Before I made it to the college radio station, I was devoted to the celebration of the album. I was convinced that full-length records were the proper measure of an artist. Anyone could zip out a three minute song, but it took true talent and dedication to construct the heady novel that was a great album. This was, in part, residual Rolling Stone influence–the publication’s review section at the time had no reviews of singles, and, given the nature of music sales at the time, little cause to change that. It was also because the artists who held the greatest sway over me at the time worked best across two fully-loaded sides of vinyl. Bruce Springsteen writes some great songs, but it’s the albums that feel like his definitive statements.

Naturally, that changed somewhat when I was putting together playlists one song at a time. Now, a perfect few minutes that brightly, boldly announced itself, set itself apart from everything else, had its own unique vitality. This was especially true if the song didn’t quite sound like anything else being routinely played on the air at the time.

The Beautiful South was a band pulled together by two former members of The Housemartins, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway. Their debut record was solid enough, but it was the chiming lead single from that record that stood as a creation of near-perfection. The crystalline pop beauty of the song contrasted with the cynicism of the lyrics, that although provided a sort of meta-commentary on the emptiness of love songs. It was the kind of song that I grabbed when a set was feeling a little dull. It provided a jolt, enlivening the show and often inspiring a whole new direction for the flow of songs. I don’t know that I’ll ever again want or need to listen to an album from The Beautiful South from start to finish. But this single? Any time.

The Beautiful South, “Song For Whoever”

(Disclaimer: It is my understanding that The Beautiful South’s debut album is currently out of print, although, to be fair, it does seem that it is readily available to be purchased as an MP3. So if you really like this, you can go to Amazon and start compensating the band ninety-nine cents at a time. If someone with due authority to do so asks me to remove it, I will gladly do so.)