Jordan is Paddy perfecting Steve, which is really close to perfect already.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 24 November 2016 00:11 (seven years ago) link
I might go with Swoon over both of them.
― Kitchen Person, Thursday, 24 November 2016 01:49 (seven years ago) link
I was just looking at PS lps on discogs and they're a lot more expensive than they were 15 years ago. Like, not break the bank expensive, but last time I bought Two Wheels Good (Steve McQueen) on vinyl, it was about $3. It is not that now.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 24 November 2016 02:06 (seven years ago) link
Jordan. I think there are some wobbles in the first half (Machine Gun Ibiza), but it's completely immaculate Moondog onwards.
I forgot I started polling through the albums… I'll put up a SMcQ/2WG poll when I get five minutes.
― woof, Thursday, 24 November 2016 11:46 (seven years ago) link
I'll save you time...it's 'Bonny'...
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Thursday, 24 November 2016 13:23 (seven years ago) link
I'd think it would be Appetite.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 24 November 2016 13:24 (seven years ago) link
the acoustic Appetite on the reissue is like mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
― droit au butt (Euler), Thursday, 24 November 2016 13:32 (seven years ago) link
i love both but steve mcqueen is definitely their best
it's got a much nicer texture & jordan's just a little too sprawling
― ufo, Thursday, 24 November 2016 14:46 (seven years ago) link
I'd think it would be Appetite.― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, November 24, 2016 1:24 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, November 24, 2016 1:24 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Well, that's the one that I'd vote for!
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Thursday, 24 November 2016 15:01 (seven years ago) link
Picking between Bonny, Appetite and Goodbye Lucille is something I've always struggled with. Such perfect songs.
― Kitchen Person, Thursday, 24 November 2016 20:06 (seven years ago) link
the run of tracks from Bonny to Goodbye Lucille #1 is their peak, it's incredible
― ufo, Thursday, 24 November 2016 21:17 (seven years ago) link
Umm...why not throw Faron Young into that list just for good measure?
First three songs of side 2 ain't too shabby either.
― yugi ex, Friday, 25 November 2016 18:04 (seven years ago) link
Struggling to get into PS besides 'Wild Horses' and 'When Love Breaks Down.' have listened to TWG and Jordan all the way through several times but nothing has stuck. was talking with my friend that turned me onto PS the other day, he mentioned how vicious and bitter McAloon's lyrics are delivery are throughout his records, he said they make Steely Dan's cynicism look like a party. i'm not hearing it though...
― flappy bird, Friday, 25 November 2016 18:23 (seven years ago) link
― yugi ex,
Horsin' Around is the only song on Steve McQueen that's less than brilliant.
― Kitchen Person, Friday, 25 November 2016 18:32 (seven years ago) link
jordan took me a while to understand. can't imagine loving "when love breaks down" and being unable to apply that to the rest of steve mcqueen tho
idk if i'd characterize prefab sprout as more cynical than steely dan, in "a life of surprises" dude wrote one of the best and most earnest advice songs i've ever heard. "cruel" is sorta dan-ish in that it undercuts its own perspective
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, 25 November 2016 18:35 (seven years ago) link
There's so many great lyrical moments on this album.
"Save your speeches, flowers are for funerals" vs. "You give me infra-red instead of sun" vs. "Wishing she could call him heartache but that's not a boys name"
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Friday, 25 November 2016 18:39 (seven years ago) link
definitely gonna keep listening because i'm in love with those two songs, especially 'Wild Horses'... i mean my god, talk about ahead of its time... my girlfriend thinks it sounds like Blood Orange though, and yeah, i've so far had no success turning other people onto the music of PS...
― flappy bird, Friday, 25 November 2016 18:49 (seven years ago) link
absence makes the heart lose weight
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, 25 November 2016 18:49 (seven years ago) link
try "cars and girls"
― a but (brimstead), Friday, 25 November 2016 18:53 (seven years ago) link
word, i will!
xp ha i thought that lyric was "absence makes the heartless wager," which i'm not sure makes sense but the real lyric is better
― flappy bird, Friday, 25 November 2016 18:56 (seven years ago) link
"A Life of Surprises" is seriously about the best advice song ever, makes Steely Dan look like whiny teenagers
― albvivertine, Friday, 25 November 2016 19:08 (seven years ago) link
yeah, I love his penchant for advice - there isn't much like it in pop, I think, since at its best it seems actually wise - Life of Surprises is the high point but also love that scolding 'She is a person too / She has her own will' in Goodbye Lucille* - really the key thing to be telling moping lovelorn boys. In fact, all the way through to 'Girls, have some fun' at the end of Adolescence.
He's really profoundly uncynical I think. Even seeing through things, in anger or bitterness, he's very humane and very scrupulous about emotion.
