Prefab Sprout: Classic Or Dud

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Momus' posterity butterfly-collector may not rate Paddy McAloon but what about the rest of you? The new Cole Porter or got more praise than he oughta?

― Tom, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

Although Wendy Smith's angelic voice was sometimes a bit too much for my liking, I'd still say classic. Steve McQueen! And how can you not resist singing along about jumping frogs?

― Stevie Nixed, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

Well Vicky rated Paddy over me - SO i'D SAY CLASSIC - he busks better than Martin Stephenson

― Geordie Racer, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

I've been toying with the idea of floating this out as a C-or-D myself ever since there was a thread a while back which mentioned a new album on its way. (Should be in the shops June 2006, then). I'm just totally puzzled about the appeal of Prefab. I can hear the 'craftsmanship', I can tell that he uses lots of wierd chords, and yes, the melodies are unusual and the wordplay is often clever. Yet it's all so MOR, so polite. I got the 2CD best of in a sale last year, and I still can't get past the surface polish. Back in 1985 everyone was clamouring about "When Love Breaks Down" being one of the greatest songs ever written, and the bloody thing was released about 5 times to try and get a hit. Yet I can't listen to it without my attention wandering after about 30 seconds.

― Dr. C, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

Forget the new Cole Porter - the question is, who's the new Lloyd Cole?

― the pinefox, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

i think he is brilliant. i can completely agree with the sentiment that all of the records save 'swoon' and 'protest songs' are mor/adult contemporary but that doesn't seem to bother me, i've no idea why. he is craftsman in my eyes and i think he never releases a song that isn't complete and wonderful. well maybe a few like say 'the fifth horseman' which is a bit crap. allegedly he writes and records hundreds of songs but i doubt that, the website is sticking by the may 22nd release date for the new record 'gunman and other stories'. the pearlfishers record is a nice primer.

― keith, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Just got "The Gunman". I thought I was disappointed by Andromeda Heights. This is a new low. Firstly, I only get 10 tracks, of which 4 tracks have been previously released in one form or another. Secondly, some of the songs are just pure filler... Example: Farmyard Cat??? What kind of crap is that?! I'm a Farmyard Cat.. Meow??? AAARGGGH!!!! Thirdly, if I wanted a country album, I'd look up Travis Tritt... Someone help me here! Is it too much to ask for an album with COMPLETELY UNRELEASED MATERIAL??? Paddy I think has lost the will to be his best.

― Lance Wright, Monday, 18 June 2001 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

From what I've heard they're ..nice. I like the song Bonnie

― Mike Hanley, Monday, 18 June 2001 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

I look forward to when he ditches the muso session men and expensive producers and releases the solo accoustic album he's destined to do. I love his stuff but on the last two albums he seems to be trying to sabotage his work by making it sickly smooth and sweet, he should try scuffing his knees now and again.

― Billy Dods, Friday, 7 September 2001 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

I'm back into them again now so let's revive!

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 9 January 2003 17:07 (7 years ago) Permalink

'steve mcqueen' is a beautiful beautiful record. I'm kinda surprised dr C doesn't like 'em.

so what recs of theirs have you been listening to Tom?

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 9 January 2003 17:31 (7 years ago) Permalink

I own everything up to "Andromeda.." but all on tape so I'd not listened for years. Isabel likes them too and we were thinking vaguely of playing something by them at the wedding, so I bought the 2CD best-of. The first CD I think is really patchy - they weren't particularly a 'singles band' and so a chronological arrangement of same definitely has its ups and downs. The second CD is pretty much terrific right up until the Andromeda material which I never liked, though - I loved them at their absolute softest, really limpid pretty hushed ballads like "When the Cows Come Home"; "Desire As"; "Doo-Wop In Harlem"; "Pearly Gates" (Protest Songs is my favourite album by them and is full of that stuff).

I'm a bit surprised you like them Julio!

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 9 January 2003 17:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

Classic.

I've loved Prefab Sprout since I first heard Lions In My Own Garden on John Peel back in '82/'83.

I wonder if Dr. C was about / remembers seeing them at Reading Uni around '84 / '85 when they were on tour with another great Kitchenware band, Hurrah! and both bands apparently only had one bass & bass amp between them?

Last saw them (without Wendy, sadly) at Shepherds Bush Empire a couple of years ago and they were still magic.

