Other Sprout Items of Interest

Signs from the 1990 tour (left) and the 2000 tour (right). I guess as we get older we get more polite!




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In my discography I stuck mostly to the standard UK audio releases. On this page I'll cover a variety of other Sprout material. This is in no particular order and, unlike the UK discography, does not attempt to be comprehensive.

  1. Collectable audio from countries other than the UK.
  2. Video
  3. Sheet Music and "tabs"
  4. Promotional items.
  5. Bootlegs: live and otherwise
  6. Sprout albums that never were -- yet!

Collectable audio from countries other than the UK.

There is generally no "musical" point in collecting the non-UK recordings of the Sprouts--they are typically the same as the UK, sometimes with slight length variations. (One exception is the previously noted vocal on the US CD of Two Wheels Good. In my opinion it is superior to the that found on the Steve McQueen CD).

The action here is in cover variations and simply quirky things. For example:

·         Argentina offers us the only chance to have a 7" of The King of Rock 'N' Roll b/w Cars and Girls. Of course the label reads "El Rey Del Rock 'N' Roll" and "Autos y Mujeres" You can find these on their album "Desde Langley Park a Memphis." There are also Brazilian releases with Portugese subtitles to the track listings.

·         I ended up with a few singles from Italy destined for use in jukeboxes. Things like Prefab Sprout on one side, Billy Joel on the other. I once passed on a 12" that had the Sprouts on one side and Springsteen on the other. The fact that it had Springsteen on it meant the guy wanted a fortune for it.

·         There are Japanese pressings available (remember, the Sprouts actually played there, even if they haven't in the US). My 7" of When Love Breaks Down was a big find for me (shown on the Collectables page), and I have several of the albums and CDs (including a 3" of We Let the Stars Go") from there. Again, the variations are minimal, but the packaging is fun. Interestingly, the early UK copies of Swoon on CD were made in Japan.

·         OK, from Indonesia I give you a cassette with "From Langley Park to Memphis" on one side, and Talking Head's "Naked" on the other. On Atlantic Records no less. Huh? (shown on the Collectables page)

·         From Spain one can obtain promo singles that are only recorded on one side. The other side is just plain blank.

·         There are a whole bunch of freebies with Sprout stuff on it. Probably one of the most collectable is a joint effort between Kitchenware and Newcastle Bright Lagered Ale, a cassette featuring "Lions.." and "Walk On." NME gave out a 7" of "Real Life..." with one of its magazines. Coke offered a 3" CD in the US with "Looking for Atlantis" on it. Kelloggs (UK) had a "Start Chart Collection" tape with "When Love Breaks Down". And even Tower records/Epic teamed up to giveaway "Bonny" for free on a 7".

·         The When Love 12" from New Zealand is yellow, not blue/green like the UK version; the US 7" for When Love is dark blue. Should we care?

·         Alright, I don't know if even I believe this one (even though I had one): Supposedly there was a time when vinyl or petroleum was fairly scarce in Poland. So they resourcefully used postcards and etched recordings into the picture side. I had a copy of "Nancy" in this format. I've actually played it. Sounded horrible, but it worked.

·         Two of my favorite collectables are the US promotional cassettes for Swoon and Two Wheels Good. The fun part is that Epic got the name of their own band wrong, calling them "Prefab Sprouts," (shown on the Collectables page). They caught on by the time of Langley.

·         For the truly crazy, you can collect "acetates." essentially these look like records but they are made entirely differently. They are a metal plate with a thin film of material (acetate?) on them. They are not pressed like records; instead they are etched. They can be produced quickly in-house and are used to listen to the album prior to pressing. If you're lucky you get an acetate with a different version of a song than what makes it onto the album. An acetate can only be played a few times. I had a Swoon acetate but it was identical to the final product as far as I could tell. A few years ago, some guy was pawning off '10" acetates of 7" singles' but these were, I believe, frauds.

·         And of course there are "white label promos" and "promo only" releases. I've covered some of these in my discography. The only "promo only" that gets me excited is "The Great Escape" interview produced in conjunction with the release of Steve McQueen (shown on the Collectables page)

Video

Video is a bit problematic for someone in the US: most was released in the UK in the PAL format, incompatable with the US's NTSC format. So I don't really know all the Sprout videos out there.

The first compilation was "From Langley Park to Hollywood" featuring "Cars and Girls / The King of Rock 'N' Roll / Hey Manhattan! / The Golden Calf / When Love Breaks Down / Appetite." It wasn't distributed in the US, but was obtainable on Japanese laserdisc (Sony ESLU94)

By the way, I've seen two completely different versions of Cars and Girls. Can't tell you anything about why.

