''Southside'' is the debut album by Scottish rock band

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It was released on 13 March 1989. It peaked at no. 3 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and within three weeks of release was certified Gold by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. Worldwide, ''Southside'' has sold over 2 million copies.

Background and release

The album's first single "

I Don't Want a Lover "I Don't Want a Lover" is the debut single of Scottish band Texas, taken from their first album, ''Southside'' (1989). The music starts with blues slide guitar followed by a throbbing rhythm section before the vocals break in. It was released on ...

" was released on 23 January 1989 and peaked at no. 8 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Following the release of the album in March of that year, which entered the UK Albums Chart at no.3, further singles from the album were less successful. The second single, "

Thrill Has Gone "Thrill Has Gone" is the second single released from Scottish band Texas's first studio album, ''Southside'' (1989). The song peaked at number 60 on the UK Singles Chart and number 19 in New Zealand, becoming their last top-20 hit there until "Sa ...

", peaked at no. 60, while a third single, "

Everyday Now "Everyday Now" is a song by Scottish band Texas. It was first recorded for the band's 1989 extended play (EP) of the same name and was released as a single on 24 July 1989 from their debut album, ''Southside'' (1989). The song debuted at number ...

", fared little better at no. 44. Despite this, a fourth single, "

Prayer for You "Prayer For You" is the fourth and final single to be taken from the album ''Southside'' by Scottish band Texas. Despite a variety of formats it failed to make the UK Singles Chart Top 40 - only managing to reach #73. Track listing CD1 (TEX CD4) ...

", was released on 13 November but stalled at no. 73 in the UK. Despite only one hit single, the album spent 29 weeks on the charts. The album cover art was derived from the poster art for the film ''Paris, Texas'', which inspired the band's name.

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' wrote that the album's strengths "revolve around the way the Scottish quartet fuses some of rock’s most appealing elements: the lonesome, sensual slide-guitar sound of Ry Cooder ... and vocals by Sharleen Spiteri that recall the liberating spirit and convincing character of the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde and Lone Justice’s Maria McKee."

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

!scope="row", Worldwide , , 2,000,000 , -

Personnel

;Texas *

Sharleen Spiteri Sharleen Eugene Spiteri (born 7 November 1967) is a Scottish singer and guitarist, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Texas (band), Texas. She has a contralto vocal range. In 2013, Texas's worldwide album sales were counted at 40 mi ...

– vocals, guitar * Stuart Kerr – vocals, drums *

Johnny McElhone John Francis McElhone (born 21 April 1963 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish guitarist and songwriter. He has played with three bands who have enjoyed a top-20 presence in the UK Singles Chart; the new wave bands Altered Images and Hipsway, ...

– bass *

Ally McErlaine Alistair Manson McErlaine (born 31 October 1968) is a Scottish guitarist, best known for his work with the band Texas, which he has been a member of since 1988. Ally is also a member of Red Sky July who released their self-titled debut album on ...

– guitar ;Other Personnel *

Tim Palmer Timothy J. Palmer (born 4 October 1962, in North Shields) is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter of rock music, rock and alternative rock, alternative music. He Audio mixing (recorded music), mixed Pearl Jam's d ...

– producer/audio mixer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southside (Texas Album) 1989 debut albums Texas (band) albums Albums produced by Tim Palmer Mercury Records albums Vertigo Records albums