MYTHS, MELODIES & METAPHYSICS: - Prefab Sprout

The band appeared live on BBC2's Whistle Test in December, pushing their new year's
release in January of Johnny Johnny (a radio-friendly title for Goodbye Lucille #1) and
playing live in the studio. The single made it to number 64 and the bike-shaped picture
disc also on offer was comparable in appearance with a similar disc, an interview disc of
Bruce Springsteen's - a hint at their next project, maybe.
On January 11, 1986 Radio One broadcast their In Concert live recording.
After a short rest over Christmas, the band prepared for a major European tour and also
some gigs in Japan. They played two singular gigs before packing their bags. They played
one night of the 'Red Wedge Tour', which had Wendy Smith singing an unusual solo
vocal for one song. Paddy decided to go after being talked into it by admirer, Jerry
Dammers, according to Paddy, "against my better judgement", playing an acoustic session
at the Newcastle City Hall venue.
The Red Wedge tour featured others such as The Smiths and The Tom Robinson Band.
The Sprouts followed up with a one night 'farewell' gig at the Hammersmith Odeon in
London in February 1986.
Late 1986 saw Paddy sitting comfortably in his bedroom commencing work on writing
his next album and also a suite of songs entitled 'Total Snow' or 'A Symphony of
Snowflakes', a modern day Christmas concept album along the lines of Phil Spector's
Christmas Album but up-to-date in its content, as McAloon described it, "a kind of
agnostic Christmas album."
From snowflakes to cornflakes, Kellogg’s offer a cassette compilation with the 'Start'
breakfast cereal, 'The Start Chart Collection', including When Love Breaks Down and
Marc Harris of Birmingham bravely attempts to organize a Sprout convention, which
despite the appearance of DJ Dave 'Kid' Jensen and big-time Sprout fan Jo Grimes, only a
dozen or so punters turned out for the evening.
In the meantime, Conti was moving on to working on the soundtrack to Absolute
Beginners and sessioning with David Bowie on his 'Glass Spider' tour.
It took eighteen months to write, record and mix down Prefab Sprout's fourth
(including Protest Songs) album. To their loyal and patient fans it was three years to wait,
but that included travel, touring and interviews following Steve McQueen's
overwhelming success.
The direction of the next album, From Langley Park To Memphis, was a result of
McAloon's desire to write a set of more mature, universally-resonant songs. Songs that
McAloon wrote not worrying whether or not the record sells, insisting he would "forget
all that and just make the kind of single you'd like to hear rather than worrying about
whether people play your records or not" : "If we sing are we Nightingales, shine are we
stars".
The plans for production were unusual. The band was used to working with one
producer at a time on an album. This time they worked with three but got a bit more
involved themselves, particularly Paddy, after self-producing Protest Songs a few years
previous.
Thomas Dolby only agreed to work on four songs as he was going through a time of illfeeling.
He doesn't see himself as a producer as he prefers to play on and "colour in"
songs. He's the compatible perfectionist companion that McAloon needs. McAloon soon