The second compilation was "A Life of Surprises - the video collection" which included the "Langley....Hollywood" releases plus "The Sound of Crying / We Let the Stars Go / Looking for Atlantis / If You Don't Love Me / Carnival 2000." The catalog for the US version (NTSC) is "Sony Music Video Enterprises" (SMV) 14V 49141. Sprout fan Bjorn Wahlberg of Sweden informs me there is a laserdisc of the "Life of Surprises" videos, it's Sony/Epic ESLU 115.

There is a video for Prisoner of the Past. Wendy and Martin even less visible in the video than they are on the album. I've also learned there is a video for Electric Guitars, but I haven't seen it. John Birch apparently also has videos for All the World Loves Lovers, Life of Surprises and I Remember That.  These days, you can find Sprout videos on Youtube.  Try this link:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_sort=relevance&search_query=prefab+sprout&search=Search

Sheet Music

In conjunction with Life Of Surprises, there was a release of the sheet music for those tracks, at least in the UK: "All the tracks from the album newly arranged for piano, voice and guitar freshly engraved and complete with lyrics and guitar chord boxes." Wise Publications order number AM90021. The ISBN is 0-7119-3102-X.

In addition, I am aware that individual sheet music was released for When Love Breaks Down and The King of Rock 'N' Roll. I'm not sure about any other sheet music.

A fan by the name of Marshall Boswell webbed the tabulature on his site, but that went defunct.  It can be rediscovered through this link courtesy of Archive.org.

Promotional Items

OK, the music industry is rife with gimmicks to attract your attention. For your consideration:

Others? Let me know.

Bootlegs: live and otherwise

It's well known that bootleg tapes and, nowadays CDs, are sometimes available at record collecting shows or are traded by collectors, such as through the record collecting magazines and so on. Indeed, many Sprout fans had heard "Protest Songs" long before it was officially released -- and no doubt bought the commercial release anyway: that's why they're called fans!

As a major Sprout collector, I have heard a lot of this material. I feel it is appropriate to document and report on what is "out there" and to review what I have heard. I've listed the material I've heard, and included the tracks on each tape/CD. In addition, I've given each recording a rating based on the sound:

[A] = excellent
[B] = very good quality
[C] = average quality
[D] = below average quality

(Keep in mind that even an [A] tape may sound like crap if it's a tenth generation copy!)

You may be surprised to see several songs on the track listings from the early days that never made it to any commercial release. These songs are "Constant Blue," "Cherry Tree," "Glass Slipper," and "Rebel Land." 

Here is everything I know about the Sprouts' bootlegs:

Hallelujah
Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)
The Devil Has All The Best Tunes
Walk On
Spinning Belinda
Faron Young
Tin Can Pot
Donna Summer
Constant Blue ("Domefest" versions of this tape only?)

"Donna Summer" is played HARD and fast. Great.

·         Souled Out -- cassette version 2: 1983 (Unless this is the same, or a part of the next recording, I've not heard this so I can't rate it.)

Cherry Tree
The Devil Has All The Best Tunes
Bonny
Constant Blue
Lions in My Own Garden (Exit Someone)
Technique

·         Darlington Arts Centre: April 16, 1983 [D] (does this overlap with the second "Souled Out" cassette?)

Don't Sing
Cherry Tree
Horsechimes
The Devil has All the Best Tunes
Bonny
Diana
Technique
Constant Blue
Lions in My Own Garden, Exit Someone

·         Demos: 1983(?) [A]

Glass Slipper
I'll Never Play Basketball Now
Talking Scarlet "version 2"
Green Isaac
Couldn't Bear to Be Special

·         London Savoy: February 9, 1984 [C]

Diana
I Never Play basketball Now
Cherry Tree
Green Isaac
Couldn't Bear to Be Special
Ghost Town Blues
Technique
Hallelujah
Don't Sing
Lions in My Own Garden, Exit Someone
Couldn't Bear to Be Special
The Devil Has All the Best Tunes

·         London: July 5, 1984 [C]

Diana
I Never Play basketball Now
Green Isaac
Couldn't Bear to Be Special
Ghost Town Blues
Technique
Hallelujah
Spinning Belinda
Cruel
Don't Sing
Lions in My Own Garden, Exit Someone

·         Leeds Warehouse: July 18, 1985 [D]

