Patrick Joseph McAloon (born 7 June 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and a founder of the band

Prefab Sprout Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham who rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Wendy Smith in 1982, they re ...

Early life

McAloon was born and grew up in

Witton Gilbert Witton Gilbert is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. Geography Witton Gilbert is situated about to the north-west of Durham. River Browney passes to the south of the village, while Dene Burn, one of its tributaries, runs thr ...

in County Durham, England. He was trained to be a Catholic priest before deciding on a career in music.

Career

Prefab Sprout enjoyed considerable success in the 1980s and early 1990s. They peaked commercially with "

The King of Rock 'N' Roll "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" is a single by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released by Kitchenware Records in March 1988. It was the second single taken from their album of that year, '' From Langley Park to Memphis''. It remains the band's bigg ...

", which was a top ten single in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' during the '' Jordan: The Comeback'' world tour, McAloon stated he has never seen a positive royalty cheque for his work with Prefab Sprout Songs written by McAloon have also been recorded by Kylie Minogue ("If You Don't Love Me"), Cher ("The Gunman"),

Wendy Matthews Wendy Joan Matthews (born 13 January 1960) is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models and Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in the 1990s including " Token Angels", " ...

("God Watch Over You" and "Ride"), Sondre Lerche ("Nightingales" – the song appeared in " From Langley Park to Memphis" and Lerche sang it with the Faces Down Quartet as a tribute to Prefab Sprout), Danny Seward ("Home (Where The Heart Is)"),

Momus Momus (; Ancient Greek: Μῶμος ''Momos'') in Greek mythology was the personification of satire and mockery, two stories about whom figure among Aesop's Fables. During the Renaissance, several literary works used him as a mouthpiece for their ...

("Green Isaac Pt. 2"), and various songs for

Jimmy Nail James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show '' Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' ...

. "God Watch Over You" has also been covered by

Frances Ruffelle Frances Ruffelle (born 29 August 1965) is an English musical theatre actress and singer. She won a Tony Award in 1987, and represented the United Kingdom in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest with the song " Lonely Symphony (We Will Be Free)", ...

, and "When Love Breaks Down" has been covered by

The Zombies The Zombies are an English Rock music, rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American chart-topper, hit in 1964 with "She's Not ...

Lisa Stansfield Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition ''Search for a Star''. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first ...

, and Snow Patrol. In 2008, the covers album ''Independents Day 08'' included a version of "Bonny" performed by McAloon's label-mate Tom Smith of

Editors Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

. McAloon released the

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

album '' I Trawl the Megahertz'' (UK No. 54), under his own name, in 2003 on the

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

subsidiary company Liberty Records. After losing his eyesight--now somewhat restored--he listened to CB radio and call-in talk shows and found inspiration for the album. In 2019, it was rereleased as a Prefab Sprout album. In a 2013 interview, McAloon stated:

That record 'I Trawl The Megahertz''was so important to me. I was disappointed—extremely—that the ''Guardian'' never even reviewed it. That stayed with me. I kept waiting week after week: "Come on, if you're thinking they don't make records like they used to, if you're looking for personal vision, something unusual—I'm your guy!" But it never came.

In 2006 Prefab Sprout's '' Steve McQueen'' album was remastered by

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

, and was then released in 2007 as a double-CD package. The second CD featured acoustic versions of songs from the original album that were recorded in 2006. On 7 September 2009, Prefab Sprout released the album '' Let's Change the World with Music'', based on a demo recording from 1992. A Prefab Sprout album entitled '' Crimson/Red'' was released by Icebreaker Records in October 2013. McAloon is responsible for playing all of the instruments on the album. On 3 March 2017, McAloon, under the Prefab Sprout name, was shown singing a new song, "America", on the Instagram and YouTube channels of Keith Armstrong, his manager and the former boss of

Kitchenware Records Kitchenware Records was an independent record label based in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, UK. It was founded in 1982 by Keith Armstrong, Paul Ludford and Phil Mitchell, and was originally part of The Soul Kitchen, an artist collective a ...

. Seeming to be a protest song about the administration of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, and released with no accompanying publicity, the song was the subject of discussion and speculation.

Personal life

As of September 2013, McAloon resides in his native County Durham with his wife and three daughters. He suffers from a

detached retina Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blin ...

and

tinnitus Tinnitus is the perception of sound when no corresponding external sound is present. Nearly everyone experiences a faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely quiet room; but it is of concern only if it is bothersome, interferes with normal hearin ...

, which significantly limited his ability to work in the studio. McAloon dedicated ''Crimson/Red'' to "my wife and daughters", "the women with whom I'm lucky enough to share my life".

Liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

''Crimson/Red''

References

External links

* Paddy McAloon biographyat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

website
Let There Be Music
by Sean Curnyn, ''First Things'' {{DEFAULTSORT:McAloon, Paddy 1957 births Living people English male singer-songwriters English new wave musicians Male new wave singers Sophisti-pop musicians People from Durham, England Alumni of Northumbria University English Roman Catholics English male guitarists People with Ménière's Disease

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links