CD Project Thing #15 - The Beautiful South, The Beauty Shop
The Beautiful South - "Welcome To The Beautiful South"
The Beautiful South - "Choke"
The Beautiful South - "0898"
Have to admit I don't know much about The Beautiful South. They're British, they have guy and girl singers, some good wordplay in the lyrics, and they're kind of jazzy. These are their first three albums, the first and third were Marisa's, and I got the second for her cheap on eBay. I actually think they're all pretty good, but I really can't find anything to separate the three of them in my head, so they're lumped together here. After these albums, apparently they changed the girl singer, and I guess they got pretty popular in the UK. While I like them, I can't imagine ever really needing any more than this, and Marisa doesn't care, so 3 remains the magic number.
The Beauty Shop - "Grief" EP
I'll get into who The Beauty Shop are and how I know them in the next entry. For now, know that this is their first self-released EP (on a CD-R, but since it's an official release it makes the list) which I bought on eBay a few years after discovering them, and that I just confirmed with the band themselves that it's totally pointless because all the songs are also on their first album. Interested in buying it from me?
The Beauty Shop - "Yr Money Or Yr Life"
Normally, when I really really like a band, I can remember how and where I fell in love with them. The Beauty Shop are an odd exception, since I can't remember at all when I first saw them or got this cd. They're a local C-U band, so I'm guessing that I saw them somewhere, but I can't remember where (and I seem to recall being disappointed that I'd skipped them many times before, so maybe I'd read about them?) And I also have a vague feeling I knew them before this cd came out, but I don't know if that's true. In any case, The Beauty Shop are probably in my top ten favorite bands (although only #3 on the list of "favorite bands from Champaign). They're kind of a 3-piece acoustic Americana/folky/Johnny Cash thing, and are just really good. For whatever reason, they have a slight following in the UK (compared to their complete lack of following here) and play there way more than here. Lucky Brits.
The Beauty Shop - "Monster" (UK Import)
By the end of my time in Champaign, The Beauty Shop were going through some changes. Drummer revolved a bit (including, briefly, a friend of a friend who I'd driven to Indy for a Zwan show a few weeks earlier), and they had a ton of new songs but no apparent plans to record them. Then word came of a breakup, and it was really depressing. I don't quite know the details, but it turns out the breakup wasn't a breakup at all, and a few years later they came with this UK only single. 3 tracks, including a Misfits cover. Not bad, not bad at all...
The Beauty Shop - "Crisis Helpline" (UK Import)
And then came this, the second album, also a UK only release. Right off, I knew many of the songs from the shows years before, and it was great to hear them. The one thing that was kind of surprising was how amazingly amateurish the whole package was. Well, I guess it wasn't THAT surprising, since their first album wasn't the most professional thing either, but this looked like they'd spend about 5 minutes in Photoshop. Even the CD itself looked weird on the bottom, like it was a bootleg or something. This fact made the cd act weird in some of my players. It's not as good as the first album, I don't think, but since I never expected it at all I'm not complaining.
The Beauty Shop - "A Desperate Cry For Help" (UK Import)
The Beauty Shop - "Paper Hearts For Josie" (UK Import)
The band then switched to a new label (still UK only, though) and continued releasing singles off "Crisis Helpline". Except, they weren't considered singles off "Crisis Helpline", because the new label decided to release "Yard Sale", which was a mishmash of tracks from the first two albums. Hardly the most thrilling stuff ever, so I never got it. The singles were both really cheap, though, and each had one new cover on it ("Breakin' The Law" by Iron Maiden and "Gouge Away" by the Pixies).
They released a third single, too, a re-release of "Monster" with what I think is a new song, but I never ordered it, since it came during a "no cd buying" era. I did just order it for a few dollars the other day, so I'll update then.
To make the whole tale of strange marketing even stranger, now they're going to go and re-release "Crisis Helpline", apparently still on the UK label (but at US domestic prices), with the two covers from these two singles as bonus tracks (but not any of the tracks from the two "Monster" singles). So, the plan is to sell these two singles and "Crisis Helpline" and get the reissue (and hope it's actually somewhat professional looking this time).