Don't Sing
Bonny
Green Isaac
Moving the River
Hallelujah
Goodbye Lucille #1
Cars and Girls
Lions in My Own Garden, Exit Someone
Appetite
When Love Breaks Down
Rebel Land
Faron Young
When the Angels
Cruel
Ghost Town Blues

·         Dominion Theatre, London: July 22, 1985 [D]

(Same lineup as Leeds Warehouse)

·         John Peel Session: August 28, 1985 [B]

Lions in My Own Garden, Exit Someone
Rebel Land
Cars and Girls

·         Hammersmith Palais: November 18, 1985 [C]

Horse Chimes
Moving the River
Cars and Girls
Bonny
Faron Young
Hallelujah
Lions in My Own Garden, Exit Someone
Wicked Things
Goodbye Lucille #1
Don't Sing
Tiffany's
When Love Breaks Down
When the Angels
Appetite
Cruel
Faron Young

·         Utrecht: December 8, 1985 [A]

Bonny
Hallelujah
Wicked Things
Goodbye Lucille #1
When Love Breaks Down
Cruel
Faron Young
Appetite
Cars and Girls

·         Hammersmith Odeon: March 5, 1986 [B]

Appetite
Tiffany's
Don't Sing
Hallelujah
Green Isaac
Moving the River
Wicked Things
Lions in My Own Garden, Exit Someone
Cruel
Dublin
Goodbye Lucille #1
Cars and Girls
Horsin' Around
Bonny
When Love breaks Down
When the Angels
Faron Young
I Couldn't Bear to Be Special
Ghost Town Blues

·         University of Reading: 1986 [A] (the BBC disc carries a 1986 copyright)

Moving the River
Cars and Girls
Bonny
Faron Young
Hallelujah
Lions in My Own Garden, Exit Someone
Wicked Things
Johnny Johnny
Tiffany's
When Love Breaks Down
When the Angels
Appetite (some versions of this tape end with Cruel instead of Appetite)

·         Konsei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo: July 2, 1986 [B]

Moving the River
Faron Young
Hallelujah
Lions in My Own Garden, Exit Someone
Goodbye Lucille #1
When Love Breaks Down
Appetite
Cruel
Faron Young

·         Bari, Italy: February 20, 1986 [C -- but fun: the Italians like to sing along!]

Moving the River
Cars and Girls
Green Isaac
Bonny
Faron Young
Hallelujah
Lions in My Own Garden, Exit Someone
Appetite
Dublin
Wicked Things
Goodbye Lucille #1
Don't Sing
Tiffany's
When Love Breaks Down
When the Angels
Cruel
He'll Have to Go
Faron Young
Horsin Around
Ghost Town Blues

·         KCRW interview with brief solo performance: July 4, 1988 [A]

Nightingales
Appetite (intro only)
Hey Manhattan! (briefly)
Nancy
Witchita Lineman (written by Jimmy Webb)

·         Portsmouth Guildhall: October 15, 1990 [C]

Michael
Appetite
I Remember That
Moving the River
Machine Gun Ibiza
We Let the Stars Go
Bonny
Faron Young
Nightingales
Hey Manhattan!
Carnival 2000
One of the Broken
Wild Horses
Jordan: The Comeback
Couldn't Bear to Be Special
Goodbye Lucille #1
The Golden Calf
Moondog
King of Rock 'N' Roll
Looking for Atlantis
Cars and Girls
When Love Breaks Down
Doo Wop in Harlem

·         Paddy mentioned in a 1997 interview that there is a DAT of a Jordan tour concert floating around.

 

·         Cambridge Corn Exchange, April 5,2000 [A] BBC Radio Broadcast

I Remember That

Sound of Crying

We Let the Stars Go

Jordan, the Comback

Faron Young

Life of Surprises

Cars and Girls

Cruel

Hey Manhattan!

Swans

One of the Broken

When Love Breaks Down

Goodbye Lucille #1

·         Silhouettes -- the "b-side" album, on CD [A]

I had heard about the possibility of there being a Sprout CD bootleg as far back as late1996. Someone mentioned it on the old "Appetite" web site guestbook. This person was in Europe and said they had obtained it from someone in LA. I thought this odd since I'm in LA and I'd never seen it, though I'm afraid I wasn't much of a Sprout collector during "the big quiet" between the release of their greatest hits album and Andromeda Heights. (Who would have thought there was anything to collect then?)

Then, someone I mostly trust told me they had seen a live double CD of the Sprouts -- something like two hours worth of music -- in a used bin in a record shop, but they were never able to confirm this buy showing it to me. Obviously I'd be interested in obtaining more information about either of these CDs (or perhaps they are one and the same).

