Carry On Up the Charts


Carry On Up the Charts: The Best of the Beautiful South is an album by English Alternative rock band the Beautiful South. It is the group's fifth album and their first greatest hits collection. It was a major commercial success, reaching number one in the UK Albums Chart and going on to become the second-biggest-selling album of 1994.

Release

Carry On Up the Charts was released in November 1994, the same year as the band's previous album Miaow, with its only single, "One Last Love Song", being released in October 1994 - only two months after "Prettiest Eyes", the last single to be taken from Miaow. "One Last Love Song" reached number 14 in the UK Singles Chart.
The album includes all of the single releases from the band's first five years in order of their release. Its title is a reference to the Carry On film series. A two-disc Limited Edition version was also released, with the bonus disc containing Non-LP/CD B-sides from the singles.

Chart performance

Released at a time when the group's album sales had been waning, it proved to be a surprise success. The album reached no. 1 on the UK Albums Chart on 3 December 1994 and went on to become the second biggest selling album of 1994. By the summer of 1995 it was certified as 5× platinum in the UK. Such was the album's popularity, it was claimed that one in seven British households owned a copy.

Track listing

  • Initial copies of the double-CD pack had a 1994 BBC Radio 1 session version of "Let Love Speak Up Itself" with Jacqueline Abbott on vocals instead of the single version fronted by Paul Heaton.
  • Copies of the Canadian release also include the album tracks "I Think the Answer's Yes" and "I'm Your No.1 Fan".
  • The US, German and Japanese releases also include a cover of "Dream a Little Dream".
  • The Japanese release also includes "Les Yeux ouverts". Both it and "Dream a Little Dream" were recorded for the movie French Kiss. It was re-used in the film The Devil Wears Prada.

    Limited edition bonus disc

The limited edition bonus disc contains non-LP/CD B-sides from their single releases.
  • Copies of the Canadian release also include "Fleet St. BC" and "Mr. Obsession".

    CD single/CDEP B-sides

As was their usual modus operandi, the Beautiful South included unreleased material on the B-sides of the singles taken from their albums. One new single was released for this compilation. Details of CD singles for the other 13 tracks can be found under the entries for their original studio albums.
from the "One Last Love Song" CD1
  • "One Last Love Song"
  • "Right Man for the Job"
  • "Java"
from the "One Last Love Song" CD2
  • "One Last Love Song"
  • "Mr Obsession"
  • "You're Only Jealous"

    Personnel

  • Paul Heaton – vocals
  • Dave Hemingway – vocals
  • Briana Corrigan – vocals
  • Jacqui Abbott – vocals
  • Dave Rotheray – guitar
  • Sean Welch – bass
  • Dave Stead – drums

    Charts

Certifications and sales