Paul Heaton

For the English footballer, see Paul Heaton (footballer).

Paul Heaton
Heaton in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Paul David Heaton
Born	(1962-05-09) 9 May 1962 (age 62) Bromborough, Cheshire, England
Genres	Indie pop pop alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, harmonica, guitar, piano
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Go! Discs, Universal, Ark 21, Mercury, Sony BMG
Website	Official site

Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and main lyricist of the Housemartins, who had commercial success in the UK and other European countries between 1985 and 1988, releasing several singles including "Happy Hour" and the UK number-one single "Caravan of Love" in 1986, before the band disbanded. Heaton then formed the Beautiful South with the Housemartins' drummer, Dave Hemingway, and the band's debut single, "Song for Whoever", and debut album, Welcome to the Beautiful South, were released in 1989 to commercial success. They had a series of hits throughout the 1990s, including the number-one single "A Little Time". They disbanded in 2007.

Heaton pursued a solo career, which produced three albums, and in 2014 he released What Have We Become?, a collaboration with former Beautiful South vocalist Jacqui Abbott. As of 2022, he has recorded four more albums with her: Wisdom, Laughter and Lines in 2015, Crooked Calypso in 2017, Manchester Calling in 2020, and N.K-Pop in 2022.

The British newspaper The Guardian described Heaton as "one of our finest songwriters: his music reveals an exuberant ear for melody, his lyrics a keen eye and a brilliant wit".^[1] AllMusic said: "The warm, mellifluous voice of Paul Heaton often masks the jagged satirical content of his lyrics."^[2]

Early life

Paul David Heaton was born in Bromborough, Cheshire, on 9 May 1962 to parents Doris and Horace Heaton.^[3] Heaton has two older brothers Mark Heaton and Adrian Heaton. At the age of four his family relocated to Sheffield.^[4] While living in Sheffield, Heaton became interested in football, and while his elder brothers elected to watch Sheffield Wednesday, Heaton chose to support Sheffield United. After moving to Sheffield, Heaton's father took a job in management and Heaton described his childhood as being "fairly middle class, although you wouldn't know it given the schools I went to and the friends I had".^[5]

After a childhood in Sheffield, Heaton moved to Chipstead, Surrey during his adolescent years, an early life Heaton described as "bred in Sheffield, fed in Surrey".^[4] Whilst in Surrey he, with his brother Adrian, formed their first band "Tools Down" with friends John Box and Stuart Mair. At sixth form, he met Norman Cook and Chris Lang and formed a band called the Stomping Pond Frogs, but this band broke up when Cook and others went to university.^[6][7][8] Heaton did not go to university, but held a number of office jobs, which would influence his later songwriting.^[7]

After leaving Surrey, Heaton spent time hitch-hiking around Europe before moving to Hull in 1983, where he formed the Housemartins. Heaton also lived in Leeds for a year.^[9]

Throughout his childhood, Heaton's main interest was football, and he regularly attends Sheffield United games.^[10] Heaton played over 700 competitive games at junior and amateur level, often insisting on driving back from gigs on a Friday or Saturday night to attend his Saturday and Sunday matches.^[11][12]

The Housemartins

Main article: The Housemartins

Heaton, then billing himself as P.d. Heaton, formed the Housemartins in the early 1980s. This band featured Stan Cullimore on guitar, Ted Key on bass and Hugh Whitaker on drums. Shortly afterwards Key left the band and was replaced with Norman Cook. The Housemartins released a number of singles and two studio albums, London 0 Hull 4 and The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death. Their most popular hit was an a cappella cover version of "Caravan of Love" (originally by Isley-Jasper-Isley), which reached number 1 on 16 December 1986, their only number 1 hit in the UK. For the second album Hugh Whitaker was replaced with Dave Hemingway on drums. Shortly afterwards the Housemartins split up.^[13]

The Housemartins' lyrics were a mixture of Marxist politics and Christianity (the inner sleeve of London 0 Hull 4 contained the mantra "Take Jesus – Take Marx – Take Hope").^[14][15]

The Beautiful South

Main article: The Beautiful South

Heaton with the Beautiful South, 2006

In 1988, Heaton formed the Beautiful South. The initial lineup consisted of Heaton, Dave Rotheray on lead guitar, former Housemartins roadie Sean Welch on bass, David Stead on drums and Housemartins former drummer Dave Hemingway, now in the role of joint lead singer and frontman. The writing partnership of Heaton and Rotheray proved very successful. The Beautiful South released two top ten singles, "Song for Whoever" and "You Keep It All In"; the latter featured Irish singer Briana Corrigan on vocals. In 1989, the band released an album, Welcome to the Beautiful South. The band's biggest success to date is the single "A Little Time", released in 1990; it reached number 1 on the UK chart.

