- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Orion (8 April 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 057506739X
- ISBN-13: 978-0575067394
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 13.8 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 326,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Beautiful South, so the press release proclaims, are "the only 1 million-plus selling UK band not to have had a book written about them." It¹s that kind of perverse underdog pride which characterises The Beautiful South: a low-key, resolutely unstarry band, springing from the defunct Housemartins, who have nonetheless placed 19 singles in the charts, and a copy of their greatest hits album in one in every seven UK households. But at last music journalist Mike Pattenden has blown their cover, putting The Beautiful South in print with this intriguing portrait.
Pattenden was commissioned to "establish a different perspective of the Band"--to tell us more than what we already knew, that they came from Hull, they were partial to a drink or two, and they wrote funny, ironic pop songs (songwriters Dave Rotheray and Paul Heaton were particularly irked by that "ironic" label). As Pattenden follows the band from booze-drenched gig to, erm, booze-drenched gig, his readers might be forgiven for gleaning little more. Hull, to which the band remain firmly committed, is clearly an abiding inspiration; drink is a sine qua non; and as for irony--well, judge for yourself. Interspersing his adventures with the band with comment from Billy Bragg, Norman Cook and others, Pattenden provides an intimate, even loving account of a strangely uncommunicative pop tribe. --Alan Stewart
Product Description
Since they formed in 1989, The Beautiful South have become on of the biggest selling acts in the UK. Their greatest hits album compilation was, for a while, the fastest selling release in the UK , and their album "Blue is the Colour" sold 1.5 million copies. They have also run up 17 hit singles. This book is the authorized story of The Beautiful South. Mike Pattenden, of "The Times", "Vox" and "Arena", has been granted access behind the scenes to the band themselves and their associates, both past and present, in order to tell the story of the last decade. From the early days of Norman Cook and The Housemartins, right up to the released of the new album in the autumn of of 1998; from Paul Heaton's outspoken left-wing politics with attitude to his twin obsessions of Sheffield United and Italian football; from the acrimonious split from Go! Discs to a profile of the city of Hull, its pubs, and its influence on the several members of the and who were born and bred there, "The Liar's Bar" is a definitive book about The Beautiful South.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
As rock journalism goes, it is hard to think of a less 'rock and roll' character to profile than Paul Heaton.
This was never going to be 'Hammer of the Gods' part 2. However, it is an honest attempt to profile the life and works of Heaton, whose personality has always made him the central figure in the bands he has formed.
The difficulty in writing a convincing biography of Heaton is in distilling the many published utterances that the man makes into something that is
a) intelligible and
b) convincing.
Mike Pattenden, as the author and a supposed long term freind of Heaton, gives him an easy ride on subjects like his well-known and rather eccentric political philosophy.
Heaton has always backed up his draconian form of socialism, in which he appears to approve any form of action including killing people, by relating his own 'working class' background. However, Pattenden fails to square this with the fact that Heaton actually enjoyed a comfortable middle-class upbringing.
Heaton is certainily a notable songwriter and a telented storyteller. Although collecting crisp packets is hardly in the same league as driving cars into swimming pools, Heaton's prediliction for the demon drink is given a central theme in the book - witness the title - and yet again there is the tendency by the author to gloss over the issue's more sinister side - namely that if Heaton is really such an extreme alcoholic, then he is heading for the same musical death-trip as the legions before him. Bland comments suggesting that Heaton could actually stop drinking tomorrow should he wish do not make a convining argument after the author has spent hundreds of pages describing a serious drinker.
In all an interesting and mostly believable account of a man who has made an art form out of inconsistency.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Paul Heaton and The Beautiful South make an interesting band for study, the fact that this is the only biography ever done on the multi-million selling band begins to explain what a unique position they hold in the pop world.
Mike Pattenden does a fine job of covering a huge amount of material, from the Housemartins finding their feet, all the way up to the release of Miaow. However covering so much ground and a sense of sticking up for the overlooked geniuses means that some uncomfortable topics are looked at briefly and uncritically (Briana quitting, various drug and alcohol problems).
Still an absolute must-read for anyone with any interest in the band.
Mike Pattenden does a fine job of covering a huge amount of material, from the Housemartins finding their feet, all the way up to the release of Miaow. However covering so much ground and a sense of sticking up for the overlooked geniuses means that some uncomfortable topics are looked at briefly and uncritically (Briana quitting, various drug and alcohol problems).
Still an absolute must-read for anyone with any interest in the band.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
I have waited with baited breath for someone to write a no-holds-barred expose of arguably the finest band in England today. Finally, Mike Pattenden has written a full account of the Beautiful South. As a lifelong fan of Paul Heaton's I found the book extremely interesting. The author's obvious admiration of the leader shines through whenever he is mentioned, even when talking about hooliganism in a none too politically correct manner. I do feel that the book sometimes slips into hero-worship now and again, but such is Paul's personality, apparently! The most fascinating aspect of the book is the revelation of the mechanics of the band and the behaviour and attitude of it's leader when it comes to music. At the end of the day, they are a highly successful band and prone to the same pitfalls that other bands are. It's just that they don't look like they are! If the book has any flaw it is it's constant references to Hull. As a former resident of Hull (and in fact a former resident of Grafton Street) this didn't bother me as I could relate to it all. I know the difference in attitude between Beverley Road and Hessle Road. I know the impact of students to Cottingham Road etc.., but a lot of people don't, and as important as Hull is to the band and the story of the band, do so many readers need to be alienated? Ultimately, Pattenden has provided an investigation into the songwriter and what makes him tick without forgetting that there are other people to consider. A superb book, whether you like the band or not.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
About Bloody Time!
Well what can i say an absolute must for any south fan especially if you were there before Carry On Up The Charts. Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2000 by alanaxess@aol.com
Compelling and revealing insight into hot-head Heaton
Mike Pattenden was given this assignment following an interview with, Heaton and Rotheray, The Beautiful South's writing partnership, for Vox magazine. Read more
Published on 24 April 1999
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