0898 Beautiful South, released March 1992, was The Beautiful South

The Beautiful South

The Beautiful South were an English alternative rock group formed at the end of the 1980s by two former members of Hull group The Housemartins, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway. The duo were initially joined by Sean Welch , Dave Stead and Dave Rotheray , all of whom stayed with the group throughout...

's third album. The album reached number 4 on the UK charts, unlike their previous two albums which reached number 2; the record company blamed this on the cover which showed ladies' faces on the back of terrapins' shells.

The full title of the album is 0898 Beautiful South, but it is usually shortened to just 0898. The title is meant to be in the form of a telephone number. In the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 at the time, 0898 was a premium rate dialling code

Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom

The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning telephone numbers in the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies...

 associated with sex hotlines, hence the cover. While the first two singles, "Old Red Eyes is Back" and "We Are Each Other", charted in the UK at #22 and #30, respectively. third single "Bell Bottomed Tear" was the only Top 20 hit from the album, reaching #16. "36D

36D

36D is a song written by Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray and performed by The Beautiful South. The song was originally found on the album 0898 Beautiful South and later appeared on two greatest hits compilations, 1994's Carry on up the Charts and 2007's Soup. As a single it reached #46 in the UK...

" was a relative disappointment after this success, only managing #46 in the singles charts. "We Are Each Other" was also a success on American alternative rock radio and peaked at #10 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks

Modern Rock Tracks

Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...

 chart in 1992. It was the band's biggest hit in the United States.

Inside, there were a number of illustrations by artist David Cutter, including a picture per song; these pictures were also used for the singles. Four singles were released from the album, two of them before it was released.

Reception

The album was well received, especially amongst the fans.

Singles

• Old Red Eyes is Back – Released: February 1992 position: 22
• We Are Each Other – Released: March 1992 position: 30
• Bell Bottomed Tear – Released: June 1992 position: 16
• 36D
  36D
  36D is a song written by Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray and performed by The Beautiful South. The song was originally found on the album 0898 Beautiful South and later appeared on two greatest hits compilations, 1994's Carry on up the Charts and 2007's Soup. As a single it reached #46 in the UK...
  
   – Released: September 1992 Position: 46

Track listing

French Limited Edition

The first French edition distributed by Barclay contained two bonus tracks:

1. "His Time Ran Out"
2. "Danielle Steele (The Enemy Within)"

Personnel

• Paul Heaton – Vocals
• David Rotheray – Guitar
• Dave Hemmingway – Vocals
• Sean Welch – Bass
• David Stead – Drums
• Briana Corrigan – Vocals
• John Brough – Engineer
• Jon Kelly – Producer, Mixing
• Steve Orchard – Engineer
• Lance Phillips – Mixing