The band went on to release eight more albums, including two (1996's Blue Is the Colour and 1998's Quench) that reached the number 1 on the UK Albums Chart, as well as releasing the best-of compilation Carry on up the Charts, which also reached number 1 and achieved platinum status, before the band split up.

After a band meeting on 30 January 2007, they decided to split. They released a statement on 31 January, in which their reasons for splitting were "musical similarities".^[16] On an interview with BBC Breakfast in July 2008, Heaton clarified this by saying that the Beautiful South had made similar-sounding albums for the past ten years.

Solo albums

In 2001, Heaton released a solo album using the persona of Biscuit Boy (a.k.a. Crackerman). This double name, including the parenthetical a.k.a., was the official project name on all early releases.

The solo album, called Fat Chance, was not a commercial success, peaking at number 95 for one week on the UK albums chart. Also, "Mitch", the lone single credited to Biscuit Boy (a.k.a. Crackerman), reached only number 75 in the UK Singles Chart.

In an attempt to relaunch the album, Mercury Records re-issued Fat Chance in 2002. The album featured new artwork, and was now credited to Paul Heaton. However, this record charted even lower in the album chart, hitting number 168. "The Perfect Couple", a single pulled from this re-release also did poorly, peaking at number 102 in the UK. Heaton subsequently rejoined the Beautiful South from 2002 to 2007.

With the 2007 dissolution of the Beautiful South, Heaton formed a new band, The Sound of Paul Heaton.

Heaton's second solo album, The Cross-Eyed Rambler, was released on 7 July 2008, preceded by the single "Mermaids and Slaves" on 30 June, and he toured in support of it throughout July. The album charted at number 43.

Heaton released his third solo album, Acid Country, in September 2010.^[17]

The 8th

In 2011, the Manchester International Festival endorsed the writing by Heaton of an anthology of songs based on the 7 deadly sins, to be called The 8th. The song was broken down into a section for each sin, which was to be performed by a different artist. The singers for the original piece were: Wayne Gidden, Aaron Wright, King Creosote, Simon Aldred, Cherry Ghost, Jacqui Abbott, Yvonne Shelton and Mike Greaves. The individual sections were incorporated with a narration written by Che Walker^[17] and performed by Reg E. Cathey.^[18]

The 8th debuted in July 2011 at the Festival Pavilion Theatre in Manchester's Albert Square. Six further performances took place in the summer of 2012.^[19] Accompanying Heaton on the 2012 tour were Gareth Paisey of Los Campesinos!, Cherry Ghost, Wayne Gidden, Christian Madden of The Earlies, Yvonne Shelton, Mike Greaves, Aaron Wright, Simon Aldred, and Steve Menzies.^[20]

Along with the live shows in July 2012, a recording of The 8th was released on a CD/DVD format, including tracks by Simon Aldred of Cherry Ghost, Aaron Wright, Mike Greaves, Yvonne Shelton, Jacqui Abbott and Heaton himself.

Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott performing live in Warrington England in June 2017

Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott

Heaton reunited with former Beautiful South vocalist Jacqui Abbott in 2013 to record new material. What Have We Become? was released on 19 May 2014. The album reached number 3 in the UK Albums Chart. The album contained 12 new songs (the deluxe version an additional four new songs). The majority of the songs were written by Heaton and his current songwriting partner Jonny Lexus, with "D.I.Y", "When it Was Ours" and "You're Gonna Miss Me" written by Heaton only.