Julio's impeccable taste doesn't surprise me in the slightest btw.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 9 January 2003 17:45 (7 years ago) Permalink

no, this is definitely Julio music - especially Cruel I would say - and not Dr.C music.

At his best - "When The Angels", title song from Jordan... - McAloon's untouchable. He doesn't quite do it often enough for me tho'.

― Jeff W, Thursday, 9 January 2003 17:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

I really loved 'Steve McQueen' and 'Cars & Girls' .. but I just haven't been able to get into anything else ... I really want to too - because Steve McQueen is 'simply amazing' (a phrase that will undoubtedly show up on the cliches we love to hate thread) - and maybe it's that high standard that's kept me from liking much else...

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 9 January 2003 18:04 (7 years ago) Permalink

I also taped steve mcqueen of the record library but I haven't heard this record in a long time. I should prob buy this, actually because I can't remember exactly why i liked this record so much (you see I taped Joy division's closer on the other side to save money on buying tapes and I don't think they go well together).

''I'm a bit surprised you like them Julio!''

songs don't need to have an obligatory free jazz bit in them tom.

well doesn't Dr C like Scritti politti? OK so they aren't exactly alike but both bands have an affinity for soul-type stuff so i thought he would enjoy it.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 9 January 2003 18:07 (7 years ago) Permalink

definitely one where I wish their was an option between classic and dud but I'll say classic. Compared to Elvis Costello's post-This Years' Model stuff it's gloriously hernia-free but like Aztec Camera's High Land, Hard Rain I kinda forget this stuff exists most of the the time. Fine when I hear it though.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 9 January 2003 19:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

I thought they were pretty good back in the Langley Park days, but i played that album a year or two back and it was quite a painful affair.

Dud.

― christoff (christoff), Thursday, 9 January 2003 19:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

Hey up! My ears are burning.

Stewart - yes, yes I saw PF at RUSU in 84 or 85. I wrote at some length about the great Hurrah! on a thread on ILX not long ago. Tim Hopkins and I (and doomie!) were waxing lyrical about them. We invited Hurrah! to a party at our house after the gig and they turned up with Prefab Sprout too!

For about 2 weeks after it came out I thought that side one of Steve McQueen was genius, but it soon passed. I dunno - I have the 2CD thing and it occasionally comes out if I feel the need to hear Lions in My Own Garden or Bonny or Don't Sing - but really I just don't *get* McAloon. The concepts aren't that really that interesting and everything is so *tasteful* that I just can't get interested.

So you're right Jeff, as usual! I don't much like them, but of course I love Scritti. I suppose the comparison is valid tho' I'm not much interested in Paddy OR Green's craftsmanship and intelligence - Scritti get my attention because they're just so damn funky.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 9 January 2003 20:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

"I wrote at some length about the great Hurrah! on a thread on ILX not long ago."

Hurrah! Started out so well - they were great live (did you see them at the After Dark too Dr. C?) the 3 or 4 singles they did for Kitchenware (which were later compiled as "Boxed") were excellent; then they signed to Arista and somehow sadly they just seemed to lose the plot.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 9 January 2003 21:17 (7 years ago) Permalink

Prefab Sprout are the musical equivalent of a Disney movie- nothing in the league of Alice In Wonderland, mind you, but better than Pocahontas. So yeah, tasteful, "nice", "clean". But with enough wide-eyed wonder to lure me in.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 10 January 2003 00:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

Stewart - yes, they were bloody unbelievable live. I saw them 4 or 5 times in Reading - St. Patricks Hall, another hall (St. Georges?)After Dark and RUSU twice (once with PF and once with Microdisney). I treasure 'Boxed' and the Rev-Ola comp.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Friday, 10 January 2003 09:41 (7 years ago) Permalink

Haven't heard it for ages but I used to think that if you could get past the dodgy production "Swoon" was their best album. This seems to be as eccentric a view now as it was then. The 3 or 4 best songs on "Steve McQueen" were better than "Swoon", and the production was obviously much more sophisticated. But the quality of the ideas was patchier and it was a less consistent album. By "Langley Park" the magic had all but gone, to return only very sporadically.

Their career seems in a minor way to echo Steely Dan's, a band they were close to stylistically - they started off rough-but-brilliant, hit their peak when they added some production smarts (although PS's peak lasted for about 4 songs while SDs lasted for several albums) and then petered out as an obsession with high-production gloss turned them bland.

― ArfArf, Friday, 10 January 2003 11:28 (7 years ago) Permalink

heh, I meant "Swoon" when I said "Cruel" above (the latter's a song on the former).