The Beautiful South - "Choke"
The Beautiful South - "0898"
Have to admit I don't know much about The Beautiful South. They're British, they have guy and girl singers, some good wordplay in the lyrics, and they're kind of jazzy. These are their first three albums, the first and third were Marisa's, and I got the second for her cheap on eBay. I actually think they're all pretty good, but I really can't find anything to separate the three of them in my head, so they're lumped together here. After these albums, apparently they changed the girl singer, and I guess they got pretty popular in the UK. While I like them, I can't imagine ever really needing any more than this, and Marisa doesn't care, so 3 remains the magic number.
The Beauty Shop - "Grief" EP
I'll get into who The Beauty Shop are and how I know them in the next entry. For now, know that this is their first self-released EP (on a CD-R, but since it's an official release it makes the list) which I bought on eBay a few years after discovering them, and that I just confirmed with the band themselves that it's totally pointless because all the songs are also on their first album. Interested in buying it from me?
The Beauty Shop - "Yr Money Or Yr Life"
Normally, when I really really like a band, I can remember how and where I fell in love with them. The Beauty Shop are an odd exception, since I can't remember at all when I first saw them or got this cd. They're a local C-U band, so I'm guessing that I saw them somewhere, but I can't remember where (and I seem to recall being disappointed that I'd skipped them many times before, so maybe I'd read about them?) And I also have a vague feeling I knew them before this cd came out, but I don't know if that's true. In any case, The Beauty Shop are probably in my top ten favorite bands (although only #3 on the list of "favorite bands from Champaign). They're kind of a 3-piece acoustic Americana/folky/Johnny Cash thing, and are just really good. For whatever reason, they have a slight following in the UK (compared to their complete lack of following here) and play there way more than here. Lucky Brits.
The Beauty Shop - "Monster" (UK Import)
By the end of my time in Champaign, The Beauty Shop were going through some changes. Drummer revolved a bit (including, briefly, a friend of a friend who I'd driven to Indy for a Zwan show a few weeks earlier), and they had a ton of new songs but no apparent plans to record them. Then word came of a breakup, and it was really depressing. I don't quite know the details, but it turns out the breakup wasn't a breakup at all, and a few years later they came with this UK only single. 3 tracks, including a Misfits cover. Not bad, not bad at all...
The Beauty Shop - "Crisis Helpline" (UK Import)
And then came this, the second album, also a UK only release. Right off, I knew many of the songs from the shows years before, and it was great to hear them. The one thing that was kind of surprising was how amazingly amateurish the whole package was. Well, I guess it wasn't THAT surprising, since their first album wasn't the most professional thing either, but this looked like they'd spend about 5 minutes in Photoshop. Even the CD itself looked weird on the bottom, like it was a bootleg or something. This fact made the cd act weird in some of my players. It's not as good as the first album, I don't think, but since I never expected it at all I'm not complaining.
The Beauty Shop - "A Desperate Cry For Help" (UK Import)
The Beauty Shop - "Paper Hearts For Josie" (UK Import)
The band then switched to a new label (still UK only, though) and continued releasing singles off "Crisis Helpline". Except, they weren't considered singles off "Crisis Helpline", because the new label decided to release "Yard Sale", which was a mishmash of tracks from the first two albums. Hardly the most thrilling stuff ever, so I never got it. The singles were both really cheap, though, and each had one new cover on it ("Breakin' The Law" by Iron Maiden and "Gouge Away" by the Pixies).
They released a third single, too, a re-release of "Monster" with what I think is a new song, but I never ordered it, since it came during a "no cd buying" era. I did just order it for a few dollars the other day, so I'll update then.
To make the whole tale of strange marketing even stranger, now they're going to go and re-release "Crisis Helpline", apparently still on the UK label (but at US domestic prices), with the two covers from these two singles as bonus tracks (but not any of the tracks from the two "Monster" singles). So, the plan is to sell these two singles and "Crisis Helpline" and get the reissue (and hope it's actually somewhat professional looking this time).
posted by Adam at 7:19 PM
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