The person behind the old "Appetite" web site dreamt of the day when a Sprout "b-side" album would be released, and had started a campaign to get Kitchenware to release one. In late1997, I discovered someone (not anyone connected with the "Appetite" page, by the way) had decided they couldn't wait any longer.

The CD was brought to my attention by a friend who is a huge music fan. He had stumbled across it. I won't say how or when or where, but I can tell you this:

I was stunned when I heard it.

I'm not an audiophile so I can't give a "technical" report. But let me say that I heard things on this 20 track CD that I had missed when listening many times to these same cuts on vinyl -- and I have a nice turntable. The CD runs 71 minutes and includes several tracks that are making their "debut" on CD.

The CD package has lifted existing Sprout artwork from other releases in a pleasant design, though the resolution is a bit short of professional. Otherwise it has the "look and feel" of a Sprout release. The CD itself is even a picture CD! It carries the catalog number "rscd01" (is there an "rscd02"???) and indicates it was manufactured in the USA. Carrying this out a bit far: the CD includes a line that states "Copyright 1997 R.S. Ltd. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws."

Here is the track listing [my comments]:

Lions in My Own Garden (Exit Someone)
Radio Love
The Devil Has All the Best Tunes
Walk On
Spinning Belinda
Donna Summer
Diana [fast version]
Silhouettes [12" version]
Heaven Can Wait
Oh! The Swiss
Wigs
The Guest Who Stayed Forever
Old Spoonface Is Back
Vendetta
Nero the Zero
Real Life (Just Around the Corner) [long version]
Dandy of the Danube
Tin Can Pot
Tornado
Bearpark

There are other tracks that could have been considered for inclusion, but the CD is filled to capacity. Whoever produced this CD made good choices, though I would have spread out the tracks starting with "Heaven Can Wait" and ending with "Old Spoonface." They are either instrumentals or weak tracks, so the CD gets a little "bogged down" in the middle. "Oh! The Swiss" would have made a good ending, for example. Obviously the producer of this CD chose to stick to the order the tracks were released, which is a defensible goal.

For the record and reviewing only the commercially released tracks found on my discography, here's what's NOT on this CD: "Faron Young, Truckin' Mix," "The Yearning Loins," and "He'll Have to Go," (which lends credence to the idea the source for this CD is the US -- those three tracks are on the US CD for Two Wheels Good); "Hey Manhattan! (JFK version)"; "The King of Rock 'n' Roll (16 track)" from SKX39; the live "Bonny" found on CDSK41 and SKX41; The extended version of "Looking for Atlantis" SKX47 and SKCD47; the various dance mixes connected with "You Don't Love Me." Finally, none of the non-album tracks released on the singles connected to Andromeda Heights are on "Silhouettes."

An album like this is long overdue from Kitchenware -- perhaps it will be necessitated if the Sprouts stop recording altogether and need to complete their eight album contract. Of course the record company has the master tapes and can also easily top "Silhouettes" by adding in demos and other previously-unreleased tracks -- surely it will have to be a double CD! Until then, "Silhouettes" is an amazing sneak preview. (shown on the Collectables page)

·         The eight Prefab Sprout "CD FANZINES." These started appearing in 1998. I have only seen #4, the BBC "In Concert" CD (shown on the Collectables page). My information about the rest is purely anecdotal, so I cannot grade them. (The BBC Concert definitely rates an "A" though.). Again, I cannot help you obtain them.

Features the covers and collaborations of Paddy. Tracks:
Cowboy Dreams
Love Breaks Down
I'm A Troubled Man
Crocodile Cryer
Dragons
The Highwayman
Blue Roses
Constant Blue (1983 demo)
Ravivar Fiore
Love Will Find Someone For You
The Gunman
He'll Have To Go
Where The Heart Is
Wichita Lineman (US Session) Donna Summer (live 1980)
Real Life (Just Around The Corner)

o        CD Fanzine #2 -- "Knights In Armour"

Features on Paddy's 'home town' in song and theories relating to a missing album. Tracks:
Girl I'm Here
Never Trust A Spell
Dragons
Just Because I Can
The End Of The Affair
The Sound Of Crying (edit)
Nero The Zero
Bearpark (4 track)
Hey, Manhattan! (JFK version)
I Never Play Basketball Now (demo)
No Hallelujahs (demo)
The Devil Has All The Best Tunes (demo)
Tin Can Pot (live 1980)
Cherry Tree

o        CD Fanzine #3 -- "Snowy Rents A Dog"