― Jeff W, Friday, 10 January 2003 11:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

I've always found Swoon pretty much impenetrable - it stopped me enjoying PS for a long time (I bought it first because it had the best title). All that oblique wordplay.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 10 January 2003 11:56 (7 years ago) Permalink

I wouldn't defend the lyrics, Tom. Generally lyrics are just not very important to me. I seem to remember some of the images added a nice weirdness to the proceedings and worked sonically, but I'd never have been interested in thinking "what exactly does that mean?"

(This reminds of a comment Elton John made in an interview in the aftermath of Blur releasing "The Great Escape" (to great critical acclaim) and Oasis releasing "What's the Story" (critically rubbished). EJ said the critics were going to end up with egg on their face, partly because they were too obsessed by the lyrics, but also because they did not understand how lyrics worked. Oasis's lyrics might be rubbish in terms of meaning but they sounded ok so they did the job. EJ obviously isn't indifferent to lyrics or he wouldn't employ Bernie Taupin, and pay him a huge royalty share: he wasn't saying lyrics don't matter. He was saying they mattered in a different way than the critics thought.

This stuck in my mind because I agreed with his him both on how lyrics worked and on the relative merits of the two albums (not that I was a particularly fervent admirer of the Oasis album, but it did have some very good tunes while the Blur album IMO was obviously rubbish. Even Blur's lyrics, sixth-form poetry shot through with a celebrity's contempt for the rest of us with our boring jobs and lives, were much more offensive than Gallacher's mere awkwardness.

EJ turned out to be "right" at least in the limited/provisional sense that WTSMG outsold TGE by a huge multiple and the critical consensus shifted hugely in its favour as well.

― ArfArf, Friday, 10 January 2003 12:52 (7 years ago) Permalink

Neil Tennant made a very similar point re. Blur/Oasis lyrics, and I think he and Elton were probably right. My interest in lyrics flickers on and off - if they don't attract my attention I won't judge them. With Swoon though it seemed to me that the lyrics were drawing attention to themselves quite a bit, leaving me little choice but to pay some kind of attention. And often they left me feeling rather irritated.

Actually thinking about it this happened with the backing vocals more than the lyrics - something like "When Bobby Fischer's plane touches the ground" is interrupted by that pert little "(plane, plane!)" in the backing, and for whatever reason it infuriates me every time, draws attention to the lyrical quirkiness. I hate that feeling when I'm listening to music and suddenly find myself thrown out of the record thinking "But why on earth is *that* there?". The "Doh-bee. Doh-bee." stuff at the start of 'I Couldn't Bear To Be Special' has the same effect.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 10 January 2003 13:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

Again, I wouldn't want to defend these specific instances. I'd agree that some of the quirkiness/archness is irritating and obtrusive. But in terms of liking the album overall it obviously didn't bother me so much.

― ArfArf, Friday, 10 January 2003 15:33 (7 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Revive - if only because, after years of unrequited like from both parties, they suddenly seem to be the band my mid-thirties were waiting for. 'Nightingales' just came on iTunes and it's like Heidegger rewritten by Dietz and Schwartz.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 18:46 (5 years ago) Permalink

Goodness!

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 18:50 (5 years ago) Permalink

I am also... touched at Dr C.'s precognitive typo throughout this thread... where he types PF instead of PS... repeatedly!

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 18:53 (5 years ago) Permalink

I also think there is an unmatchable b-sides collection to be compiled here - 'Girl I'm Here' and 'The End of the Affair' (unbelievably, a couple of b-sides from different editions of the ok 'Electric Guitars' single) alone are worth the price of admission.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 19:02 (5 years ago) Permalink

I found them to be CLASSIC until "Langley Park" which is unbelievably DUD. My little brother looooves them, go figure once again

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 19:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

I must listen to the 2CD best of thing tonight to see if I like them yet. I sort of want to like PS.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 20:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

I agree with Donna Brown's little brother!

And -- while I expect disagreement -- I think Dolby/Prefab (or Dolby/McAloon) was a genuinely great partnership. Yes, sometimes an otherwise lush production suffers from a synth patch too scrappy or anemic -- or conversely, a pad too thick and sludgy -- to serve its intended purpose. But Dolby had a knack for giving each track its own sonic vocabulary, and if you forgive the occasional lapse it's possible to get really caught up in the creativity of the arrangements of even the lesser songs -- the punch, rubbery percussive sounds in "Knock on Wood," the spacious acoustic and nicely timed delays on the backup singers in "I Remember That," the Gregorian chant/drone in "Michael," and so on.

