With Jacqui back, things stopped going South
WHEN Manchester Calling, the fourth album by Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, hit No1 last month, Heaton completed a hat-trick of topping the charts with three different incarnations.
His first band The Housemartins – which included future superstar DJ Normon Cook aka Fatboy Slim on bass – hit the top spot with their anthemic 1986 single Caravan of Love.
When the Hullbased group split in 1988, Paul formed The Beautiful South, which Jacqui joined in 1994. The group achieved No1s with platinumselling albums Quench and Blue Is The Colour.
Heaton’s wry, socially observant, politically engaged songs are boosted by Abbott’s input. His solo career, prior to reuniting with Jacqui in 2013, was a commercial failure.
“I realised how much I’d missed her voice,” said Paul, 57.
“I mean, I didn’t think, ‘I’ve been through a lean period for two or three albums, what I really need is Jacqui’.
“But when she came back and sang, and when I saw people’s reactions, I realised, well that’s it, that was one of the things that was missing.”
One of Paul’s daughters, Maisie, features on Manchester Calling but he insisted she has no interests in becoming a singer.
“I think to a 19-year-old and 15-year-old who are into hip-hop and grime, my music sounds like Kenny Ball’s Jazzmen – from a bygone era,” he said. With his 60th birthday on the horizon, does Heaton plan to keep on going until he drops, like The Rolling Stones?
“This isn’t official but I’d like to retire by doing another long bicycle tour and then doing one just talking about what went on.
“Just going into bars, playing a couple of songs, telling stories and reading out some short stories as well.” ● Manchester Calling is out now. The duo have rescheduled their spring tour to autumn and will play Glasgow Armadillo on October 11 and Dundee Caird Hall on October 26.
GAVIN MARTIN