From Langley Park to Memphis | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 14 March 1988 | |||
Genre | Sophisti-pop | |||
Length | 45:32 | |||
Label | Kitchenware | |||
Producer | Thomas Dolby, Jon Kelly, Paddy McAloon, Andy Richards | |||
Prefab Sprout chronology | ||||
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Singles from From Langley Park to Memphis | ||||
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From Langley Park to Memphis is the third studio album by English pop band Prefab Sprout. It was released by Kitchenware Records on 14 March 1988. [1] It peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart, the highest position for any studio album released by the band. [2] Recorded in Newcastle, London and Los Angeles, it has a more polished and commercial sound than their earlier releases, and features several guest stars including Stevie Wonder and Pete Townshend. The album's simpler songs, big productions and straight-forward cover photo reflect frontman Paddy McAloon's wish for it to be a more universal work than their more cerebral earlier work.
The album received mixed reviews upon release with several criticising the elaborate production style, while McAloon's songwriting received praise. The album's commercial performance was bolstered by the success of its single "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", which became the band's only top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart when it peaked at No. 7. The four other singles released from the album, "Cars and Girls", "Hey Manhattan!", "Nightingales" and "The Golden Calf", failed to make the top 40. [3]
After the critical and commercial success of Prefab Sprout's Thomas Dolby-produced second album, 1985's Steve McQueen , Paddy McAloon felt under pressure to deliver a worthy follow-up. McAloon resolved to quickly record and release a new album using limited production values. [4] Titled Protest Songs , the album was recorded over two weeks in Newcastle and intended for a limited release in late 1985. [5] [6] However, "When Love Breaks Down", a single from Steve McQueen, became a transatlantic hit in October 1985, and Protest Songs was put on hold by CBS so as not to confuse new fans and stunt sales of Steve McQueen. [7] [8]
Starting work on a new follow-up to Steve McQueen in 1987, the band considered rerecording songs from Protest Songs, but decided to leave the album untouched and start anew. [7] [nb 1] From Langley Park to Memphis was recorded sporadically over a year in Newcastle, London and Los Angeles. [9] Steve McQueen producer Thomas Dolby was unable to commit to producing the entire album due to his work on the soundtrack for George Lucas's Howard the Duck , ultimately a critical and commercial flop. [10] Instead, Dolby produced the four tracks he liked the most out of 16 demos sent to him by McAloon. [11] McAloon produced most of the remaining tracks in collaboration with Jon Kelly, while Andy Richards took Kelly's place for "Hey Manhattan!" and "The Golden Calf" was produced by McAloon alone. McAloon did not want the album's sound to be as uniform as Steve McQueen's, and initially planned to use 10 different producers. This was ultimately deemed a logistical impossibility. [12] [8] The album features guest appearances from Pete Townshend, Stevie Wonder and the Andraé Crouch singers – McAloon felt the latter two's contributions proved the band's music was not exclusively British. [13]
In contrast to Prefab Sprout's previous work, most of the album's songs were written on keyboard and the album's sound has been described as "sonically soft". [14] McAloon's home recording and composing setup at the time included a Roland JX-3P, a Roland JX-10, a Yamaha DX7, an Ensoniq Mirage and a Casiotone. McAloon was most comfortable with the JX-3P for composing while a Fostex B16 was used for recording demos. [9] He aimed to write more accessible songs than those on the band's earlier records, stating "I've realised that a good simple song is better than a half-successful complicated one." [15] McAloon also sought to expand the band's sound to incorporate his favourite elements of popular music, including gospel music and Broadway, and to reach an audience "seduced by the overall glamour and romanticism". [16] According to Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork , From Langley Park to Memphis includes an eclectic mix of styles including alternative rock ("The Golden Calf"), standards ("Nightingales") and Broadway-style singalong ("Hey Manhattan!"). [17] Several songs feature American themes, reflected in the album's title. [14] McAloon explained in a 1988 interview that he often drew inspiration from America for his songs because "America remains an inexhaustible source of myths and the extreme." [18]
