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.

Carry On Up the Charts: The Best of the Beautiful South
Greatest hits album by
Released7 November 1994
Recorded1994
GenreAlternative rock, Jangle pop, Pop rock
Length50:58
LabelGo! Discs
ProducerJon Kelly, The Beautiful South
The Beautiful South chronology
Miaow
(1994)
Carry On Up the Charts: The Best of the Beautiful South
(1994)
Blue Is the Colour
(1996)
Singles from Carry On Up the Charts: The Best of the Beautiful South
  1. "One Last Love Song"
    Released: 31 October 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Consumer GuideA−[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]

Release

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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

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Released at a time when the group's album sales had been waning, it proved to be a surprise success.[1] 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.[1] Such was the album's popularity, it was claimed that one in seven British households owned a copy.[4]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Dave Rotheray/Paul Heaton, except where noted

Carry On Up the Charts track listing
No.TitleAlbumLength
1."Song for Whoever" (single edit)Welcome to the Beautiful South4:06
2."You Keep It All In"Welcome to the Beautiful South2:54
3."I'll Sail This Ship Alone"Welcome to the Beautiful South4:07
4."A Little Time"Choke3:00
5."My Book"Choke2:53
6."Let Love Speak Up Itself"Choke4:20
7."Old Red Eyes Is Back"0898 Beautiful South3:36
8."We Are Each Other"0898 Beautiful South3:37
9."Bell Bottomed Tear"0898 Beautiful South4:35
10."36D"0898 Beautiful South4:02
11."Good as Gold"Miaow3:49
12."Everybody's Talkin'" (Fred Neil)Miaow2:37
13."Prettiest Eyes"Miaow3:49
14."One Last Love Song"Non-LP/CD single3:33
Total length:50:58

Limited edition bonus disc

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The limited edition bonus disc contains non-LP/CD B-sides from their single releases.[5]

All tracks are written by Dave Rotheray/Paul Heaton, except where noted

No.TitleNotesLength
1."Diamonds" (M.G. Greaves)(Taken from the single "Old Red Eyes Is Back")2:27
2."They Used to Wear Black"(Taken from the single "Bell Bottomed Tear")3:07
3."Throw His Song Away"(Taken from the single "36D")2:54
4."Trevor You're Bizarre"(Taken from the single "36D")3:37
5."Love Wars" (Womack & Womack)(Edited version of track taken from the single "Love Speak Up Itself" – originally 3:54)3:41
6."You Just Can't Smile It Away" (Bill Withers)(Taken from the single "You Keep It All In")3:28
7."But 'Til Then"(Taken from the single "I'll Sail This Ship Alone")4:09
8."Size"(Edited version of track taken from the single "Prettiest Eyes" – originally 5:40)3:34
9."Frank and Delores" (M.G. Greaves)(Taken from the single "Good as Gold")3:39
10."I Started a Joke" (Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb)(Edited version of track taken from the single "We Are Each Other" – originally 4:33)3:57
11."Woman in the Wall" (Recorded live at St. Georges Hall, Blackburn, 25 April 1992)(Taken from the single "Bell Bottomed Tear")5:17
12."Danielle Steel (The Enemy Within)"(Edited version of track taken from the single "Let Love Speak Up Itself" – originally 3:39)3:06
13."In Other Words I Hate You"(Taken from the single "A Little Time")1:52
14."His Time Ran Out"(Taken for the single "We Are Each Other")2:11
  • Copies of the Canadian release also include "Fleet St. BC" (from "Old Red Eyes Is Back") and "Mr. Obsession" (from "One Last Love Song").

CD single/CDEP B-sides

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As was their usual modus operandi, the Beautiful South included unreleased material on the B-sides of the singles taken from their albums.[5] 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

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Charts

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Chart performance for Carry On Up the Charts
Chart (1994–1995) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[6] 50
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[7] 53
Scottish Albums (OCC)[8] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[9] 1

Certifications and sales

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Certifications and sales for Carry On Up the Charts
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] 6× Platinum 1,828,890[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Carry on Up the Charts: The Best of the Beautiful South – The Beautiful South". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "The Beautiful South: Carry On Up the Charts: The Best of the Beautiful South". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 21–22. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  3. ^ Harris, Keith (2004). "The Beautiful South". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 55. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  4. ^ Sutherland, Ben (1 February 2007). "The South's bitter-sweet legacy". BBC News. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b King, David. "The Beautiful South Discography". xmission.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  6. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 7999". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Beautiful South – Carry On Up the Charts – The Best of the Beautiful South" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  10. ^ Harris, Bill (17 November 2006). "Queen rules – in album sales". Jam!. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ "British album certifications – Beautiful South – Carry On Up The Charts - The Best Of". British Phonographic Industry.
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