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 20:51 (5 years ago) Permalink

"the punchY, rubber percussive sounds"

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 21:16 (5 years ago) Permalink

Anyone remember the song "Donna Summer" that came (only I think) with the double-single release of 'When Love Breaks Down"? God, that was wonderful. It also came with a different version of "Diana" that was on "Protest Songs" (my favourite Sprout LP I think)

― LondonLee (LondonLee), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 21:43 (5 years ago) Permalink

No, but I really liked that song "Spinning Belinda" that was on the Debut magazine/record combo and apparently no other Sprout record. Thanks, Paddy.

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 22:35 (5 years ago) Permalink

I had forgotten all about Debut magazine. I had an issue that had Danse Society on it.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 22:54 (5 years ago) Permalink

there are some great songs on Jordan, the Comeback too and that album hasn't been mentioned so far ( i dont think) Mercy is maybe his greatest song. "I'm 49" from I trawl the Megahertz is very beautiful too.

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 11 March 2004 02:12 (5 years ago) Permalink

jordan is the best song. andromeda has been unfairly maligned in this subject too, it was a pretty classy comeback album. never heard the last one. i liked that andromeda was dedicated to a couple of carpenters. the judybats were like the american version of prefab sprout, they were classic as well.

― keith m (keithmcl), Thursday, 11 March 2004 02:34 (5 years ago) Permalink

Judybats were TOTALLY classic

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Thursday, 11 March 2004 02:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

I like a few tracks on Andromeda Heights but it was a disappointment overall. I'm glad I didn't give up on it too quickly or I would have missed out on the glorious title track at the end -- glorious despite the ill-conceived instrumental verse.

(Anomie & Bonhomie is another album where you might well bail out early on an artist whose best years are probably behind him, but you'd miss the best track if you did.)

And yes, "Im 49" is beautiful. Depressing as hell, but beautiful.

Never heard of the Judybats -- in what ways are they similar? Sound? Quality of songwriting? Or...

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Thursday, 11 March 2004 03:00 (5 years ago) Permalink

Classic. I was just playing the first side of 'Two Wheels Good'/'Steve McQueen' today.

As for Elton's praising Noel Gallagher's lyrics, didn't Christgau once cite "You know I can't think straight no more" as a key to Bernie Taupin's state of mind?

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Thursday, 11 March 2004 04:34 (5 years ago) Permalink

I think Andromeda Heights is fantastic! A much more "mature" sound than any of the other albums, but I wouldn't want to have to chose my favourite between that one, SWOON and Protest Songs.

The Gunman & Other Stories on the other hand was a disappointment.

I Trawl The Megahertz is.... interesting.... I'm not sure, haven't really made my mind up on that one yet. I've enjoyed it to the 2 or 3 times I've played it but I don't feel any great urge to keep going back to it like I did with Andromeda Heights.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 11 March 2004 10:34 (5 years ago) Permalink

Swoon, McQueen, Langley Park, Protest Songs and Jordan infused my teenage life so that McAloon could never in the future put a foot wrong. Of course he did, but I've ignored it in the main. Ok, I haven't- Andormeda Heights, some great songs aside, is swamped by saxophone and slush, and Gunman just doesn't sparkle. Megahertz has a good six songs' worth of filler, but 'I'm 49''s perfect and the opener is touching, stitched together or not. That said, it does sound a bit like my American friend rambling 'meaningfully' over her ex-boyfriend's crappy noodling, but I try to shut that out.

― Buffalo Stan, Thursday, 11 March 2004 16:19 (5 years ago) Permalink

I don't know what Dolby and iTunes are.

re. lyrics, how about wanting to be the Fred Astaire of words?

I like PF.

― the bluefox, Thursday, 11 March 2004 16:54 (5 years ago) Permalink

Dolby = Thomas Dolby, who produced and played on Steve McQueen

iTunes = an antique jukebox in a cafe in North London that only plays PS and PF records

(possibly one of these is wrong)

― zebedee (zebedee), Thursday, 11 March 2004 17:17 (5 years ago) Permalink

Thomas Dolby also produced and performed on parts of Langley Park and all of Jordan

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Thursday, 11 March 2004 19:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

You know what? I quite like the idea of McAloon - this hyperliterate exquisite loner - gradually moving toward what, some might call, slush. Oddly, it's a sign of adventure. He desparately wants to write the 'Long and Winding Road' of his generation, and I think there's something weirdly admirable about his attempt to stifle his peculiar singularity in search of a standard. In a funny way, he's Jimmy Webb in reverse.