A mix of old demos, sessions, live bits and B-sides. Tracks:
Lions In My Own Garden (7" release)
The Glass Slipper (demo)
Talking Scarlet (Version 2)
Life Of Surprises (24 track)
If You Don't Love Me (String Driven Thing)
Golden Calf (Long Version)
Rebel Land (session)
Vendetta
Piano Medley (1988)
Faron Young (Truckin' Mix)
Walk On (demo)
Looking For Atlantis (Extended Version)
Bonny (demo)
Spinning Belinda (1980 live)
If You Don't Love Me (Kylie Minogue cover)

o        CD Fanzine #4 -- "BBC 'In Concert' Live at Reading University," 11 January 1986

Tracks:
Introduction to radio show
Moving The River
Cars And Girls
Bonny
Faron Young
Hallelujah!
Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)
Wicked Things
Goodbye Lucille #1
Tiffanys
When Love Breaks Down
When The Angels
Appetite
Don't Sing
Cruel

o        CD Fanzine #5 -- 2xCD Interview Collection "Five Of The Best" with Paddy McAloon

Includes:
Greenwich Sound (London UK regional radio station) Jan 1984
KCRW Santa Monica (USA) July 1988
Metro Radio (North East UK radio station) March 1988
Jordan: The Interview sponsored by Columbia Records (UK) 1990
Radio One (UK) August 1992

o        CD Fanzine # 6 -- 2xCD concert live at "Camelot," Bari, Italy in February 1986

Audience recording, includes:
Moving The River
Cars And Girls
Green Isaac
Bonny
Faron Young
Hallelujah!
Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)
Appetite
Dublin
Wicked Things
Goodbye Lucille #1
Don't Sing
Tiffanys
When Love Breaks Down
When The Angels
Cruel
He'll Have To Go
Faron
Horsin' Around
Ghost Town Blues

o        CD Fanzine #7 -- Live at Portsmouth Guildhall in May 1990

Audience recording, includes:
Appetite
I Remember That
Moving The River
Machine Gun Ibiza
We Let The Stars Go
Bonny
Faron Young
Nightingales
Hey, Manhattan!
Carnival 2000
One Of The Broken
Wild Horses
Jordan: The Comeback
Cruel
Cars And Girls
When Love Breaks Down
Doo Wop In Harlem

o        CD Fanzine #8 -- Live at London's Savoy Theatre, February 1984, and "The Great Escape" promotional interview with Emma Welles from 1984

Concert is an audience recording. Drummer: David Ruffy. Includes:
Diana
I Never Play Basketball Now
Cherry Tree
Green Isaac
Couldn't Bear To Be Special
Ghost Town Blues
Technique
Hallelujah!
Don't Sing
Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)
Couldn't Bear To Be Special
The Devil Has All The Best Tunes

Albums that never were -- yet.

OK kids, listen up: This fellow McAloon has this habit of dreamin' big. He's got lots of ideas. Now some of them happen, and some of them don't. (For a complete list of Paddy’s published songs, see this “Repertoire Search” on the BMI website.)

As Paddy has said, "they are not ditched...just waiting for the day." In some cases, he feels he doesn't have the clout, the power, or the money, to do them the way he envisions. I personally think that many of these "albums" are simply convenient holding mechanisms for his various songs; most will never see the light of day. Over time, a few bubble up. On the other hand, surely some of these are just meant to "wind up" the interviewer -- or keep me busy updating my web pages!

Paddy did comment generally on the topic of his unreleased work, in an interview in 1999 with Paul Lester:

Q: "What about those unreleased albums, then, Paddy?

A: I'm as frustrated as you that I've not made more records. I feel like a fraudulent Orson Welles figure: the triumphs I never had; my hypothetical career. I need a rich patron, someone like Bill Gates.

Q: You must have more in the vaults than Prince or Dylan! Or Brian Wilson...

A: We all get hung up on the idea of that lost Eden, almost like a Greek myth, of that gorgeous period in 1967 when Wilson produced these fragments of genius [ie, on SMILE] that were never organised into any shape and so remain forever out of reach. I feel it in my own life! I never thought I'd be kept awake at night thinking about all the stuff I hadn't recorded. I'm haunted by all these unrealised visions."

