Prefab Sprout

Prefab Sprout are one of the precursors to Coldplay. I’m not sure whether serious  Coldplay fans or the relatively smaller number of Prefab Sprout obsessives would agree with that statement, but I’m sticking to it.

See Prefab Sprout created literate (but not literary) intelligent (but not intellectually intimidating), musical (but not virtuosic) pop music that seemed best suited for lazy Sunday mornings rather than frantic Saturday nights.

That sounds a lot like Coldplay to me.

The English band’s core members were Durham County brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon joined by Neil Conti and Wendy Smith along with producer Thomas Dolby who was on board for most of their best recordings.

The bands first single was released in 1982 and soon after they were signed by the Kitchenware label which was a Sony subsidiary. Their debut album Swoon was released on the Kitchenware record label in March 1984.

But is wasn’t until the release of the following album, the Thomas Dolby produced Steve McQueen, that the band really started to gain attention. With songs like Faron Young and When Loves Breaks Down becoming critics favourites, Paddy McAloon started believing his own publicity if some press quotes are to be believed.

The album was called Two Wheels Good in the US after the family of Steve McQueen arked up.

The next album From Langley Park To Memphis featured their biggest hit The King Of Rock N’ Roll and indicated another English band with an increasing fascination with American pop culture. The song Cars And Girls referenced Bruce Springsteen and McAloon’s view of what he saw as Springsteen’s lyrical pre-occupations. Stevie Wonder and Pete Townsend both appeared on the album.

The next album 1990’s Jordan: The Comeback, again produced by Thomas Dolby, was nominated for a BRIT Award and was an ambitious project, a sprawling concept album that in addition to its religious references featured several songs about a character who has been described as a mix of Howard Hughes, Jesse James, and Elvis Presley.

The album was not a big success and for many it was the last they heard of the band.

In fact Prefab Sprout released another album Andromeda Heights in the UK in 1997 and embarked on a short UK tour in 2000. Several compilations followed along with a The Gunman and Other Stories a concept album themed on the American Wild West.

Paddy McAloon released the album I Trawl The Megahertz as a solo record in 2003 before reports that his hearing had deteriorated, reportedly due to Ménière’s disease.

Apparently he is on the improve and according to Mojo the band are working on a new album with the ambitious working title Let’s Change the World With Music – The Blueprint.

They had actually suggested this as a possible name for an album earlier in their career but it never came to fruition. Two mooted songs God Watch Over You and Ride, were given to Australian artist Wendy Matthews and featured on her album Witness Tree.

The new album is supposed to be released in 2009, a view that appears to be re-enforced by the Kitchenware label’s website.