The album gave the band their biggest commercial success in the UK with the single " The King of Rock 'n' Roll". In 1988, the band released their follow-up to Steve McQueen, From Langley Park to Memphis. The album was put on hold by CBS so as not to stunt sales of Steve McQueen, finally seeing release in 1989. The band's next project was Protest Songs, a sparsely-produced and quickly recorded album intended for a limited release in late 1985. 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 UK Singles Chart, " When Love Breaks Down". Graham Lant's relationship with Prefab Sprout ended soon after recording of Swoon, so Neil Conti joined the band as drummer. The album attracted the attention of musician Thomas Dolby, who began producing a new batch of what McAloon would describe as simpler songs with the band. It was critically acclaimed, with several reviewers highlighting its unorthodox musical style and unconventional lyrics. Entitled Swoon (an acronym for Songs Written Out Of Necessity), it was released on the Kitchenware label in March 1984. įollowing 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 on a budget of £5,000.
Their two singles were reissued by Kitchenware and attracted notice including laudation from Elvis Costello. 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 he managed.
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. Music journalist Stuart Maconie described the track as "enigmatic, melancholy, tuneful and therefore perfect for a jobless literature graduate with girlfriend problems". Songwriter Paddy McAloon wanted a song title where the first letters of the words spelled out Limoges, the French city where his former girlfriend was studying at the time. 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"). The band first played live in 1979, having been joined by drummer Michael Salmon. By 1978, the name had changed to Prefab Sprout, a name McAloon had created years earlier when, he has said, "all the groups had names like that". In 1977 brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon formed The Dick Diver Band. In recent years, Paddy McAloon has retained the Prefab Sprout name as a solo project. The band's other popular songs include " When Love Breaks Down" and " Cars and Girls". Nine of their albums reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart and one of their singles, " The King of Rock 'n' Roll", peaked at number seven in the UK Singles Chart.
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. Their subsequent albums, including 1985's Steve McQueen and 1990's Jordan: The Comeback, have been described by Paul Lester of The Guardian as "some of the most beautiful and intelligent records of their era". 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. Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham who rose to fame during the 1980s.
0 kommentar(er)
