Carry On Up The Charts

Driving back last night the next alphabteicised CD in my collection was The Beautiful South collection, Carry On Up The Charts. The single disc version not the expanded version.
I think there was some statistic, that I may be totally making up here, but at the time I think there was some statistic that one house hold in five in the uk owned this disc, or is that one person in five in Britain is a paedophile? I cant recall, but a lot of people did own this album, these days it tends to be in charity shops with a scratched and or cracked case. People are fickle bastards.
I used to really like The Beautiful South, you see The Housemartins were a big deal to me and naturally I was drawn to Paul Heatons group as opposed, although not entirely, to Norman Cook. Up to this best of I bought everything Mr Heaton released.
This collection coveres all the singles and a little more from Song For Whoever to One Last Love Song, dipping into the 4 albums that preceeded this release.
Heatons strength is his lyrics and in Dave Rotheray had a great writing partner. Dave Rotheray is a seriously overlooked writer and I think this collection highlights that.
In 2007 The Beautiful South split, possibly the right time after releasing a very poor covers album and being the band of choice for mums, they were in serious danger of turning into Westlife. The rest of the band have since decided to carry on as The New Beautiful South without the input of it's two main contributers, in Rotheray and Heaton. It reminds me a little of one of those versions of The Drifters that we used to get at Butlins, in that the actual talent had long since departed.
The songs are pretty much faultless, as a round up of their best and singles, Heaton can draw a tear from a glass eye and a smile from a painting and thats what he does so well. As a round up of a career to a point it is no wonder that it has sold in it's droves and one that in the lashing down around Luton made the journey all the more pleasing.
The problem is what to mark it, I know the songs all to well even if they are superb, ah sod it. 10 out of 10.



I'll Sail This Ship Along by The Beautiful South