Of the album's ten tracks, Thomas Dolby produced "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", "I Remember That", "Knock on Wood" and "The Venus Of The Soup Kitchen". "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" was written in 1985. [19] The lyrics are written from the perspective of a washed-up singer who had a one-hit wonder in the 1950s with a novelty song featuring the chorus "Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque". McAloon was aware of the song's commercial potential early on, and felt it would surprise fans used to the band’s earlier, more cerebral material. [20] Musically, "I Remember That" is, according to Nils Johansson of NSD , a gospel ballad. [21] McAloon considered the song's nostalgic mood a lighter lyrical theme than that of a love song, with the title phrase being "close to romanticism without actually being sloppy". [19] He tried to sing the song with a "lightness of feeling". [22] In a 1997 interview, McAloon named "I Remember That" "the best song I've ever written". [23] "Knock on Wood" has been described by David Stubbs of Melody Maker as a "song about breakdown, how the man who jilts will himself be jilted, couched in a beautifully adhesive reggae lilt." [20] "The Venus of the Soup Kitchen" closes the album. McAloon wanted the song's melody to be far-reaching and resonant, with the chorus expressing "the emotional participation of everyone listening to it". He described the song's meaning in a 1988 interview "Venus travels along the road from Langley Park to Memphis. I have imagined it full of troubled people, people who need a Venus who can cook soup for them." [24] The song features the Andraé Crouch Singers, who recorded their contribution in Stevie Wonder's studio in Los Angeles. [25]
Jon Kelly produced "Cars and Girls", "Enchanted", "Nightingales" and "Nancy (Let Your Hair Down for Me)". "Cars and Girls" was written in 1985, and played by the band during live appearances that year. Lyrically, the song is a comment on Bruce Springsteen's use of romantic metaphors in his songs. [18] McAloon has denied that the song indicates a personal distaste for Springsteen, telling NME "I think a lot of his audience get into him on a patriotic level that he doesn't intend. They misinterpret him, their enjoyment of him is inaccurate, all very imperialist American. I wanted to write a song about someone who was thick white trash, listening to Springsteen, and saying 'But our lives aren't like that'." [19] Paddy McAloon has described "Enchanted" as being about "finding something to be excited about, year after year". [26] Thomas Dolby suggested Prince should produce the track, but the album's sound engineer David Leonard failed to find Prince at Sunset Sound Recorders to approach him. [18] McAloon sampled the opening bass run of Glen Campbell's recording of "Wichita Lineman" for the song's bassline. [27]
McAloon wrote "Nightingales" with Barbra Streisand – whose The Broadway Album he was engrossed by – in mind. [28] [29] He considered it as "the purest song" the band had recorded since "When Love Breaks Down". [30] McAloon originally envisioned the song featuring a horn solo, but ultimately composed a complex harmonica solo and wrote a letter to Stevie Wonder asking for him to play it. [31] Wonder hadn't heard of Prefab Sprout but nevertheless obliged, adding his own melodic lines to the song. [32] McAloon would later describe his contribution as "so breathtakingly good and precise, even though he said himself it was quite complicated". [12] McAloon has described "Nancy (Let Your Hair Down for Me)" as "a modern love story". The song is about a married couple who work together, with the wife being the husband's boss. [7]
Andy Richards produced "Hey Manhattan!", a song McAloon wrote on piano. [32] McAloon originally wanted an American, Isaac Hayes, to sing it. [19] The proposed collaboration was quashed when Hayes' manager wanted more than was offered. [33] The song is about an enthusiastic teenager who arrives in a big city, with the theme of dreams and ambitions. [13] [15] Pete Townshend provided acoustic guitar for the song during the mixing stage at his studio. [34] [13] McAloon was nervous about the song's production during recording, having not worked with Andy Richards before, but ultimately approved of his work. [11] Nevertheless, he'd describe "Hey Manhattan!" as "the one song I'm dissatisfied with the way we realised it. It's pretty but it's a failure." [19]
"The Golden Calf" was self-produced by Paddy McAloon. It is among the earliest-written songs Prefab Sprout have released, having been composed in 1977 when the band was a guitar-based trio who made what McAloon would describe as "heavy metal meeting disco". [7] The Langley Park version felt "like doing a cover version" for McAloon due to the lapse of time, and he used a less breathy singing voice than usual on the track, something he felt Thomas Dolby would not have allowed and considered more in line with his vocals from Swoon . [35] [9] "The Golden Calf" has been described by Andreas Hub of Fachblatt as "a real rocker" [12] and has garnered comparisons to the work of Pete Townshend, [36] Marc Bolan [35] and Del Amitri. [37]
