ASK ME, I WON'T SAY NO....HOW COULD I??

I received a very nice email the other week from a reader in Germany - Sven Deurkhop - along with a very nice attachment (more about that later).

In thanking Sven, I asked if there was anything he's like to see featured on TVV. In reply, he said:-

A post or even a series about The Housemartins or The Beautiful South would be nice.

I think, especially The Housemartins are often overlooked when it comes to British 80s music. If there wouldn't have been Morrissey I'm sure that Paul Heaton were considered the most talented and witty lyricist in British music of the last 25 years.

Take for example gemstones like "The light is always green" ("We dig our models with the brains the size of models") or the sheer and blunt political statements like in "Get Up Off Our Knees" or "The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death". All those angry and sharp lyrics well-clad in harmonious and highly addictive pop-tunes - what's not to like?

The same with "The Beautiful South" - especially their first two albums. The pure beauty of "Let Love Speak Up Itself", again the wrath of "I've Come For My Award", the irony of "Straight In At 37" or "Love Is" leave me amazed again and again. Paul Heaton has just finished his second solo record and toured the UK by bike (!) last spring. He played only pubs, which made me (again) regret not to live in the UK.

It is quite strange that while the cupboard and shelves have both of the original LPs released by The Housemartins and the first three CDs by The Beautiful South, I've not really given them much exposure on TVV. Can't really offer up a reason why other than I did get a wee bit fed up with TBS after a while, and stopped listening to them. I haven't even put much of their stuff onto the i-pod. But the 1988 Housemartins compilation Now That's What I Call Quite Good is something I give the occasional listen to - especially on long bus or train journeys as it seems to pass the time away quite quickly. But I cant bring myself to listen to the acapella smash that was Caravan of Love. Hated it then. Hate it still.

But Sven is quite right to praise the talents of Paul Heaton. He enjoyed a barrow load of hit singles and albums in the 90s, and I'm guessing that if that hadn't been the case, he would be one of those songwriters bloggers would be writing about every day. Instead, we ignore him because he was a friend who became successful. And as someone else once wrote, we hate that....

So looking back over the stuff that I own by both bands, here's five tracks that I still enjoy:-

mp3 : The Housemartins - Flag Day
mp3 : The Housemartins - Get Up Off Our Knees
mp3 : The Housemartins - Five Get Over Excited
mp3 : The Beautiful South - Straight In At 37
mp3 : The Beautiful South - I Think The Answer's Yes

And to round things off, here's the attachment Sven sent over:-

mp3 : The Beautiful South - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Happy Listening