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CAREER


They debuted in wanted a song title where the first letters of the words spelled out " LIMOGES " (where his former girlfriend was staying at the time). Their first album was '' Swoon '', a collection of quirky pop songs in the same vein as "Lions...", released on the Kitchenware label in early 1984. The following year saw the release of their second album, the Thomas Dolby -produced '' Steve McQueen '' (released in the USA as ''Two Wheels Good'' when McQueen 's estate expressed their displeasure with the title). Either way, it was so highly-praised by the critics that even the shy and retiring McAloon remarked: "I'm probably the greatest songwriter in the world, you know."

Their biggest commercial and critical success came, however, with 1990's '''', which was a hit in the UK and nominated for a Brit Award . Though the music was more accessible than their earlier material, the lyrics and subject matter remained characteristically oblique and suggestive (McAloon has often cited Stephen Sondheim as an influence). In addition to its religious overtones, perhaps reflecting McAloon's education in a Catholic Seminary , there were several allegorical songs about Jesse James and Elvis Presley .

Subsequent albums have not been as commercially successful, and have only been available in the United States on import. Their greatest hits collection, 1999's '' 38 Carat Collection '', was subsequently released in the United States in 2001 with a new title ''The Collection''. In recent years, Paddy McAloon was diagnosed with a medical disorder that has impaired his vision. However, he resurrected Prefab Sprout in 2000 for a short, but well-received, UK tour, and released the spoken word/instrumental album I Trawl The Megahertz under his own name in 2003.


PERSONNEL

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ALBUMS




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