was a great songwriter and other people liked them because the tunes were nice and easy to listen to and they liked the other singer better because he had a "nicer" voice. It matters not.
Anyway, TBS split up last year due to "musical similarities" but now, as TracksandGigs suspected, Paul Heaton is BACK with a new band, new songs and a tour. Paul is now calling himself Horace Heaton Jr (his mum and dad are Horace and Doris Heaton...) and the new songs sound NOTHING like the Beautiful South, if anything more like the Housemartins. Upbeat, guitar-driven and fresh, this is a very exciting new direction for Heaton.
Hear demos of the songs here:-
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=242459102
Paul, please add a second London date. Cheers.
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