Pop group Beautiful South split

In a two-line statement, the Hull-based band, formed by former members of the Housemartins, attributed their break-up to "musical similarities".

"The band would like to thank everyone for their 19 wonderful years in music," the statement said.

The band's last album Superbi reached number six in the UK album chart.

But their most recent single - 2006's The Rose of My Cologne - barely bothered the singles chart, peaking at 99.

Melancholy tone

Known for their jovial melodies and darkly humorous lyrics, the Beautiful South were formed at the tail end of the 1980s by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway.

Their debut album, 1989's Welcome to the Beautiful South, reached number two in the UK and set the band's jaunty yet melancholy tone with such songs as I'll Sail This Ship Alone and You Keep It All In.

A Little Time - featuring original female vocalist Briana Corrigan - became their only UK number one in 1990.

The band's greatest success, however, came in 1994 with the release of Carry On Up the Charts.

A greatest hits compilation, it rode high in the album chart for several months and sold more than 1.8 million copies in the UK.

The same year saw Corrigan replaced by former supermarket worker Jacqui Abbott, who was herself replaced in 2003 by Allison Wheeler.

The band took a hiatus in 2001, during which time Heaton recorded a solo album under the pseudonym Biscuit Boy.

More recently, band member Dave Rotheray has formed his own group, Homespun, with vocalist Sam Brown.

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The Beautiful South
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