From Langley Park to Memphis was released by Kitchenware Records on 14 March 1988. The album's title comes from a line from "The Venus of the Soup Kitchen" - "Maybe it hurts your brothers too, from Langley Park to Memphis" - a lyric about universal emotions. [31] Langley Park is a village in County Durham near where the band originated. Memphis was chosen as it was where Elvis Presley began his career. [14] The title has been construed as a reference to Presley's album From Memphis to Vegas / From Vegas to Memphis . [38] The album cover, designed by Nick Knight, is a straight-forward image of the four band members, intended to reflect how the album is clearer and more direct than its predecessors. [13] The album was Prefab Sprout's first to chart in the top 20, entering the UK Albums Chart at number 5 and remaining in the chart for 23 weeks. It remains the band's highest-charting studio album. [39] It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry in April 1988. [40] By 1997, From Langley Park to Memphis was estimated to have sold 330,000 units in the UK. [41]
"Cars and Girls" was released as the album's lead single but failed to reach the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, reaching a peak of number 44 over five weeks on the chart. [2] Speaking in 1992, McAloon described himself as "shocked and stunned" at the song not being a hit, commenting "I woke up then and I’ve never had such high expectations since." [42] In August 1988, the band were reported to have persuaded CBS to rerelease the single but this ultimately didn't happen. [43] The second single "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" remains Prefab Sprout's greatest success in their native UK. Their only top ten hit, the song peaked at No. 7 and spent 11 weeks on the chart. [2] The band promoted the single with mimed performances of the song on Top Of The Pops [44] and Wogan . [45] McAloon would later point out the irony of a song about a one-hit wonder being his only top ten single. [46] "Hey Manhattan!" was issued as the album's third single, reaching number 72, while its fourth "Nightingales" charted at number 78. [39] Having been offered to American album-oriented rock radio stations by Epic in advance promotion of the album, [8] "The Golden Calf" was the fifth and final single. It was promoted by the band with performances on the children's television programmes Going Live! and Get Fresh . [47] [48] It charted at number 82 in the UK. [39] "I Remember That" was released as a single in 1993 to promote the compilation album A Life of Surprises: The Best of Prefab Sprout but failed to chart. [3]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [49] |
NME | 5/10 [50] |
Pitchfork | 8.6/10 [17] |
Q | [51] |
Record Mirror | 4+1⁄2/5 [52] |
Rolling Stone | [53] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [54] |
Smash Hits | 6/10 [55] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 [56] |
Uncut | 8/10 [57] |
From Langley Park to Memphis received mixed reviews. Rolling Stone 's Peter Wilkinson described the album as "overreaching", elaborating "McAloon tries leavening disjointed talk with instrumental gimmickry. Songs built around McAloon's guitar are lost in a swirl of strings and the noodlings of no less than five engineers and four producers." [53] Dave Rimmer of Q considered it "probably their best album yet" but found "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" "a mite irritating". He felt that "the only true duff part is the overblown imagery of "The Golden Calf"." [51] NME 's Len Brown was not enamoured with the album's production style, calling it "sickly" and "cluttered". He considered the album "a largely bland affair", but praised "Cars and Girls" and "Nancy (Let Your Hair Down for Me)". [50] Creem 's Kurt B. Riley was critical of the album, feeling that the songwriting was "done a great disservice by ill-fitting arrangements". [58] Melody Maker 's David Stubbs felt it was "less strong" than Steve McQueen but "more ambitious". [59] Vogue 's Barney Hoskyns commented "at least seven of its 10 songs are more accessible, more ravishingly beautiful than anything McAloon has written." [60] Both Record Mirror and Hot Press ranked the album number 5 in their "Albums of the Year" list. Additionally, the album was included in "Albums of the Year" lists in Q,[ citation needed ] The Village Voice ,[ citation needed ]Musikexpress,[ citation needed ] Spex [ citation needed ] and Rockdelux .[ citation needed ] Dave DiMartino of Billboard ranked the album his fifth favourite of the year, commenting "Paddy McAloon has seen the future of rock and roll - and has returned bearing the names of Jimmy Webb, Cole Porter and absolutely no songs about cars 'n' girls." [61] In 1991, Melody Maker's Paul Lester described From Langley Park to Memphis as "a hyper-modern dazzling white pop LP that ranks alongside Dare , The Lexicon of Love and Colour by Numbers ." [62]
