the beautiful south were an english pop band. they were started in hull in 1988 by paul heaton and dave hemingway. heaton and hemingway had been members of the housemartins. the beautiful south released their first album in 1989. the first single "song for whoever" reached number two in the uk singles chart. in 2007 they broke up. in 2008 dave hemingway, dave stead, and alison wheeler started the new beautiful south. in 2010 they changed their name to the south.