I’m struggling to sleep, so I guess that means it’s big ones time!
What can I say about Prefab Sprout? Well, for the longest time I actually didn’t like them! I’d hear my older brother playing parts of Steve McQueen faintly through his bedroom walls when I was younger and mistook it for some kinda bland, cheesy 80s pop… I was mostly right, minus the bland part. Later on I’d “borrow” my brother’s copy of Swoon when he wasn’t looking in order to try and figure out what the big deal was… I was never the same!
I find it hard to put into words what makes this music so special to me. It’s very emotionally charged but also often quite disjointed feeling. Paddy McAloon has an incredible knack for capturing such specific complex things in just a line or two… but he also has this frankly obtuse sense of humour that regularly hijacks tracks in a way I really enjoy. This is the same guy who wrote three separate songs, each covering a different fraught one-sided romantic dynamic as expressed through some increasingly strained horse-based metaphors and… it actually… surprisingly really works??
Anyway, it only felt right to dedicate a big ones thread to their goofy but gorgeous music. I’ve gone (roughly) chronologically here and did my best to hone in on some (hopefully!) less obvious picks so that those already familiar with the band might still find something new to discover!
I tried to give most of their discography a fair shot as well, although Swoon and Protest Songs are probably slightly overrepresented, as they’re my personal favourites. I’ve also excluded entire albums (!) from the later stage of their career that I always considered to be part of a kind of “wilderness years” for Paddy and the band. Things start to get a bit too synthetic, too saccharine, too christian, too cowboy for my liking…
That being said, this is a big ones thread! So if those albums are some of your favourites, now’s your chance to tell me I’m a big idiot with bad opinions!! Come yell at me about how Farmyard Cat is secretly their greatest song, I dare you!!! If I get the time later I might write some personal thoughts on each track but, for right now, I present to you all…
The Music of Prefab Sprout 🏗️🌱
Full playlist here, individual songs listed and linked below.
This playlist runs as a closed loop of sorts, beginning and ending with a bunch of radio static. I found listening to it all on repeat works weirdly well!I’ve tried my best not to link to official uploads in the hopes that this might prevent any annoying, region-based copyright restrictions from interfering with the general flow of things, but that also means some tracks are probably of a lower fidelity having been uploaded over a decade ago…
I recommend going out of your way to download these tracks for yourself in higher quality, but there’s also something quite charming about old youtube uploads with people’s personalised slideshows or music videos as accompaniment… Both options have merit!
Radio Love (1982)
B-Side to their first single Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)
The Devil Has All The Best Tunes (1983)
First single to include the vocal talents of Wendy Smith!
Diana (1984)
Earlier faster B-Side version included on the When Love Breaks Down single, a later slower version was recorded for the Protest Songs album
Here On The Eerie (1984)
From their debut album Swoon
I Never Play Basketball Now (1984)
Same as above
Elegance (1984)
Same as above
Spinning Belinda (1984)
B-Side to Couldn’t Bear To Be Special single
The Yearning Loins (1985)
B-Side included on a later pressing of the When Love Breaks Down single
Moving The River (1985)
From their second album Steve McQueen
When The Angels (1985)
Same as above
The World Awake (1985/1989)
From their album Protest Songs, originally planned for release shortly after Steve McQueen as a limited one week only bonus for the fans but eventually delayed due to concerns from label execs over confusing the marketplace… STUPID!
Wicked Things (1985/1989)
Same as above
'Til The Cows Come Home (1985/1989)
Same as above
Rebel Land (1985)
John Peel Session of a track that never received an official release but was included as part of setlists during the live tour promoting their second album Steve McQueen
Enchanted (1988)
From their third album From Langley Park To Memphis
The Venus Of The Soup Kitchen (1988)
Same as above
Wild Horses (1990)
From their fifth album Jordan: The Comeback
All Boys Believe Anything (1990)
Same as above
I Trawl The Megahertz (2003)
From Paddy McAloon’s solo album of the same name, later rebranded as a Prefab Sprout album
I’m 49 (2003)
Same as above