Prefab Sprout are an English pop/rock band from
Witton Gilbert,
County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
who rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978
by brothers
Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player
Wendy Smith in 1982, they released their debut album ''
Swoon'' to critical acclaim in 1984. Their subsequent albums, including 1985's ''
Steve McQueen'' and 1990's ''
Jordan: The Comeback'', have been described by
Paul Lester of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' as "some of the most beautiful and intelligent records of their era".
Frontman Paddy McAloon is regarded as one of the great songwriters of his time and the band have been credited with producing some of the "most beloved" pop music of the 1980s and 1990s.
Nine of their
albums reached the
top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
and one of their
singles, "
The King of Rock 'n' Roll", peaked at number seven on the
UK Singles Chart. The band's other popular songs include "
When Love Breaks Down" and "
Cars and Girls".
The band has not played live since 2000. Starting from 2003, Paddy McAloon has retained the Prefab Sprout name as a solo project.
Career
Early days (1977–1983)
In 1977, brothers
Paddy and Martin McAloon formed the Dick Diver Band. By 1978, the name had changed to Prefab Sprout, a name McAloon had created years earlier when, as he has said, "all the groups had names like that".
The band first played live in 1979, having been joined by drummer Michael Salmon.
The band recorded their first single "
Lions in My Own Garden (Exit Someone)" b/w "Radio Love" on 25 February 1982, and self-released it on their own Candle Records (slogan: "The wax that won't get on your wick"). Songwriter Paddy McAloon wanted a song title where the first letters of the words spelled out
Limoges
Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...
, the French city where his former girlfriend was studying at the time.
Music journalist
Stuart Maconie described the track as "enigmatic, melancholy, tuneful and therefore perfect for a jobless literature graduate with girlfriend problems".
Their lineup expanded shortly after to incorporate vocalist Wendy Smith, and they recorded a second single "
The Devil Has All the Best Tunes / Walk On" that September.
Peak commercial success (1983–1992)
Prefab Sprout were signed by Keith Armstrong's
Kitchenware Records in March 1983, after Armstrong heard their music played in the
Newcastle branch of
HMV
HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson.
The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...
he managed.
Their two singles were reissued by Kitchenware and attracted notice including praise from
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...
.
Following the departure of Michael Salmon as drummer, the band recorded their debut album with session drummer Graham Lant in a 24-track studio in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
on a budget of £5,000.
Entitled ''
Swoon'' (an acronym for Songs Written Out Of Necessity), it was released on the Kitchenware
label
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...
in March 1984.
It was critically acclaimed, with several reviewers highlighting its unorthodox musical style and unconventional lyrics.
and it reached No. 22 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
. The album attracted the attention of musician
Thomas Dolby
Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher.
Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...
, who began producing a new batch of what McAloon would describe as simpler songs with the band. Graham Lant's relationship with Prefab Sprout ended soon after recording of ''Swoon'', so
Neil Conti joined the band as drummer.
The resulting album, 1985's ''
Steve McQueen'' (released in America as ''Two Wheels Good'' in anticipation of displeasure from
McQueen's estate), was highly praised by critics and gave the band its first hit single on the
UK Singles Chart, "
When Love Breaks Down".
The band's next project was ''
Protest Songs
A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for protest and social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre.
...
'', a sparsely-produced and quickly recorded album intended for a limited release in late 1985. The album was put on hold by
CBS so as not to stunt sales of ''Steve McQueen'',
finally seeing release in 1989. In 1988, the band released their follow-up to ''Steve McQueen'', ''
From Langley Park to Memphis''. The album gave the band their biggest commercial success in the UK with the single "
The King of Rock 'n' Roll". The song is written from the perspective of a washed-up singer who had a
one-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...
in the 1950s with a
novelty song
A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...
featuring the chorus "Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque". It reached No. 7 in the
UK Singles Chart, their only single to reach the Top 10. ''From Langley Park to Memphis'' included guest appearances from
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
and
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s an ...
, and used multiple producers including Thomas Dolby, who could not commit to working on the entire album.
In 1990, ''
Jordan: The Comeback'', fully produced by Thomas Dolby, was nominated for a
BRIT Award. Though the music was more accessible than their earlier material, the lyrics and subject matter remained characteristically oblique and suggestive. McAloon has alluded in interviews to several albums' worth of songs that he has written but are unreleased/unrecorded including amongst others,
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
s based on the life of
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
, the history of the world (''Earth: The Story So Far'') and a fictional superhero (''Zorro the Fox'').
Their greatest hits, ''
A Life of Surprises: The Best of Prefab Sprout'', gave them their biggest US hit, "If You Don't Love Me", which spent several weeks in the Top 10 on the
dance chart. McAloon joked in the album liner notes about the band's lack of
touring over the past decade.
Line-up changes (1997–2001)
After a five-year hiatus, Prefab Sprout released their first new studio album since 1990's ''Jordan'', ''
Andromeda Heights'', in 1997. After its release, Wendy Smith left the band to pursue a new career as a voice instructor.
A double album anthology, the ''
38 Carat Collection'' was released by CBS in 1999 as the group was leaving the record label.
The group's US label,
Epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale
Epic(s) ...
, belatedly reissued this set as ''The Collection'' in early 2001.
To promote the compilation, in 2000 the band embarked on their first UK tour in ten years.
