The Gentle Pop Sounds Of Witton Gilbert

Prefab Sprout - Swoon

I bought Swoon on the back of a couple early singles (featured here a while back) and have loved it ever since. Prefab Sprout's debut LP has been much overlooked since the fame which followed the hit album's Steve McQueen and From Langley Park To Memphis, but I still believe it's their finest work. 

Swoon is a charming collection of clever semi-acoustic pop songs underpinned by two McAloon classics Cruel and Couldn't Bear To Be Special, the opening single Don't Sing is pretty fine but doesn't come close to the Sprouts' early incarnation of twee. Also very pleasing is the quality of the rip that I managed to extract from what is a thirty year old record. Enjoy.

Ripped from a vinyl album released on Kitchenware Records (KWLP 1) in 1984 to high quality lossless flac audio.

A1. Don't Sing
A2. Cue Fanfare
A3. Green Issac I
A4. Here On The Eerie
A5. Cruel
B1. Couldn't Bear To Be Special
B2. I Never Play Basketball Now
B3. Ghost Town Blues
B4. Elegance
B5. Technique
B6. Green Isaac II

Twee We Are

Prefab Sprout - Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)

The dictionary definition of twee is excessively sentimental, sweet or pretty. In music, the term was given to the sickly indie-pop bands which grew out of the C86 scene, especially those associated with the Sarah Records label. Like most genres in music, it was given after the fact, as the twee scene was done and dusted long before our obsession with tagging. I'm sure the term twee came from our friends across the pond, because we Brits would have tagged them as drippy. So in the big scheme of things, Prefab Sprout were pre-twee.

I've always held great respect for the early work of these Geordie popsters, as they were responsible for some fantastic 7" singles prior to their later commercial success. Their debut single was a sad lament to Paddy McLoon's girlfriend who had left him and moved to the French town of Limoges for the summer (hence the title). Twee was born. Originally released on their own Candle label in 1982, they eventually signed with Newcastle label Kitchenware who were able to distribute it nationally in 1983.

Ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on Kitchenware Records (SK 4) in 1983 to high quality lossless FLAC audio.

A. Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)

B. Radio Love

Prefab Sprout - The Devil Has All The Best Tunes

Great title for a single, but the b-side Walk On is much better and one of McLoon's finest songs. Ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on Kitchenware Records (SK 7) in 1983 to high quality lossless FLAC audio.
A. The Devil Has All The Best Tunes
B. Walk On

Prefab Sprout - Don't Sing

The major label debut as Kitchenware had now licensed the Sprouts via Epic/CBS, and the rest became history. It took a slot on Channel 4's The Tube to attract a wider audience. Strangely they performed Cruel
which was never a single, but clearly it should have been. When compared to Cruel, Don't Sing clearly "rocks".
Ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on Kitchenware Records (SK 9) in 1984 to high quality lossless FLAC audio.
A. Don't Sing
B. Green Isaac II

As an addendum, 5 years later, Prefab Sprout were to release their third album, From Langley Park to Memphis which contains the magnificent rock/country/drive-time radio classic The Golden Calf. !!