Choke

Choke (released October 1990) is The Beautiful South's second album. It was pushed to number 2 in the charts after the release of the South's first and only number 1 single "A Little Time".

The album was followed by two more singles, both of which were flops. "My Book", which became the band's first non top-40 single, peaked at number 43 and finally "Let Love Speak Up Itself", the last release from this album, only managed to reach number 51.

Earlier versions of the album, regardless of format, contained only 11 tracks. The twelfth track (appearing at the end of later presses of the CD) was intended for the album from the beginning, but was removed at a late stage of production. Only in much later editions of the CD did the track finally appear, added without explanation to the end of the album. Original copies of "Choke" on cassette tape feature a long silence at the end of Side One, possibly indicating that this would have been the location originally intended for the track.

Track listing

All tracks by Paul Heaton, David Rotheray

1. "Tonight I Fancy Myself" – 3:26
2. "My Book" – 3:18
3. "Let Love Speak Up Itself" – 5:04
4. "Should've Kept My Eyes Shut" – 3:27
5. "I've Come For My Award" – 3:14
6. "Lips" – 1:11
7. "I Think The Answer's Yes" – 5:15
8. "A Little Time" – 3:00
9. "Mothers Pride" – 2:03
10. "I Hate You (But You're Interesting)" – 3:46
11. "The Rising Of Grafton Street" – 3:05
12. "What You See Is What You Get" (Later versions only) – 4:28

Additional Personnel

• Gary Barnacle – Flute, Saxophone
• Kevin Brown – Saxophone
• Damon Butcher – Piano, Keyboards
• Rupert Coulson – Engineer
• Mike Hedges – Producer
• Ben Kape – Engineer
• Jody Kitson – Percussion
• Lance Phillips – Engineer
• Tony Robinson – Trumpet
• Pete Wingfield – Piano