hit, "If You Don't Love Me", which spent several weeks in the Top 10 on the dance chart. Their greatest hits, The Best of - A Life of Surprises, gave them their biggest U.S. McAloon has alluded in interviews to several albums-worth of songs that he has written but are unreleased/unrecorded including amongst others, concept albums based on the life of Michael Jackson (Behind the Veil), the history of the world (Earth: The Story So Far) and (Zorro the Fox) about a fictional superhero. In addition to its religious overtones, perhaps reflecting McAloon's education in a Catholic seminary, there were several allegorical songs about a character who embodied a mix of Howard Hughes, Jesse James, and Elvis Presley. Though the music was more accessible than their earlier material, the lyrics and subject matter remained characteristically oblique and suggestive (McAloon has often cited Stephen Sondheim as an influence). In 1990, Jordan: The Comeback, again produced by Thomas Dolby, was nominated for a BRIT Award. From Langley Park to Memphis included guest appearances from Stevie Wonder and Pete Townshend. It reached #7 in the UK Singles Chart, their only single to reach the Top 10. Their biggest commercial success in the UK came with the 1988 single "The King of Rock 'N' Roll", taken from the album From Langley Park to Memphis. It included the song "Life of Surprises", which later became the title track for their greatest hits compilation album. However, several months after Steve McQueen was released, its song "When Love Breaks Down" (which had been released as a single four different times in the UK without chart success) finally became a hit, and CBS feared a new album would hurt its predecessor's sales, so the project was shelved. Initially, Prefab Sprout returned to the studio without Dolby in the summer of 1985, and quickly recorded an album's worth of material that was initially meant to be released in a limited edition as a tour souvenir. This prompted McAloon to remark: "I'm probably the greatest songwriter in the world, you know." Their Protest Songs album was recorded next, but was not released until 1989. The following album, the Thomas Dolby-produced Steve McQueen, (released in America as Two Wheels Good after McQueen's estate expressed their displeasure with the title) was highly praised by critics. Their debut album Swoon was released on the Kitchenware record label in March 1984. Another single, "The Devil Has All the Best Tunes," followed later that year. The single's warm reception, including many plays on DJ John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, led to the Sprout's signing to CBS subsidiary Kitchenware Records, which re-issued the single in April 1983. Prefab Sprout debuted in 1982 with their self-released single, "Lions In My Own Garden: Exit Someone" - 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 staying at the time). In spite of limited American success, frontman Paddy McAloon has been hailed as one of the greater songwriters of his era. Their 1985 album Steve McQueen was released in the US as Two Wheels Good and peaked at number 180 in the Billboard 200. Prefab Sprout have had minimal chart success in the United States, where they are generally unknown outside of a devoted cult following. Allmusic states that they are one of the most beloved British pop bands of the 1980s and 1990s. According to the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums, Prefab Sprout are a critically-acclaimed, intelligent, fragile pop band, formed in 1978 in Newcastle. Eight of their albums have 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. Prefab Sprout are an English band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham, who rose to fame during the 1980s. Paddy McAloon - Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
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