Among retrospective reviews, Jason Ankeny of AllMusic gave the "ambitious" album 4 stars out of 5, calling it "Prefab Sprout's spiritual journey into the heart of American culture", though he felt it paled in comparison to Steve McQueen. [49] Writing in Italy's Ciao Magazine in 1990, Paolo Battigelli described it as a "not entirely convincing record" but added "Cars and Girls" confirmed McAloon as a composer with a rare talent, albeit one hiding himself behind allegories and tortuous references." [63] Writing for Pitchfork upon the album's reissue in 2019, Sam Sodomsky considered the album as "catchy and complex" as its best known songs "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" and "Cars and Girls" and described the music as "colourful and hopeful and alive - everything seems to sparkle, right down to the glossy band photo on the album cover". [17] "Nancy (Let Your Hair Down for Me)" was among the ten tracks listed in NME's "Alternative Best of Prefab Sprout" in 1992. [19]
The album's commercial success caused an uncomfortable level of recognition for Paddy McAloon, who would later recollect "I was asked for autographs, girls wanted to put their hands in my hair, touch me... ...the glamorous aspect of our music has always been for me a way of showing how we as individuals are the opposite of this glittering world." [64] Despite demand from fans and CBS, Prefab Sprout did not tour the album as McAloon did not want to sacrifice what he described as "the best time of my life for writing", stating "I know that if I go on the road I'll just end up writing in the same way as everyone else." [15] In interviews surrounding the album's release, McAloon alluded to two new projects he was working on – a Christmas album called Total Snow and a musical about the fictional masked vigilante Zorro called Zorro the Fox. [26] As of 2022, neither of these projects have materialised. Regarding "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", McAloon has described himself as "reconciled to being remembered for that song" and "aware that it's a bit like being known for "Yellow Submarine" rather than "Hey Jude"." [65] A remastered edition of the album, overseen by Paddy and Martin McAloon, was issued by Sony Music on 27 September 2019. [66]
All tracks are written by Paddy McAloon
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" | 4:22 |
2. | "Cars and Girls" | 4:25 |
3. | "I Remember That" | 4:14 |
4. | "Enchanted" | 3:47 |
5. | "Nightingales" | 5:53 |
6. | "Hey Manhattan!" | 4:45 |
7. | "Knock on Wood" | 4:16 |
8. | "The Golden Calf" | 5:06 |
9. | "Nancy (Let Your Hair Down for Me)" | 4:02 |
10. | "The Venus of the Soup Kitchen" | 4:29 |
Credits adapted from liner notes.
Prefab Sprout
Additional musicians
Technical personnel
Chart (1988) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [67] | 58 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [68] | 49 |
Italian Albums (FIMI) [69] | 9 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [70] | 34 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [71] | 18 |
UK Albums (OCC) [39] | 5 |
Chart (1988) | Position |
---|---|
European Albums (Music & Media) [72] | 98 |
Italian Albums (FIMI) [69] | 52 |
UK Albums (OCC) [73] | 87 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
France (SNEP) [74] | Gold | 100,000* |
Portugal (AFP) [75] | Silver | 10,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Prefab Sprout are an English pop/rock 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 released their debut album Swoon to critical acclaim in 1984. Their subsequent albums, including 1985's Steve McQueen and 1990's Jordan: The Comeback, have been described by Paul Lester of The Guardian as "some of the most beautiful and intelligent records of their era". Frontman Paddy McAloon is regarded as one of the great songwriters of his time and the band have been credited with producing some of the "most beloved" pop music of the 1980s and 1990s.
Jordan: The Comeback is the fifth studio album by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released by Kitchenware Records and CBS on 28 August 1990. A 19-track album encompassing a variety of musical styles and themes, Jordan has been considered by the band and critics alike to be Prefab Sprout's most ambitious project. The album was produced by Thomas Dolby, who had helmed the band's acclaimed 1985 album Steve McQueen but had been unable to commit to the entirety of its 1988 follow-up From Langley Park to Memphis.
Protest Songs is the fourth studio album by English pop band Prefab Sprout. Recorded quickly and self-produced, the album features a minimal production style at odds with most of the band's work. Originally planned to be released in December 1985 as a quickfire follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed second album Steve McQueen, it was put on hold for commercial reasons and the band moved on to record 1988's From Langley Park to Memphis. The album was finally released by Kitchenware Records and CBS on 19 June 1989. Despite the band undertaking no promotional activities, the album peaked at number 18 on the UK Albums Chart.
Steve McQueen is the second studio album by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released in June 1985 by Kitchenware Records. The album was released by Epic Records in the United States as Two Wheels Good in anticipation of legal conflict with the estate of American actor Steve McQueen. The album cover references Steve McQueen's lifelong passion for Triumph motorcycles and the 1963 film The Great Escape.