I also love what I have heard of the Megahertz record. It's brave and magnificent.

Does anyone know the state of Paddy M's eyesight now? And whether he is likely to release any of his mad folly concept lps or is ever more determined to explore the lonely furrow connecting the BBC world service and Berlioz?

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Thursday, 11 March 2004 21:07 (5 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 82 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

OK, I am officially old...I just bought the Legacy Edition of Steve McQueen, and the acoustic versions of the songs are really great...(they are not exactly "unplugged"; most are fleshed out with back-up guitars, harmonica, rudiementary percussion, etc...the liner notes indicate that McAloon spent more time in the studio with the acoustic versions than he did with the original LP!)...speaking of which, this is one of the first remastering jobs where I can actually hear the difference...I guess it helped to have Thomas Dolby do the job himself...

it's all like going back to an old girlfriend...

― henry s, Saturday, 21 April 2007 13:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

I will buy that one, simply because obviously the original badly needs remastering. (Audio-wise, the next two albums sound way better)

But I don't see the point in that second disc. I mean, a bunch of newly recorded acoustic versions? Could have made sense if they were the original versions, but Paddy should rather release som,ething new (preferrably with proper arrangements) rather than rehash his old material in a way that must be inferior to the originals.

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 21 April 2007 17:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

Could have made sense if they were the original demos, I mean

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 21 April 2007 17:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

7 months pass...

I was about to buy The Collection, when I discovered there's a NEW best of that just came out called "The Kings of Rock 'n' Roll":
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kings-Rock-Roll-Prefab-Sprout/dp/B000WTNDOO/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1197444424&sr=8-2

I've got Steve McQueen and Jordan: the Comeback; which one should I pick up?

― mr. falcon, Wednesday, 12 December 2007 07:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

38 songs for £6.99? Go for it.

― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 12 December 2007 07:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

@ Geir: Those acoustic renditions are really quite nice, not tossed-off afterthoughts at all like a lot of acoustic re-recordings tend to be.

― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 12 December 2007 07:46 (2 years ago) Permalink

I've got Steve McQueen and Jordan: the Comeback; which one should I pick up?

"From Langley Park To Memphis" obv. Their most underrated album, IMO just as good as the two "classic" ones.

― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 12 December 2007 09:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

I bought the deluxe edition without having heard the album before and I have to say I like the acoustic versions better.

― baaderonixx, Wednesday, 12 December 2007 09:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

THE SWEET SEPTEMBER RAIN

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Saturday, 31 May 2008 08:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

I picked up the 38 Carat Collection used. One of my best bargain finds. Makes me want to check some later stuff I've overlooked.

― leavethecapital, Saturday, 31 May 2008 17:56 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

I've just recently realized how amazing this band is. Was always aware of them, but now it's all I want to listen to. What else should I check out along these lines? Bear in mind I don't mind 80s production but can't handle Scritti Politti or anything that makes Prefab Sprout sound like Chrome in comparison. In other words, less or AS wimpy as Prefab Sprout, but no wimpier.

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 04:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

Scritti Politti! Dude, come on. PS themselves'd say Steely Dan, if they were feeling cocky. Occasional bits of Orange Juice, Pet Shop Boys, Smiths, but noone I can think of right now was all that much like them

― Niles Caulder, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 09:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

I've been meaning to get into Orange Juice for years...I only know a few stray tracks and Edwyn Collins solo stuff!

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 10:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

Couldn't go far wrong with the first two Thomas Dolby albums. There's plenty of others who treaded the fairlight ridden path of sensitive singer songwriter in the 80's but few as good as them.

If I was being mischievous I'd suggest Momus as a more rococo alternative, but fear of being struck down by lightning prevents me.

― Billy Dods, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 10:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

Aztec Camera's first LP fits nicely alongside Prefab Sprout...Go-Betweens up to/including 16 Lovers Lane...

― henry s, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 13:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

DEACON BLUE

THE SCOTTISH PREFAB SPROUT

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 13:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

I hope you're jesting.

