MYTHS, MELODIES & METAPHYSICS: - Prefab Sprout

Sondheim's ability to express complex subjects, dealing with several emotions at once
appealed to McAloon as a writer and, coupled with his unwillingness to accept and follow
what was considered as 'standard methods' of song construction, McAloon admired the
way that Sondheim enforced that a writer should never be forced into saying something
he doesn't want to say purely be the shape of a rhythm.
Musicals attracted artists of ability, but the Broadway and Hollywood superstars who
made them memorable were going and that was a problem with aspiring writers such as
McAloon, who yearned an identifying platform for intelligent, adventurous lyrics, for he,
too, was to defend a confused, shallow-thinking press. Sondheim, in a television
interview, defended Company, a musical about marriage relationships, as being highly
moral and pro-marriage despite the quirkiness of the characters involved.
McAloon had pushed out the boat into the music world, making statements along the
lines of there being no serious competition in songwriting these days, and being met by a
questioning music press. He had actually claimed that he was "probably the greatest
writer on the planet." This apart, he had a strong wish to emulate the real 'greats' in
songwriting - Sondheim, Bacharach (another American) and, closer to home, McCartney,
having been a fan of the Beatles in his schooldays.
Artistically and Commercially, Bacharach was one of the most successful composers of
the modern era. In his partnerships with Hal David and later with Carole Bayer Sager,
whom he married, he wrote more contemporary standards than any writer since
Gershwin or Porter. Songs to his credit include Magic Moments, Anyone Who Had a
Heart, Walk On By, Say a Little Prayer, Close to You, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
and I'll Never Fall in Love Again.
Burt Bacharach's work covered being a pianist, singing, songwriting, arranging and
producing. His work in the mid-50's covered pop, rock, soul compositions and music for
many Broadway shows such as What's New Pussycat? and Alfie, a favourite of
McAloon's; Bacharach's diverse activities boosting McAloon's appreciation of his works.
In some ways, McAloon would be more 'comfortable' with being compared to
Bacharach as opposed to Sondheim, as he admits to having a sweet tooth for wanting to
recreate Bacharach's well-structured melodies and intelligent lyrics, maintaining that it's
also possible to be less 'obscure' than people seem to view the Sprouts. McAloon's
ambition is to write music that has some sort of strength to it but will always be
commercially accessible.
McAloon admits to coming to musicals quite late: "I was interested in them probably
because I'd felt that I'd exhausted the thrill of a lot of rock music, that I'd heard most of the
good things that were going to be done. If you like Bob Dylan you've heard most
singer/songwriters. If you like Led Zeppelin as a band, you've heard most metal bands, to
my mind the derivative.
"I was looking for novelty, I was looking for things that maybe the style was different in
the way you watch a black and white film. You go to the pictures, you watch the
television and you allow the people who made black and white movies a certain
allowance because of the era they come from.