And here's another quote, this from the London Independent, February 27, 2000, as told to John Harris:

"There are well over a hundred songs," he laments. "It sounds precious, because there are worse things in the world to worry about, but I am awake at night sometimes, thinking that it's immensely frustrating that some of my best material isn't out there. I've got to do something about it, but it's hard to know what - because a part of me only wants to record these things when they get the financial backing they deserve. We're not a cheap ride. " He laughs. "The aesthetic behind these things is kind of posh."

Here's a list of the albums Paddy has mentioned in various interviews:

·         Famous Fakes

Paddy: "In the '70s I thought I'd make an LP called 'Famous Fakes' and the songs were gonna be 'Donna Summer,' 'Faron Young,' like portraits, biographies. And most of 'em were crap." NME June 20, 1992

·         June Parade

[NME, about 'Swoon'] Maybe you should have called it 'Spoon': spoon in June with Prefab Sprout. "[Paddy] Well, since you mention it, our next LP is called 'June Parade.'" NME, March 17, 1984

·         Total Snow

Paddy: "But I've done other stuff also...like my Christmas record. I wanted to make a Christmas record because these are doubting times and I wanted to do something that reflects a positive attitude." Record Mirror, April 23, 1988

Paddy:"I've also written a Xmas album called Total Snow which I hope to get other people to sing on and I've got a top secret project which I'm half way through, so I'm busy as hell." i-D The Tribal Issue

Paddy: "The Christmas album is great--it's called 'Total Snow.'" says Paddy, denying repeatedly that this is a wind-up. "It's basically a collection of new Christmas songs, some of them very traditional in feel and others trying to capture the wildness of the idea that somebody should be born in Israel in order to save everyone. It's a gorgeous idea and yet a really sad one too." NME, February 6, 1988

John Birch indicates another title for this Christmas album was "A Symphony of Snowflakes."

·         Zorro the Fox

NME: And if that [Total Snow] sounds like an unlikely project, it's got nothing on'Zorro The Fox', which Paddy conceives of as an antidote to the current rash of movies seemingly designed to showcase appalling American rock soundtracks.

"I want it to be exciting and witty and unusual," [Paddy] says. "I see Zorro as this guy for whom it's almost a character failing to be heroic. He can't help it. He's somebody who doesn't have much joy in his life, other than the fact of being good at what he does, which is to be a hero. It's quite a daft idea isn't it?...

"I think it maybe came about because I felt I needed some sort of mental scaffolding to start writing new songs. The music is very different from Prefab Sprout, very romantic, modern as hell. It's given me a whole new lease of life."

"The intention is to release 'Zorro' as an album at the very least, but ideally to develop it into a film musical. "I'm tentative talking about it because I know people will laugh," predicts Paddy. "But the thing is, I'm deadly serious about it. I'm aware that it could be completely hopelessly bad, but the idea just tickles me. I'd like to stress that there's nothing here of your rock musician seeing film as a mature medium and pop as something he's going to outgrow..."

"I'd like it to be a Prefab Sprout record, but if it turns out that it's not, that's OK." NME February 6, 1988

In an interview about Andromeda Heights, Paddy indicated that "Swans" was originally from 'Zorro.'

·         Behind the Veil

Paddy: "I've written an entire album about Michael Jackson called 'Behind the Veil'...it's like a portrait of him. I was going to call this tune [The Sound of Crying] 'Only the Boogie Music Will Never Let You Down'--and I thought that was such a crap title!" Epic promo flier, 1995

Paddy: "I've accumulated a number of albums, with different titles, about different things...God knows when it'll see the light of day, but one of them's called "Behind The Veil" and it's about a black singer who was a child star who grew old and changed his face and sold billions of records - so it's about someone not a million miles removed from another artist." NME April 15, 1995 (Thanks to Stew Gregg)

John Birch reports that other tracks on this album were "Unicorn in Trouble," "Danger and Me," "Mr. Lightning Boots."

·         Earth:The Story So Far

Paddy: "And the big one, what I've been working on for the last two or three years is an LP called "Earth: The Story So Far"... in pop song form, it's a history of the world, drawing parallels between different characters. It's not nearly as progressive as it sounds, not nearly as pompous. I hope that it's very moving. For example, I take the idea, for dramatic purposes, of when Adam and Eve meet each other. I've got a love song about that. And however many years later, when another couple comes along, like John Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy, I use the same music and the same chorus, but it's gone through a billion revolutions since then. And some of it is a bit more fun. Some things are drawing parallels between people who were adventurers and were mocked for it - like Columbus and Picasso. It all looks a bit serious, but I think it swings along..." NME April 15, 1995 (Thanks to Stew Gregg)

Paddy: "With Earth: The Story So Far, I wanted to use collage and some of the techniques used by people in the dance world. I became so enmeshed in all the arranging, it began to occur to me that if I wasn't careful we would never make another record." Q Magazine, May 1997 (Thanks to Stew Gregg)

Paddy: "At the time [when he was asked by Jimmy Nail to write for "Crocodile Shoes"]-I think it was February '94- I had been working on a history of the world "EARTH: THE STORY SO FAR", and was tired with the process of arranging it. I always prefer writing to any other activity connected with music-including interviews (laughs) and as my history of the world is very different from the style Jimmy wanted, I was happy to take a break from it.

