To lose one singer may be thought to be careless… Jacqueline Abbott, Beautiful South singer has pulled out of their US tour for personal reasons. My days going to live gigs have pretty much wound up now, I’ve been crushed by the fat bloke in mosh pits, I’ve danced ironically to shit music (my ironic dance I later found out was much better than my “realy feeling the music and getting into it” dance which often brought out the gurn in me). That said I’ve never had a band, or a singer pull out on me. If they did – I would expect it to be for personal reasons. Its as bland and uncommunicative as the reason all bands split up: artistic differences.
Of course the Beautiful South are not what I would call the quintessential live band – for which read that their gigs are probably as uninspiring as their records. Nevertheless, a die hard fan may get suspicious about what exactly this band does to their lead, female singer. Ginger South left because of the objectional lyrics to ‘Perfect 10′ – which I never understood since – while it was a pretty lousy tune the lyrics were at least a plea for fat tolerance. To tempt Jacqueline into the band they had to offer her a grandstanding, showboating plod through Everybody’s Talkin’. There are many rumours about Paul Heaton, none of which I believe, but those singers drop like flies which suggest that not all is well in the state of the South. Shame.