On working with Abbott again, Heaton 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."^[21]

On Sunday 29 June 2014 they appeared live on BBC Two at Glastonbury Festival performing acoustic versions of second single "Moulding of a Fool" and a cover version of Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream". During the summer of 2014 Paul and Jacqui performed at a series of festivals across the UK and Ireland including Glastonbury Festival, Latitude Festival, V Festival and Festival N°6.

On 11 November 2014, BBC Radio 2 broadcast a world premiere of "Real Hope", featuring the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, from the deluxe edition of What Have We Become?.

Heaton and Abbott's next two albums together, Wisdom, Laughter and Lines^[22] (2015) and Crooked Calypso (2017), both reached the UK top 10, and their fourth, Manchester Calling (2020), became their first UK Number 1 album for over twenty years. They followed this up with a further UK Number 1 album, N.K-Pop in 2022 and a UK & Ireland arena tour, which included a night at the London O2 Arena. During the tour in December 2022, Abbott took ill which forced Heaton to continue the tour solo, before adding guest singers for the Ireland shows in early 2023 and his subsequent summer festival appearances.

Heaton performed at Glastonbury on 28th June 2024 with backing singer Rianne Downey.^[23] Earlier in June, it was announced that a new album, "The Mighty Several", produced by Ian Broudie, will be released on Friday 11 October 2024.

The Last King of Pop

On 16 November 2018, a career-spanning collection of Heaton's music titled The Last King Of Pop was released on the Virgin EMI label. It featured 23 of the songs written by Heaton 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 2017's Heaton & Abbott single "I Gotta Praise" + 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 certified Gold on 11 January 2019.^[24]

To coincide with the album release, Heaton and Abbott performed three shows at Sheffield City Hall, Blackpool Empress Ballroom and London's Royal Albert Hall, performing the album in full.

Following the success of the shows, it was announced that Heaton and Abbott would perform The Last King Of Pop at an outdoor headline show at Stockport County's Edgeley Park on 21 June 2019. All 15,000 tickets sold out and a second night was announced to take place on 20 June 2019. Richard Hawley was announced as special guest at both shows.

A television documentary covering Paul Heaton's life and career was broadcast on Wednesday 12 December 2018 on Channel 4. The documentary included archived material and interviews with many key figures from throughout Heaton's life.

Personal life

Heaton lives in Manchester with his wife and three children.^{[citation needed]}

Heaton has on occasion referred to the Beautiful South as having a heavy-drinking culture. Many songs by the Beautiful South, such as "Woman in the Wall", "Liars' Bar", "I May Be Ugly", "The Slide", "Look What I Found in My Beer" and "Old Red Eyes Is Back", have referred to alcoholism or drink-fuelled violence.^[25]

In December 2011, Heaton purchased the lease of The King's Arms public house in Bloom Street, Salford, Greater Manchester.^[26] He sold the pub in December 2015.

He is a keen collector and has a diverse range of collections including football memorabilia, crisp packets, beer mats, postcards and comics.^[27]

Other appearances

During the 1990s, Heaton regularly appeared on Football Italia, Channel 4's coverage of Italian Serie A football as a pre-match guest and was frequently introduced by host James Richardson as an 'Italian football expert'.

Heaton appeared on BBC One talking head programme Why We Love the Royle Family, along with Noel Gallagher, in his capacity as a fan of the television sitcom The Royle Family.

In May 2012, Heaton set off on his 50:50 cycle tour of British and Irish pubs, promoting his latest album, British pubs, and cycling.^[28] He covered 2,500 miles (4,000 km) – 50 miles (80 km) for each year of his life.^[29]

In 2022, unable to do another cycling tour, he sent money to 60 pubs across the UK and Ireland to enable them to give free pints to celebrate his 60th birthday.^[30]

In February 2023, Heaton and his crisp packet collection appeared on the Channel 4 documentary Grayson Perry's Full English, with Heaton donating a display of Murphy’s Crisps^[31] flavours to Perry's exhibition of Englishness.^[32]

Discography

The Housemartins

Main article: The Housemartins § Discography

• London 0 Hull 4
• The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death
• Now That's What I Call Quite Good

The Beautiful South

Main article: The Beautiful South discography

• Welcome to the Beautiful South
• Choke
• 0898 Beautiful South
• Miaow
• Blue Is the Colour
• Quench
• Painting It Red
• Gaze
• Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs
• Superbi