*also 'what are you - 21? The world is a million'
― woof, Monday, 28 November 2016 11:30 (seven years ago) link
finally, a second poll:Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen / Two Wheels Good poll
― woof, Monday, 19 December 2016 22:02 (seven years ago) link
All this Prefab talk made me queue up my compilation of b-sides. I think this is complete, not counting remixes. It's not all gold but there's lots of gems here:Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)Radio LoveThe Devil Has All The Best TunesWalk OnSpinning BelindaDonna SummerDiana (single version)SilhouettesOh! The SwissReal Life (Just Around The Corner)WigsThe Guest Who Stayed ForeverOld Spoonface Is BackVendettaNero The ZeroDandy Of The DanubeTin Can PotTornadoBearpark (demo)The Sound Of Crying (full version)If You Don't Love MeJust Because I CanWhere The Heart IsDragonsThe End Of The AffairGirl I'm HereNever Trust A SpellI'm A Troubled Man (demo)
I also include these unreleased cuts from a fan bootleg:Constant Blue (demo)Cherry Tree (demo)The Glass Slipper (demo)
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 21 December 2016 16:42 (seven years ago) link
Agreed on the gems, like "Donna Summer" and "Bearpark". We might own the same compilation, if "When the Angels (Instrumental)" is on yours, too. Wish there were more out there to collect. For better or worse, they're left to their original releases. The Collection included "LIMOG(ES)" as did one of the later singles, but that's pretty much it, I think.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Wednesday, 21 December 2016 20:44 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jbdjD6a-xw
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Friday, 3 March 2017 13:37 (seven years ago) link
Just gorgeous...what an absolute hero he is
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Friday, 3 March 2017 15:00 (seven years ago) link
They got Santa for their new video?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 3 March 2017 15:12 (seven years ago) link
paddy has looked recently-descended-from-a-mountain for like... over a decade now?
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Friday, 3 March 2017 15:17 (seven years ago) link
Has he ever "explained" his appearance recently? So hard to reconcile the voice on the early records with this Gandalf looking figure
― calstars, Friday, 3 March 2017 16:26 (seven years ago) link
How do you explain sth like that?
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Friday, 3 March 2017 16:28 (seven years ago) link
Think his 'look' is at least partly related to the terrible eyesight problems he's had over the last ten years or more.
― Bernie Lugg (Ward Fowler), Friday, 3 March 2017 16:30 (seven years ago) link
yeah "i trawl the megahertz" was like 2003 and he looked the same... who really cares though?
― clouds, Friday, 3 March 2017 23:55 (seven years ago) link
yeah, wow, ask Paddy what gives--I'd love to hear that response
― Iago Galdston, Saturday, 4 March 2017 00:41 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, Paddy's looked like this for a long time now... I'm surprised that people are surprised about this now?
― Coolio Iglesias (Turrican), Saturday, 4 March 2017 00:47 (seven years ago) link
people should explain themselves when they grow beards
― a but (brimstead), Saturday, 4 March 2017 01:26 (seven years ago) link
LOL Tom Scharpling used to do a segment where he adjudicated whether bearded callers had "earned their beard"
― Iago Galdston, Saturday, 4 March 2017 02:49 (seven years ago) link
don't know if this has already been posted, but
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/88/da/a9/88daa9e7f3be063d3b7f6b3bf333575b.jpg
― soref, Saturday, 4 March 2017 11:49 (seven years ago) link
lol
My guess is it's the public expression of a self perceived sea change of identity.
― calstars, Saturday, 4 March 2017 12:59 (seven years ago) link
Or a way to not be recognized in public by his fans who I'd guess to be somewhat obsessive
― calstars, Saturday, 4 March 2017 13:02 (seven years ago) link
Or a plea for attention but that doesn't seem to be his style.
― calstars, Saturday, 4 March 2017 13:17 (seven years ago) link
thanks, Soref--perfect
― Iago Galdston, Sunday, 5 March 2017 23:52 (seven years ago) link
goddamn his voice sounds great in that new video
― flappy bird, Monday, 6 March 2017 01:56 (seven years ago) link
"I told myself, 'one a year'. But if I did one thing a year, I'd be 60 by the time I cleared eight of them. And I have a lot more than eight." Clear-eyed, twinkle-eared, coulda-gone-deaf-and-blind Paddy McAloon, the sanest maverick and most engaged recluse in music, chuckles. At himself, at his situation, at the world.
This from a 2009 interview. Funny how one a year is spoken of as not making a dent in his projects, yet 9 years on, nothing new released. Haven't even heard any good rumors. The most recent mentioned a reissue of _I Trawl the Megahertz_ in the works, but nothing on that front sadly. If there's an album worth of additional tracks for that, I'd weep.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 19:41 (five years ago) link
The Independent interview, which is probably somewhere upthread.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 19:44 (five years ago) link
New Paddy interview with discussion of the I Trawl the Megahertz reissue under the Prefab Sprout moniker, and a snippet of a new song from Femmes Mythologiques, a projected late 2019 release.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Monday, 10 December 2018 22:04 (five years ago) link
omg
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Monday, 10 December 2018 22:21 (five years ago) link
Np https://youtu.be/fZO40Yc_EwE
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Tuesday, 8 January 2019 12:26 (five years ago) link
wow never heard that one before it's fantastic
― ufo, Tuesday, 8 January 2019 12:44 (five years ago) link
aw i love "wigs"
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Tuesday, 8 January 2019 13:56 (five years ago) link