''Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs'' is the ninth and penultimate album by
The Beautiful South
The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Hull group The Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members throughout the band's exi ...
, released in 2004. It is almost entirely a
covers album, with one notable exception. The track "
This Old Skin
"This Old Skin" is a song by The Beautiful South which appeared on their 2004 covers album, '' Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs'', and was the second single released from the album.(27 November 2004)The Beautiful South: This Old Skin ''Mu ...
" was originally claimed to have been written by Bobby Christiansand/Barry Klein, and to have been originally performed by an obscure band called "The Heppelbaums" in the 1970s, but it was later revealed to have been an original composition by the usual Beautiful South writing team, Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray. This was confirmed in 2006 by frontman
Paul Heaton
Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the frontman of the Housemartins, who had success with the singles " Happy Hour" and the UK number one "Caravan of Love" in 1986 before disbanding in 1988. He then form ...
during a Question and Answer session entitled "Ask the Band".
Prior to that, a website for The Heppelbaums had been created, in which many more clues to the real identity of the band were revealed. The domain was created on 5 August 2004 and registered to Sony, the band's record label. Although the website no longer exists, the contents can still be found on
"
Livin' Thing
"Livin' Thing" is a song written by Jeff Lynne and performed by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It appears on ELO's 1976 album '' A New World Record'' and was also released as a single. Patti Quatro sang uncredited vocals, particularly the "h ...
", "
This Old Skin
"This Old Skin" is a song by The Beautiful South which appeared on their 2004 covers album, '' Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs'', and was the second single released from the album.(27 November 2004)The Beautiful South: This Old Skin ''Mu ...
", and "This Will Be Our Year" were all released as singles.
Track listing
# "
You're The One That I Want
"You're the One That I Want" is a song performed by American actor and singer John Travolta and Anglo-Australian singer, songwriter and actress Olivia Newton-John for the 1978 film version of the musical '' Grease''. It was written and produc ...
" (originally recorded by
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...
and
Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...
)
# "
Livin' Thing
"Livin' Thing" is a song written by Jeff Lynne and performed by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It appears on ELO's 1976 album '' A New World Record'' and was also released as a single. Patti Quatro sang uncredited vocals, particularly the "h ...
" (
Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...
)
# "This Will Be Our Year" (
The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two fu ...
)
# "Ciao!" (
Lush)
# "Valentine" (
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
)
# "
Don't Fear the Reaper
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a song by American Rock music, rock band Blue Öyster Cult from the band's 1976 album ''Agents of Fortune.'' The song, written and sung by lead guitarist Buck Dharma, Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, deals with eternal ...
" (
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American Rock music, rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla ( ...
)
# "
This Old Skin
"This Old Skin" is a song by The Beautiful South which appeared on their 2004 covers album, '' Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs'', and was the second single released from the album.(27 November 2004)The Beautiful South: This Old Skin ''Mu ...
" (an original Beautiful South song)
# "
Don't Stop Moving" (
S Club 7
S Club 7 were a British pop group from London, created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller and consisting of members Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole, Rachel Stevens and Tina Barrett. The group ...
)
# "
Till I Can't Take It Anymore
"Till I Can't Take It Anymore" is a song written by Clyde Otis and Ulysses Burton. It was first recorded by Ben E King in 1968. The song was featured in The Soul Clan's self-titled album ''The Soul Clan''. Dottie West and Don Gibson's version ch ...
" (
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later i ...
)
# "Rebel Prince" (
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...
)
# "
Blitzkrieg Bop
Blitzkrieg Bop is a song by American punk rock band, Ramones, released in February 1976 as their debut single in the United States. It appeared as the opening track on the band's debut album, ''Ramones'', released two months later.
The song, w ...
" (
The Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...
)
# "I'm Stone In Love with You" (
The Stylistics
The Stylistics are an American, Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All of ...
)
Personnel
;The Beautiful South
*
Paul Heaton
Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the frontman of the Housemartins, who had success with the singles " Happy Hour" and the UK number one "Caravan of Love" in 1986 before disbanding in 1988. He then form ...
- vocals
*
Dave Hemingway
Dave Hemingway (born David Robert Hemingway, 20 September 1960) is an English musician and songwriter, best known as a vocalist for the Hull-based band The Beautiful South until they disbanded in 2007. Previously he had been a member of The House ...