Q: So you abandoned a PREFAB SPROUT record to do it?
A: Yes... but as the writer of "EARTH: THE STORY SO FAR" I'm in the unique position of seeing that to make what will be an ambitious record-perhaps over an hour long-there are certain battles that have to be fought and won...Records cost money- if you want to make them the way I like to. You have to justify the expense every inch of the way, and your albums have to earn enough to cover that expenditure. So I took a long cool look at "EARTH : THE STORY SO FAR" and decided that I wasn't ready to face the arguments that will undoubtedly surround it when we try to make it...from the "Who do you think is interested in this stuff?" to the "Why does it have to be so long? "In fact-I so exhausted myself just thinking about arguments I hadn't yet had that it was a relief to write for Jimmy Nail." January 1997 interview with Ray Gibbon

·         Let's Change the World With Music

Paddy: "And I have an album called "Let's Change The World With Music"; lots of songs about music, playing on that horrible thing where you listen to a song like "We Are The World" and the sentiment is great but it's such a cliche that it sticks in your throat. It plays on that edge between that kind of thing and real sincerity." NME April 15, 1995 (Thanks to Stew Gregg)

Paddy: "I actually wrote a Gulf War album called 'Let's Change the World With Music,' and I've got a couple of beauties, but there are right and wrong times to do things, and it came after another album I wrote which is much lighter...it's called 'Billy Midnight,' very romantic. So the Gulf War album was a more serious response to that. I keep junking things all the time." NME June 20, 1992

Paddy: "Look since 1990 I've written what I think of as my best music. You can hear some of it on "ANDROMEDA HEIGHTS". But I have also- in detailed demo form- an album called "LET'S CHANGE THE WORLD WITH MUSIC". It was written as the follow up to "JORDAN". Some of it has even been covered - Two of the songs an Australian artist called WENDY MATTHEWS recorded.

Q: Why didn't you record them?
A: Because it was felt in certain quarters that perhaps we should try something different.

Q: What do you mean?
A: Well, without wishing to make it sound like a grand conspiracy theory, it was suggested-and I should say here that I was party to the decision- that maybe we make a simpler record then "JORDAN". So instead of making an album with nineteen tracks (which "JORDAN" was) I decided to expand one of the songs on "LET'S CHANGE THE WORLD WITH MUSIC" into a one track album.

Q: And did you?
A: I tried.

Q: And couldn't?
A: I did it. But the one track consists of about....20 to 30 individual songs.

Q: So let me get this straight. You prepared an album "LET'S CHANGE THE WORLD WITH MUSIC".
A: Yeah

Q: Then took one of the songs from it until it became another album?
A: Yeah. [To help readers becoming confused, this refers to EARTH: THE STORY SO FAR -- Bedford]

Q: Then you got tired of arranging it (McAloon interrupts)
A: Tired and weary of knowing that what I was working on was beautiful but still a long way from completion, and looking beyond that I anticipated the trouble I would have in getting it made the way I wanted. So....along came Jimmy Nail with an offer I couldn't refuse. When I said "money rules" I wasn't being cynical. There is no guarantee that any record will sell large numbers. But it occurred to me that I was knocking myself out writing music that I might not get to record properly. So I started to see the way I work in a different light." January 1997 interview with Ray Gibbon

Paddy: "[The album] contains 28 tracks...Sony wanted to release it and then they changed their mind." BEST magazine (France) July 1997, translated by Laurent Bodnar.

·         Billy Midnight

Paddy: "[Let's Change the World With Music] came after another album I wrote which is much lighter...it's called 'Billy Midnight,' very romantic." NME June 20, 1992

·         Knights in Armour

Paddy: "There's also an album called "Knights in Armour", which is very romantic." NME April 15, 1995 (Thanks to Stew Gregg)

John Birch suggests that "Billy Midnight" and "Knights in Armour." are two different names for the same "album."