Compilations

• Carry on up the Charts (1994)
• Carry on up the Charts (1994) - 2CD Limited Edition
• Solid Bronze (2001)
• Gold (2006)
• Soup (2007)
• The BBC Sessions (2007) - 2-CD Set
• Live at the BBC (2011) - 3CD+DVD Set

Paul Heaton (solo artist)

Main article: Paul Heaton discography

Studio albums

• Fat Chance (2001) as Biscuit Boy (AKA Crackerman)
• The Cross Eyed Rambler (2008)
• Acid Country (2010)
• Paul Heaton Presents the 8th (2012)
• What Have We Become? (2014) with Jacqui Abbott
• Wisdom, Laughter and Lines (2015) with Jacqui Abbott
• Crooked Calypso (2017) with Jacqui Abbott
• Manchester Calling (2020) with Jacqui Abbott
• N.K-Pop (2022) with Jacqui Abbott
• The Mighty Several (2024)

References

1. Barton, Laura (6 June 2012). "Happy hour again: Paul Heaton tours UK pubs on his bike". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
2. Sutton, Michael. "Artist Biography by Michael Sutton". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
3. Barnett, Laura (4 April 2011). "Portrait of the artist: Paul Heaton, musician". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
4. Pattenden, Mike (1999). Last orders at the Liar's Bar: the official story of the Beautiful South. Gollancz. p. 42. ISBN 0-575-06739-X.
5. Pattenden (1999). p.43
6. Nichols, Paul (9 May 2011). "Norman Cook – He's Come A Long Way Baby". PRS for Music. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
7. Claire Faragher (director) (2018). Paul Heaton: From Hull To Heatongrad. Channel 4 Television. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
8. Lang, Chris [@ChrisLangWriter] (14 May 2019). "Just found this photo. Reigate town centre, 1980. On the left, Paul Heaton, on the right, Fatboy slim. Me behind the drums" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
9. Pattenden (1999). p.185
10. Wakefield, Yasmin (7 October 2024). "Paul Heaton announces Bramall Lane Sheffield summer show". Yorkshire Live. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
11. Himelfield, Dave (9 May 2022). "Paul Heaton's life from football hooligan to chart-topping singer". Yorkshire Live. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
12. Moore, Nick (2 October 2005). "Paul Heaton: Sing When You're Winning". fourfourtwo.com. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
13. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Housemartins Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
14. "How The Housemartins captured the north-south divide". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
15. Quantick, David (December 1986). "Blinded By Gospel". SPIN. 2 (9): 16 – via Google Books.
16. Pop group Beautiful South split from BBC News website, retrieved 31 January 2007
17. "bio". Paul Heaton Music. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
18. "Paul Heaton presents… The 8th". YouTube. 20 March 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
19. "Los Campesinos! Announce Tour | News". Pitchfork. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
20. Goodwyn, Tom (20 March 2012). "Ex-Beautiful South man Paul Heaton to tour soul opera 'The 8th' in July – ticket details". NME. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
21. McMullen, Marion (16 May 2014). "Beautiful times are here again". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
22. Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott score a second with Wisdom, Laughter and Lines – Official Charts
23. Croal, Nicola. "Scots singer takes to Glastonbury's iconic pyramid stage alongside music legend". MSN. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
24. "Paul Heaton: The Last King Of Pop - Gold certification", BPI
25. Pattenden (1999). p.183
26. "Beautiful South singer Heaton becomes a pub landlord", BBC News, 30 November 2011
27. "Paul Heaton: I saw the crunch point coming for the golden age of crisps", Big Issue, 6 November 2015
28. Beautiful South's Paul Heaton plans pub gig tour by bike – Daily Telegraph
29. Paul Heaton announces 50th birthday cycle tour – NME
30. "Grand gesture: musician Paul Heaton puts £1,000 behind bar at 60 pubs". the Guardian. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
31. "Scunthorpe snack factory had 1,750 on payroll in mid 1980s". Grimsbylive. 21 October 2018.
32. "Grayson Perry's Full English - Series 1: Episode 3 | All 4".