- vocals
*
Alison Wheeler
Alison Wheeler (born 4 March 1972) is a British singer, best known as the female vocalist for The Beautiful South from 2003 until they disbanded in 2007.
Wheeler's career in music began at university in a cover band called Melt City, alongside ...
- vocals
*
Dave Rotheray
David Rotheray (born 9 February 1963, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England) is an English rock and pop musician, best known for being the lead guitarist for The Beautiful South.
Rotheray was born the last of five children. His parents were ...
- guitar
*
Sean Welch
Sean Welch (born 12 April 1965, Enfield, England) was the bassist for The Beautiful South and previously roadie for The Housemartins
The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and chart ...
- bass
*
Dave Stead
David Stead (born 15 October 1966), is a drummer from Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England. Stead was the drummer for the alternate pop / rock band, The Beautiful South.
After his parents separated, Stead moved with his mother and siblings to Co ...
- drums
;Additional instrumentation
*Damon Butcher - keyboards
*Gary Hammond - percussion
*
Chip Taylor
Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing "Angel of the Morning" and " Wild Thing".
Early life
Taylor was born on March 21, 1940, in Yonkers, New York. He is the brother of a ...
- guest vocal ("This Old Skin")
*
Danny Thompson
Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...
- double bass ("Livin' Thing")
*
Martin Ditcham
Martin Ditcham is an English drummer, percussionist and songwriter.
Ditcham is a prolific session musician, working with artists such as Henry Cow, Status Quo, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Roger Daltrey, Sade, Mary Black, Nik Kershaw, Chris ...
- additional percussion
*Jay Reynolds - programming ("I'm Stone in Love With You")
*
Simon Hale
Simon Hale is a British composer, arranger, and keyboardist.
Life
Hale was born in Birmingham, England in 1964, being dually raised there and in South Manchester before moving to London, where he studied popular music at Goldsmiths College, Uni ...
- strings arranger
*The London Session Orchestra - strings
CD Single/ECD B-Sides
As what was their usual modus operandi, ''The Beautiful South'' included unreleased material on the B-sides of the singles taken from the album. All are cover versions in keeping with the album's theme.
from the "Livin' Thing" CD1
*"Livin' Thing"
(Jeff Lynne
Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock music, rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, h ...
) (
Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...
)
*"I'm Living Good"
(Dan Penn
Dan Penn (born Wallace Daniel Pennington, November 16, 1941) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s, including "The Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" wi ...
& Spooner Oldham
Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on such hit R&B songs as Percy ...
) (
The Ovations
The Ovations were an American rhythm and blues vocal group who recorded in the 1960s and 1970s. Their biggest hit, a remake of Sam Cooke's "Having a Party", reached no.7 on the '' Billboard'' R&B chart in 1973.
Biography
The group was formed b ...
)
from the "Livin' Thing" CD2
*"Livin' Thing"
(Jeff Lynne
Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock music, rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, h ...
) (
Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...
)
*"Lovin' You"
(John Sebastian
John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969[The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including " ...]
)
*"Another Night with the Boys" (Gerry Goffin
Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the List of Billboard number-one ...
& Carole King
Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...
) (The Drifters
The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/Soul music, soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, f ...
)
from the "This Old Skin" CD1
*"This Old Skin" (The Hepplebaums) (The Hepplebaums)
*"Lipstick Traces" aka " Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)" (Allen Toussaint
Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...
) ( Benny Spellman)
from the "This Old Skin" ECD2
"This Old Skin" (The Hepplebaums) (The Hepplebaums)
*"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" is a song by English rock band the Smiths. Released as a single in May 1984, it reached No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the band's first top ten single. It was later included on the November 1984 co ...
" (Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...
& Steven Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since the ...
) (The Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...
)
*"Livin' Thing" (music video)
from the "This Will Be Our Year" CD1
*"This Will Be Our Year" ( Chris White) (The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two fu ...
)
*" For the Good Times" (Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...
) ( Ray Price)
from "This Will Be Our Year" ECD2
*"This Will Be Our Year" ( Chris White) (The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two fu ...
)
*"Never Mind" (Harlan Howard
Harlan Perry Howard (September 8, 1927 – March 3, 2002) was an American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote many popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists.
C ...
) (Nanci Griffith
Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award fo ...
)
*"This Old Skin" (music video)
References
{{Authority control
2004 albums
The Beautiful South albums
Albums produced by Jon Kelly