·         Atomic Hymnbook

Paddy: "(It's) a gospel record of sorts... I have been told that songs about spiritual subjects mean you're a religious nutter and you will frighten off the British people. I know I'm going to meet this resistance and that's why Andromeda Heights has no songs of that nature. They've gone to the Atomic Hymnbook and other places..." Q Magazine, May 1997 (Thanks to Stew Gregg)

Described in one article as "secular gospel songs." The Independent, (London) February 27, 2000

·         20th Century Magic

Paul Lester: "Why not satisfy the record company and lovers of idiosyncratic Paddy by doing a (Bowie's) LOW: one side pop songs, the other experimental?"

Paddy: "Funny you should mention LOW -- it was my model for 20TH CENTURY MAGIC. But I thought it was too much of a compromise." Uncut Magazine, December 1999.

20th Century Magic [is] intended to soundtrack the millennial mindset. It contains songs about Princess Diana and - contrary to the idea that McAloon's disappearance from the pop life might have uncoupled him from the zeitgeist - the Dome. "That song's called 'Twilight Of The Pimps'," [McAloon] explains. "It's about it being a fabulous symbol of the age: 'Dear Tony, It's a bold idea/We could use an unloved dome round here.' It's a compendium of images that are very 20th century. I regret it not being out at the moment." Article by John Harris, The Independent (London) February 27, 2000.

·         Columbus Dreamed America
Meet The New Mozart
Doomed Poets Volume 1

All mentioned by Paul Lester in his article in the December 1999 issue of Uncut magazine. No other information about them, however. (Many thanks to Chris Wirtalla for providing the info on the Uncut interview seen in this section.)

·         Sleeping Rough

According to Kitchenware (October 1999), this album was to be released in 2000. Sleeping Rough turned out to be a track on “I Trawl the Meghertz.”

·         Enfant Terrible

Paddy:"The next album is a radical shift: ENFANT TERRIBLE -- two tracks, largely instrumental. It's way out there." Uncut Magazine, December 1999.   Based on this description, it may have been an alternate title for “I Trawl the Megahertz.” 

·         (unknown titles)

John Birch reports in his book that in 1992 Paddy completed "a twelve song biographical opus based on the life of Francis Albert , the skinny black/white billionaire from Indiana" I haven't the slightest idea who he's talking about. John also refers to "an album about cities and of McAloon's fascination of how a mood or atmosphere is expected/portrayed by the name of a city or place..."

·         The Wendy solo album

I SWEAR I either heard a Paddy interview or read that he had plans to do this.

·         And the mother of all never weres: "Hidden Sprouts." Here is the info on this tantalizing 2 CD offering from Japan:

Epic (Sony) ESCA - 5311/2 -- Hidden Sprouts -- CD (1991)


Lions in My Own Garden (Exit Someone) / Radio Love / The Devil Has All the Best Tunes / Walk On / He'll Have To Go / Spinning Belinda / Donna Summer / Diana / The Yearning Loins / Silhouettes / Faron Young (Truckin' Mix?)/ Heaven Can Wait / Oh! The Swiss / Wigs / The Guest Who Stayed Forever / Old Spoonface is Back / Vendetta / Nero the Zero / Real Life, Just Around the Corner / Dandy of the Danube / Tin Can Pot / Tornado / Hey Manhattan (JFK Mix) / Nightingales (edit) / King of Rock 'n' Roll (demo) / Bearpark (demo) / Golden Calf (long version) / Bonny (live) / Looking for Atlantis (extended mix) / Carnival 2000 (M.H.B. Mix)

The only problem: There is no evidence this CD was ever released; it was deleted from the catalog the same year it was issued.

On a related note, there's the US tour that 'never was':

The "Hot Flash" press release from Epic records dated November 30, 1990 gave the dates for the Sprouts' first American tour, in support of "Jordan." It was going to start January 29, 1991 and visit the following cities: New York, Boston, New Haven, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. So now you're either saying "Nuts!" or, "No big deal, they weren't coming to Boise anyway" or something similar.

To quote the release, "Further details--dates, venues, and show times--to follow ASAP!" (I'm still waiting...surprisingly, I understand from Neil Conti that it was Paddy's refusal to scale down the Jordan Tour concert presentation at Epic's request, not his well-known aversion to touring, that was this tour's undoing.)

·         And the next time you see them live, ask them to play "I Am A Plumber" or "Marsden Rock" for the encore!

Finally, the album cover that never was…the original artwork for "I trawl the Megahertz"…

 

 

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