In 2001 the band, now reduced to Paddy and Martin McAloon, released ''
The Gunman and Other Stories'', a
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
themed on the
American Wild West, produced by
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...
. The opening track "Cowboy Dreams" was a hit for the British
actor
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
-singer
Jimmy Nail
James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' ( ...
. Though critically acclaimed, neither enjoyed major commercial success.
Paddy McAloon solo project (2003–)
After being diagnosed with a medical disorder that seriously impaired his vision, Paddy McAloon released the album ''
I Trawl the Megahertz'' under his own name in 2003 on the EMI Liberty label. Fifteen years later, in autumn 2018, the album was reissued on Sony Music as a Prefab Sprout record, as originally intended.
In early 2007 a remastered edition of ''Steve McQueen'' was released in a two-
CD package, containing new versions of eight of the songs from the original album, in different arrangements performed by McAloon on acoustic guitar.
Prefab Sprout's first album of new material since 2001, ''
Let's Change the World with Music'', was released on 7 September 2009. The album is actually a collection of McAloon solo demos originally recorded in the early 1990s, intended for an unmade full band Prefab Sprout album. Reviews in the UK press were favourable (e.g. 5/5 in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', 4/5 in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 4/5 in ''
Record Collector
''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...
'').
''
Crimson/Red'', consisting of developed versions of tracks from the vaults,
was released on 7 October 2013 on vinyl and CD on the Icebreaker records label. A limited edition box set with an interview CD was also released. The lead single was "The Best Jewel Thief in the World". ''Crimson/Red'' was a solo project, with Paddy McAloon singing, playing and programming all of the music on the album on his own.
In a 2013 interview, McAloon explained that his health issues (in particular, the deterioration of his hearing and eyesight)
[ now dictated the way in which Prefab Sprout music was recorded, making it impractical and even impossible for any other musicians to be involved,] but that he remained fond of and grateful to his former bandmates.
On 3 March 2017, McAloon's manager Keith Armstrong, one-time head of Kitchenware Records, posted a short clip on Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
of McAloon performing a new song "America" to a camcorder; operated by McAloon himself. A longer version appears on Armstrong's YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
page.
On 8 November 2018, Rough Trade announced the availability of vinyl LP and CD versions of ''I Trawl the Megahertz'', including a white vinyl special edition of 1000 copies. On the same day, Sony Music announced the release under their "Legacy" brand. The Sony press release notes that although this was originally a solo album, it is now fitting to classify it as a Prefab Sprout record.
Since 2023 bass player Martin McAloon has toured and performed Prefab Sprout material as a solo artist.
Unreleased material
Several interviews have described a significant vault of unreleased material, credited either to Prefab Sprout or to McAloon himself. '' Crimson/Red'' was based on tracks from the vault, and '' Let's Change the World with Music'' was released in a form that was substantially similar to its 1993 demo form.
On 10 December 2018, Paddy McAloon featured in an interview on the '' Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
. McAloon said that Sony would be making further releases, and that since 2013 he had been working on an album of unreleased material, 'Femmes Mythologiques', to be issued in September 2019. During the radio appearance, he played a segment of a song called "Cleopatra".
Band name
Several inaccurate stories have circulated about the origins of the band's unusual name. According to the '' Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums'', the band's name was a mondegreen from the song " Jackson" ("We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout"), misheard by frontman
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
Paddy McAloon. McAloon has maintained that the name was entirely made-up, stating in a 1984 interview; "I was asked about the name so many times I used to invent stories about it. The truth of the matter is that I made it up. Around that time all the groups were supposed to mean something ... and when you are 13 you think it's profound, that there must be some secrecy. I liked the idea and so thought of two odd words, put them together and have kept it, basically because it reminds me of how I used to look at things".
Members
;Current members
* Paddy McAloon – vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming, piano, harmonica, bass guitar (1978–present)
;Former members
* Martin McAloon – bass guitar (1978–2001)
* Michael Salmon – drums, percussion (1978–1983)
* Wendy Smith – vocals, guitars, keyboards, piano, tambourine (1982–2000)
* Feona Attwood – vocals (1982)
* Graham Lant – drums, percussion (1983–1984)
* John Hendry – drums, percussion (1984)
* Neil Conti – drums, percussion (1984–1993, 2000)
*Paul Smith – drums, percussion (1997)
;Touring musicians
* Kevin Armstrong – guitar
* Michael Graves – keyboards
Discography
*'' Swoon'' (1984)
*'' Steve McQueen'' (1985)
*'' From Langley Park to Memphis'' (1988)
*''Protest Songs
A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for protest and social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre.
...
'' (1989)
*'' Jordan: The Comeback'' (1990)
*'' Andromeda Heights'' (1997)
*'' The Gunman and Other Stories'' (2001)
*'' I Trawl the Megahertz'' (2003)
*'' Let's Change the World with Music'' (2009)
*'' Crimson/Red'' (2013)
Sources
* Birch, John. ''Myths, Melodies & Metaphysics: Paddy McAloon's Prefab Sprout'' –
* Birch, John. ''Prefab Sprout: The Early Years'' –
References
External links
Sproutology fan site
{{Authority control
1978 establishments in England
English new wave musical groups
English pop music groups
Jazz-pop musicians
Musical groups established in 1978
Sophisti-pop musical groups
Musical groups from County Durham
Sibling musical groups