― Billy Dods, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 14:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

Aztec and Go-Betweens're excellent suggestions. Maybe Blue Nile too, "Hats" is perfect, similar vibe to slow PS

Y'know what a few Prince songs're pretty close too actually, things off Parade and Sign O the Times, round that

― Niles Caulder, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 14:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

well, Deacon Blue do sound more like Prefab Sprout, and perhaps vice versa, than any other band I can think of.

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 15:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

I concur with the Go-Betweens suggestion. I'd also recommend Microdisney as Prefab Sprout-type fodder - similar mixture of sophiscated melodies and enjoyably glutinous 80s production, except with Pol Pot on vocals. Their Best Of "Big Sleeping House" is a good introduction.

― Freedom, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 15:48 (1 year ago) Permalink

The latest Pearlfishers album Up With The Larks (on Marina) is a dead-on and thoroughly enjoyable Prefab Sprout homage. "Womack and Womack" does the best job of combining bouncy white soul and world-weary lyrics.

― zaxxon25, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 16:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

^^^been meaning to check them out...there's also a band called le Concorde or something like that who are supposed to recall vintage Prefab Sprout (I've never heard them), and there's Cane 141 (who are mostly downtempo electronica now, but have done very Prefab-ish stuff in the past)...

― henry s, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 16:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

david scott from the Pearlfishers is an extreme brian wilson obsessive but i was about to suggest him as well as he's a genius and everything he's done since 1995 has been amazing. he's also been making great bmx bandits records the last couple of years.
i always say the judybats were a poor man's american version of prefab sprout, especially on the first two records, they don't have any of that studio sheen but the same odd sense of drama and poetry of everyday life.

― keythkeyth, Thursday, 7 August 2008 02:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

As far as travelling in similar orbits, Halloween, Alaska could list both the Blue Nile and Prefab Sprout as influences, both in delivery and music. Stars' _Nightsongs_ is another RIYL.

The first two Dolby albums OTM, as well as some of his later stuff ("Budapest by Blimp" has keys that sound right out of "Desire As").

But really there's no band that combines all the Prefab elements in quite the same way: witty lyrics, heartfelt delivery by Paddy & Wendy, hook-filled tunes, lofty themes, etc.

― scampering alpaca, Thursday, 7 August 2008 14:34 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

Anyone heard this? Pretty weak.

― Freedom, Tuesday, 26 August 2008 18:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

Heh, I dig it. The spare arrangement draws attention to the words, with the piano adding gravity.

Being an Editors fan, though, I like his voice. Would love to hear "Til the Cows Come Home" or "I Remember That" done in a similar fashion.

― scampering alpaca, Tuesday, 26 August 2008 19:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

Fred Falke's dj 'mini mix' for annie mac's show (about 20 songs in 5 minutes) suddenly featured that "bap bap bah! shadoo-dad-dooda bap bap bah!" vocal riff from CARS AND GIRLS in the middle. i don't know who i was more impressed with Falke or Prefab Sprout but it brought a huge smile to the old face.

― piscesx, Tuesday, 26 August 2008 20:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

OMG, I hope this true...

http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/09/prefab_sprout_in_new_album_sho_1.html

ADMIRERS OF PREFAB SPROUT and their singer/ songwriter Paddy McAloon - a soulful romantic with the emotional range of Bacharach and the melodic precision of Steely Dan - are by necessity a patient bunch. They have, after all, only heard two new albums since 1990, excepting Paddy’s superlative, mostly instrumental 2003 set I Trawl The Megahertz.

But that wait for new music will soon be at an end, as MOJO can joyfully report that Paddy and his bass-playing brother Martin have been back in the studio to record the long-awaited follow-up to 2001’s The Gunman And Other Stories. Tentatively entitled Let's Change the World With Music - The Blueprint, it will include the songs Let There Be Music, God Watch Over You and The Last Of The Great Romantics, and a source tells MOJO that they are “some of the best songs Paddy has written!” The band are aiming at a February 2009 release.

Ian Harrison

― Billy Dods, Friday, 3 October 2008 22:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

Shame about the title, but if this is true then fab. Judging from the songs listed, this is like Gunman in being drawn from his last decade or so of songs. God Watch Over You was sung by some Australian woman ages ago. It's a splendid song, despite lyrical sappiness - but that's kind of a given with later McAloon.

― Freedom, Saturday, 4 October 2008 13:09 (1 year ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

NB: track 8.