Patrick Joseph McAloon is an English singer-songwriter and a founder of the band Prefab Sprout.
Swoon is the debut studio album by the English pop band Prefab Sprout, released in March 1984 by Kitchenware Records. Written over a period of seven years, the record was produced with David Brewis on a low budget. The group mostly chose to avoid recording the material they had played live over the years, preferring to make a more intricate record of mostly recent material.
A Life of Surprises: The Best of Prefab Sprout is a compilation album by the English pop band Prefab Sprout, released by Epic Records in July 1992. The album reached No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart.
38 Carat Collection is a compilation album by the English pop band Prefab Sprout, released in October 1999 by Columbia Records. It was issued in a double CD version. Each disc is arranged in chronological order, with most of the group's singles appearing on disc 1 and tracks from their six previous studio albums on disc 2.
I Trawl the Megahertz is an album originally released as a Paddy McAloon solo album in May 2003 on Liberty Records. It was later reissued in February 2019 on Sony Music under the Prefab Sprout name, as originally intended, with new artwork. McAloon was rendered nearly blind for a period in 1999 due to detached retinas; housebound, he found comfort in listening to shortwave radio transmissions like chat shows, phone-in programs and documentaries. He recorded conversations from these programs, fragmented them, and introduced new words and lines from other sources, generating source material for the album.
"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 biggest chart success in their native UK, reaching number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, where it spent 11 weeks.
"Cars and Girls" is a single by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released by Kitchenware Records in February 1988. It was the first single taken from their album of that year, From Langley Park to Memphis. The single failed to reach the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, reaching a peak of number 44 over five weeks on the chart. It has nevertheless become one of Prefab Sprout's most popular songs.
Let's Change the World with Music is the ninth studio album by the English pop group Prefab Sprout. It was released on 7 September 2009 by Kitchenware Records. It was the band's first album of new material since 2001's The Gunman and Other Stories and marked a return to Sony Music, Kitchenware's parent label. The album reached No. 39 in the UK Albums Chart at the end of the week of its release. Although no singles were technically released, "Let There Be Music" was sent to radio stations, and "Sweet Gospel Music" was due to be a one-track digital release to highlight the album, but received no airplay and therefore was pulled.
Neil Conti is an English drummer and music producer best known as a member of the English pop band Prefab Sprout. As an in-demand session drummer, he has collaborated with acts such as David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Annie Lennox, Cher, Level 42, Laurie Anderson, Steve Winwood, Paul Young, Youssou N'dour, Brian Eno, Robert Palmer, Deep Forest and Will Young.
Crimson/Red is the tenth studio album by English pop band Prefab Sprout, although for this album "Prefab Sprout" consists entirely of singer/songwriter Paddy McAloon, who writes, sings and plays every note on the album. Crimson/Red was released in the United Kingdom by Icebreaker Records and Kitchenware Records on 7 October 2013. The album title is a reference to artist Mark Rothko.
"A Prisoner of the Past" is a single by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released by Kitchenware Records on 21 April 1997. It was the lead single from Andromeda Heights, the band's first studio album in seven years. Frontman Paddy McAloon wrote the song in 1989, inspired by the work of Phil Spector. Upon release, the song received critical acclaim and reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. It remains the band's final top 40 hit to date.
"The Sound of Crying" is a single by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released by Kitchenware Records in June 1992. It was one of two new songs included on their compilation album A Life of Surprises: The Best of Prefab Sprout. It was one of the band's biggest hits, reaching No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart.
Wendy Smith is an English musician. She was a singer and guitarist in the band Prefab Sprout from 1983 until 2001. In 2015, she became the director of creative learning at The Sage in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England.
"Lions in My Own Garden (Exit Someone)", rendered "Lions in My Own Garden: Exit Someone" on its initial release, is the first single by English pop band Prefab Sprout. It was first released on the band's own Candle Records in 1982, and reissued in 1983 after the band were signed by Kitchenware Records.
"Goodbye Lucille #1" is a song by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released as a single under the title "Johnny Johnny" by Kitchenware Records in January 1986. It was the final single taken from their album Steve McQueen. The single failed to reach the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, reaching a peak of number 64 over three weeks on the chart.
"Appetite" is a song by English pop band Prefab Sprout from their album Steve McQueen. Released as the album's third single by Kitchenware Records in August 1985, it reached number 92 on the UK Singles Chart. Despite its disappointing chart performance, the song has been singled out as one of the highlights of Steve McQueen.
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