Pool Of Sound - Beautiful South

Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott

Although the band originated in Hull, formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of 'The Housemartins', the two most distinctive members of the band were the Merseysiders Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott.
Paul David Heaton was born on the 9th of May 1962 in Bromborough, Wirral and was founder member and frontman of 'The Housemartins', who had success with the singles 'Happy Hour' and the UK No.1 'Caravan Of Love' in 1986 before disbanding in 1988. He then formed 'The Beautiful South' whose debut single and album was released in 1989 to commercial success and continued with a series of hits throughout the 1990s, including the number-one single 'A Little Time'.

After the band's first album (recorded as a quintet), they were joined by a succession of female vocalists. All of the following artists performed lead and backing vocals alongside Paul and Dave, :- Brianna Corrigan for albums No.2 and No.3 after appearing as a guest vocalist on No.1, followed by Jacqui Abbott for the 4th to 7th albums, and finally Alison Wheeler for the final 3 'Beautiful South' albums.

It was in 1994 that Jacqui Abbott, born on the 10th of November 1973 in St.Helens, Merseyside, a supermarket shelf stacker in her home town, was brought on board to fill in as the new third lead vocalist for the band. Paul Heaton had heard her sing at an after-show party in St Helens and remembered her vocal talents. Paul referred to her as "the lass from the glass", a reference to the Pilkington Glass factory in St Helens. Jacqui's first album with the band was 'Miaow' in the same year, 1994. Other hits included, 'Good as Gold (Stupid as Mud)' and a cover of 'Everybody's Talkin'', previously popularised by Harry Nilsson.
Paul reunited with Jacqui in 2013 to record new material before 'What Have We Become?' was released on the 19th of May 2014. The album reached No.3 in the UK Albums Chart and contained 12 new songs (the deluxe version had an additional four new songs). The majority of the songs were written by Paul Heaton and his current songwriting partner Jonny Lexus, apart from 'D.I.Y', 'When It Was Ours' and 'You're Gonna Miss Me' (which was written by Paul Heaton only).

On working with Jaqui Abbott once again, Paul said, "Working with Jacqui again was like going into your garage and discovering a beautiful, covered up Rolls Royce that hadn't been started in years. Jacqui is one of the best singers I've worked with and is also part of my past. It was only a matter of time before I asked her."
The Guardian newspaper has described Paul Heaton as "one of our finest songwriters: his music reveals an exuberant ear for melody, his lyrics a keen eye and a brilliant wit."
On the 16th of November 2018, a career-spanning collection of Paul's music titled 'The Last King Of Pop' was released on the Virgin EMI label. It featured 23 of the songs written by Paul from throughout his career in 'The Housemartins', 'The Beautiful South', his solo years, and his collaboration with Jacqui Abbott.
The track listing included 'The Housemartins' 1985 debut single 'Flag Day', 'The Beautiful South's' 'Don't Marry Her', 'Rotterdam' and 'Perfect 10' through to the 2017's Heaton & Abbott single 'I Gotta Praise' plus a 2018 re-record by Paul and Jacqui of the Beautiful South song 'A Little Time', and a brand new song, entitled '7' Singles'.
The album reached Number 10 in the UK Charts and was officially certified Gold on the 11th of January 2019.
To coincide with the album release, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott performed three shows at Sheffield City Hall, Blackpool Empress Ballroom and London's Royal Albert Hall, performing the album in full.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2020/02/pool-of-sound-coral.html