1. Let There Be Music
2. God Watch Over You
3. The Last Of The Great Romantics
4. Let's Change The World With Music
5. Angel of Love
6. Earth: The Story So Far
7. Falling In Love
8. I Love Music
9. Meet The New Mozart
10. Music Is a Princess
11. Ride Home To Jesus
12. Sweet Gospel Music

― Stevie T, Friday, 6 March 2009 15:06 (11 months ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

― chesty la roux (donna rouge), Saturday, 8 August 2009 08:17 (6 months ago) Permalink

An exclusive chance to hear 'Let There Be Music,' the opening track from Prefab Sprout's new album, 'Let's Change The World With Music,' due to be released 07/09/09. Brought to you by www.prefabsprout.net

― chesty la roux (donna rouge), Saturday, 8 August 2009 08:17 (6 months ago) Permalink

I kinda like it.

Also, I don't know what I ever expected Paddy would look like in 2009, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't that.

― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 8 August 2009 08:25 (6 months ago) Permalink

still love his voice...

― mizzell, Saturday, 8 August 2009 17:56 (6 months ago) Permalink

eMusic has two versions of what look like the same Prefab Sprout album: Two Wheels Good and Steve McQueen. Struggling to decide if the bonus disc on Steve McQueen makes that the better of the two discs (FWIW, judging from the soundscans, the sound quality/production are better on Steve McQueen).

― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 8 August 2009 18:05 (6 months ago) Permalink

the bonus disc is just the solo acoustic versions that paddy did years and years later right? i personally found them to be of no interest.

― mizzell, Saturday, 8 August 2009 18:18 (6 months ago) Permalink

They're the same album, except it was called Two Wheels Good in the US. Since Steve McQueen was more popular in the UK in its time, it's since been remastered and expanded.

― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 8 August 2009 18:18 (6 months ago) Permalink

4 weeks pass...

So LCTWWM is out. Anyone given it a proper listen?

― Freedom, Sunday, 6 September 2009 12:33 (5 months ago) Permalink

err how come I missed this? Please somebody tell me whether I can listen to this... without being wholly and mortifyingly disappointed.

― mmmm, Sunday, 6 September 2009 19:46 (5 months ago) Permalink

am so looking forward to this...

― henry s, Monday, 7 September 2009 01:14 (5 months ago) Permalink

he's always had good quality control. only the occasional misstep sees the light of day.

― keythkeythkeyth, Monday, 7 September 2009 15:13 (5 months ago) Permalink

Listened to this a couple of times, sadly I can see why it was passed over in '92. Unless it's a real grower, the albums' back story is giving it a rosy glow it doesn't really deserve.

― Old Man of Hoy-ho Silver Lining (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 07:48 (5 months ago) Permalink

The new album is surely a return to form. Paddy's best effort since "Jordan...". Not surprising that it was largely done in 1992 though, and also makes me fantasize about how great this album would have been with the magnificent "The Sound Of Crying" - one of his best ever songs - added to the sequence.

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 19:47 (5 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

"Earth: The Story So Far" is sexual.

― Freedom, Saturday, 24 October 2009 11:24 (3 months ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

Let's Change The World = Ace!

spotify:album:0DJorHkuhJRDNJ1JF4FIGv

― piscesx, Sunday, 8 November 2009 05:32 (3 months ago) Permalink

Agreed. "God Watch Over You" is a particular standout for me. I hope the reception for this is positive enough that he carries on with other old/new releases.

Have to say also that _I Trawl the Megahertz_ is one of my top albums this decade. Truly wonderful effort, there.

― scampering alpaca, Sunday, 8 November 2009 15:22 (3 months ago) Permalink

Yeah God Watch Over You is a winner for me too, just brilliant. I can't believe how good this album is. I wonder why on earth he didn't release it all those years back. There was a great feature in WORD about him. He really seems to have been going through it these last years.

― piscesx, Sunday, 8 November 2009 16:40 (3 months ago) Permalink

I skip God Watch Over You, cause I've been familiar for years with another version by some female singer. I concur about the excellence of the album however.

― Freedom, Sunday, 8 November 2009 23:31 (3 months ago) Permalink

"Earth: The Story So Far" is sexual.

― Freedom, Saturday, October 24, 2009

very beautiful fan video

― nicky lo-fi, Monday, 9 November 2009 01:26 (3 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

I listened to "Sleeping Rough" off Megahertz there for the first time in a while - what an absolutely jaw-dropping piece of music.

― Freedom, Thursday, 10 December 2009 19:33 (1 month ago) Permalink

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