What is it with women? Hitmakers The Beautiful South just can't keep hold of them, as band member Dave Hemingway told JENNY SCOTT

DAVE Hemingway doesn't understand women. "I don't know what we're doing to them," he said, referring to the Beautiful South's track record with its female singers. "We just don't seem to be able to keep hold of them."

Well might he wonder. During the band's long spell of success, fans have had to get used to an array of different female leads, with Irish songstress Briana Corrigan being replaced by Jacqui Abbot in 1993, only for Jacqui herself to depart two years ago.

So now there is yet another female vocalist at the helm -- "Lady" Alison Wheeler.

"Alison seems happy enough at the moment," said Dave, 42, clearly hoping she'll stick around for a few years yet. "I'd worked with her before, so it was me who recommended her. She's only 31, so it's nice to have a youngster around. We're not exactly a young band any more!"

"She went to Cambridge and we all feel a bit inferior, so we call her Lady Alison.

"It's all very new to her to be around us. She has to stamp her authority on the songs. But there are a couple of songs on the new album which are hers and she does them really well."

Together with Alison, and Paul Heaton, Dave is the other lead vocalist with the popular Hull-based band, who have continued to carry on up the charts regardless of prevailing musical trends.

Both Paul and Dave were members of The Housemartins, who disbanded in 1989.

However, it was only in the Beautiful South that Dave's vocal talents were uncovered.

"Paul wanted the band to be quite different, with three lead singers," he said. "But singing was a bit of a new direction for me. In The Housemartins we all sang and did a cappella stuff, but I'd never done lead vocals. I think there was one particular song called Build that I did with The Housemartins that made Paul think I could do it."

The Beautiful South's arrival on the pop scene was fairly low-key. Their first four albums were well received and they scored two or three hits with tunes like Song for Whoever and A Little Time.

However, the blockbuster success of their first greatest hits collection took everyone by surprise.

"It came totally out of the blue," admitted Dave. "The album before that, Miaow, hadn't done so well and I think people were writing us off a bit. They reckoned we'd had our 15 minutes and that was that.

"Then we put out this greatest hits album. I think there were a lot of people out there who maybe didn't see us as their favourite band, but when we put out a collection of songs, they all went out and bought it.

"It was great -- it gave us the confidence to go on and knock out some more albums."

The latest album to be knocked out by the group is Gaze -- and, Dave insists, fans won't be disappointed by it.

"It's a traditional Beautiful South album. It's melodic and fresh and pretty jaunty in parts, with quite countrified songs. It's what people expect from us."

Sounding fresh and jaunty is quite an achievement for a band that's been around for 14 years -- and shows no sign of calling it a day.

In typical understated Beautiful South style, Dave said: "As long as people want to hear our songs, there's no reason not to record another album and do some gigs.

"But we've been around for a long time now. In this business it's quite unusual for a band to go on for so long. We don't want to turn into the Rolling Stones!"

Since their last album, the greatest hits compilation Solid Bronze, several members of the group, including guitarist David Rotheray, have embarked on solo projects. However the group's togetherness is still as strong as ever.

Dave said: "Paul writes the lyrics and he and Dave write the melodies. Then we all chip in with ideas for harmonies and arrangements. When we're recording we try different variations on the songs and do things a different way until we're happy with it."

And he can't wait for their tour, which includes a date at King George's Hall, Blackburn, to kick off.

"I hope Alison will enjoy the first gig she does with us," he said. "It's great to go out there when you know people want to hear you."

The Beautiful South are at King George's Hall on Sunday, November 9.