Beautiful South - Miaow (Anniversary Celebration)

Release date: 28th March 1994
UK album chart peak: #6

Buy Miaow here (Amazon GB)
Read my Beautiful South anniversary posts here

The fourth album from The Beautiful South, Miaow, is notable for several reasons. It was their second album to have a controversy over the cover art (the original showed HMV styled dogs in a musical hall until the record store made them withdraw it - hence the final art, above); it saw Jacqui Abbott join the group as a vocalist - a partnership with Paul Heaton that, mercifully, remains in tact to this very day; and, most importantly for me, it yielded my favourite ever Beautiful South song as the album's lead track (more on that in a moment). What I loved about the Beautiful South was how brilliantly consistent they were. You knew exactly what you were getting and could be assured they wouldn't bend to the whims of the current chart sound. That's not to say they weren't continuously inventive with their music - they absolutely were. Lush, textured soundscapes and socially relevant stories continued to push the listener - and their own - boundaries. It is no wonder that just six months after this album came out, their greatest hits collection of all singles to date (plus one new song), called Carry On Up The Charts, was their first chart topping album and their biggest seller to date.

• Good As Gold ~ What a song. As soon as I heard this on BBC Radio One one blustery morning I was utterly smitten. Those glorious Motown-esque piano chords set against that buoyant percussion gave a timeless instrumental with an instantly sing-along refrain. I loved that the lyrics detailed someone content with their lot in life when they could be achieving so much more. I was never quite sure whether they were scornful of such folk (stupid as mud) or admired them (good as gold) but that didn't make the song any less compelling. In fact, aside from its melodic charms, it gave me a kick up the backside to do something with my meandering existence. Throw in those brassy horns and a five-get-over-excited style video and I was in pop heaven. Sadly, the song underperformed by peaking at number 23 but it was always a number one smash in my head. And remains so to this very day...
• Everybody's Talking ~ the South had recorded a few cover versions before this single; notably Girlfriend (Pebbles) on their debut album which is still a good time romp. They had always released original material for their singles but perhaps their chart returns moved the label to try something new. Or perhaps this song is so beautifully sung by Jacqui Abbott that it couldn't be contained as "just" an album track. It was so brilliantly done (particularly the accompanying visuals) with lyrics as biting as anything BS had written themselves that it felt like this Harry Nilsson classic was just waiting ready for the South to record. Unlike Good As Gold (which debuted at its peak then dipped), Everybody's Talking spent a solid month in the top 15 and sent the album rocketing back into the top 20. In fact, it was probably those additional album sales which caused the single to drop down the charts - but certainly set the band up for one further single and the upcoming greatest hits.
• Prettiest Eyes ~ I may have loved Good As Gold but this is my mum's favourite Beautiful South song. It is one of their most straight forward love songs too, albeit with that little Southern twist of them highlighting what some might see as imperfections as the most flawless part of the person they love. She particularly loved the line "60 25th of Decembers, 59 4th of Julys", sung - as always - with a shimmering balance of tenderness and aching fragility. I recall being shocked that the song didn't climb higher than 37 - i call it "when bad chart positions happen to good songs" (which could be a whole compilation album series similar to Now That's What I Call Music). Still, it was a charming end to the Miaow album campaign and just a couple of months later, the greatest hits album dropped...
• One Last Love Song (from Carry On Up The Charts) ~ Less than a year after Miaow, the Beautiful South were back to dominate the Christmas album charts with their first greatest hits collection. Not only did it have an excellent moniker, it bought together the single versions of all their releases in chronological order (something that was always important to me. Take note Madonna and your Immaculate Collection). The collection was number one for seven non-consecutive weeks, top two for an additional 4 weeks either side and inbetween this run at the top spot and stayed on the charts for a whopping 136 weeks (to date). One extra single was added in the form of One Last Love Song - a title that lead many to fear they were splitting up. Of course that was not to be; just a corking additional track for your collection (peaking at 14 on the singles chart)
• Dream A Little Dream (from Carry On Up The Charts - US Version) ~ the hidden gem of COUTC (until it was released on their second UK greatest hits collection, Solid Bronze, some years later) was a lilting cover of Dream A Little Dream of Me. There is no doubt that this would have cast a spell over the British public (who certainly weren't averse to a well executed cover version) and would have made a nice companion piece to Everybody's Talking. I had to pay a small fortune for the US import of an album to get one song but such was life back then. No YouTube, no Spotify streams - all you could do was miss out or hand over your cash. The amount of enjoyment I got out of the song meant I was glad I did.