From Langley Park to Memphis

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. Titled Protest Songs, the album was recorded over two weeks in Newcastle and intended for a limited release in late 1985. 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. 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. 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. Instead, Dolby produced the four tracks he liked the most out of 16 demos sent to him by McAloon. 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. == Composition ==

Musical and lyrical style 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". 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. 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". 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!"). Several songs feature American themes, reflected in the album's title. Songs 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. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a washed-up singer who was 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. Musically, "I Remember That" is, according to Nils Johansson of NSD, a gospel ballad. 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". In a 1997 interview, McAloon named "I Remember That" "the best song I've ever written". "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." The song features the Andraé Crouch Singers, who recorded their contribution in Stevie Wonder's studio in Los Angeles. 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. 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. McAloon wrote "Nightingales" with Barbra Streisand – whose The Broadway Album he was engrossed by – in mind. He considered it as "the purest song" the band had recorded since "When Love Breaks Down". 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. Wonder hadn't heard of Prefab Sprout but nevertheless obliged, adding his own melodic lines to the song. McAloon would later describe his contribution as "so breathtakingly good and precise, even though he said himself it was quite complicated". The song is about an enthusiastic teenager who arrives in a big city, with the theme of dreams and ambitions. Marc Bolan == Release ==

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. The album cover, designed by Nick Knight, is a straightforward image of the four band members, intended to reflect how the album is clearer and more direct than its predecessors. It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry in April 1988. By 1997, From Langley Park to Memphis was estimated to have sold 330,000 units in the UK. "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. In August 1988, the band were reported to have persuaded CBS to rerelease the single but this ultimately didn't happen. 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. and Wogan. McAloon would later point out the irony of a song about a one-hit wonder being his only top ten single. "Hey Manhattan!" was issued as the album's third single, reaching number 72, while its fourth "Nightingales" charted at number 78. It charted at number 82 in the UK. "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. == Critical reception ==

From Langley Park to Memphis received mixed reviews. Rolling Stones 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." Melody Makers David Stubbs felt it was "less strong" than Steve McQueen but "more ambitious". Vogues Barney Hoskyns commented "at least seven of its 10 songs are more accessible, more ravishingly beautiful than anything McAloon has written." 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, and Rockdelux. 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." 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." 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. 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". "Nancy (Let Your Hair Down for Me)" was among the ten tracks listed in NME's "Alternative Best of Prefab Sprout" in 1992. ==Aftermath and legacy==

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." 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." A remastered edition of the album, overseen by Paddy and Martin McAloon, was issued by Sony Music on 27 September 2019. == Track listing ==

Credits adapted from liner notes. Prefab Sprout • Neil Conti • Martin McAloon • Paddy McAloon • Wendy Smith Additional musicians • Thomas Dolby – keyboards (1, 3, 7, 10) • Gary Moberley – keyboards (2, 4, 5) • Paul "Wix" Wickens – keyboards (2, 4, 5, 9) • Andy Richards – keyboards (6) • Luís Jardim – percussion (2, 4, 5, 6) • Lenny Castro – percussion (10) • Stevie Wonder – harmonica (5) • Pete Townshend – acoustic guitar (6) • The Andraé Crouch Singers – vocals (3, 10) • Gavyn Wright – strings lead (5, 6, 9) • Robin Smith – string arrangement, conduct (5, 9) • John Altman – string arrangement, conduct (6) Technical personnel • Thomas Dolby – production (1, 3, 7, 10) • Jon Kelly – production (2, 4, 5, 9) • Paddy McAloon – production (2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9) • Andy Richards – production (6) • David Leonard – mixing (1, 3, 7, 10) • Richard Moakes – mixing (2, 4, 9) • Mike Shipley – mixing (5) • Tony Philips – mixing (6) • Michael H. Brauer – mixing (8) • Tim Young – mastering • Stephen Male – design • Nick Knight – photography == Charts ==

Weekly Year-end == Certifications ==