Patrick Joseph McAloon (born 7 June 1957)^[1] is an English singer-songwriter and a founder of the band Prefab Sprout.

Early life

McAloon was born and grew up in Witton Gilbert in County Durham, England.^[2][3] He was trained to be a Catholic priest before deciding on a career in music.^[4]

Career

Prefab Sprout enjoyed considerable success in the 1980s and early 1990s. They peaked commercially with "The King of Rock 'N' Roll", which was a top ten single in the UK Singles Chart.^[5]

In a 1991 interview with Rolling Stone during the Jordan: The Comeback world tour, McAloon said he had never seen a positive royalty cheque for his work with Prefab Sprout

"We lost money touring England. We’ll lose money touring Europe. And I nearly gave myself a heart attack making the record. But when we finished it, I was thrilled to bits because we’d done it. This is the biggie. And I thought, if I never get to make a record again, at least this is something I can be proud of."^[6]

Songs written by McAloon have also been recorded by Kylie Minogue ("If You Don't Love Me"),^[7] Wendy Matthews ("God Watch Over You" and "Ride"),^[8] Sondre Lerche ("Nightingales" – the song appeared in "From Langley Park to Memphis" and Lerche sang it with the Faces Down Quartet as a tribute to Prefab Sprout),^[9] Danny Seward ("Home (Where The Heart Is)"),^[10] Momus ("Green Isaac Pt. 2"),^[11] and various songs for Jimmy Nail. "God Watch Over You" has also been covered by Frances Ruffelle.^[12]

"When Love Breaks Down" has been covered by The Zombies,^[13] Lisa Stansfield,^[14] and Snow Patrol.^[15] In 2008, the covers album Independents Day 08 included a version of "Bonny" performed by McAloon's label-mate Tom Smith of Editors.^[16]

McAloon released the spoken word/instrumental album I Trawl the Megahertz (UK No. 54), under his own name, in 2003 on the EMI subsidiary company Liberty Records.^[17] After losing his eyesight--now somewhat restored--he listened to CB radio and call-in talk shows and found inspiration for the album.^[4] In 2019, it was rereleased as a Prefab Sprout album.^[18]

In a 2013 interview, McAloon stated:

That record [I Trawl The Megahertz] was so important to me. I was disappointed—extremely—that the Guardian never even reviewed it. That stayed with me. I kept waiting week after week: "Come on, if you're thinking they don't make records like they used to, if you're looking for personal vision, something unusual—I'm your guy!" But it never came.^[19]

In 2006, Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen album was remastered by Thomas Dolby, and was then released in 2007 as a double-CD package. The second CD featured acoustic versions of songs from the original album that were recorded in 2006.^[20]

On 7 September 2009, Prefab Sprout released the album Let's Change the World with Music, based on a demo recording from 1992.^[19]

A Prefab Sprout album entitled Crimson/Red was released by Icebreaker Records in October 2013.^[21] McAloon is responsible for playing all of the instruments on the album.^[19]

On 3 March 2017, McAloon, under the Prefab Sprout name, was shown singing a new song, "America", on the Instagram and YouTube channels of Keith Armstrong, his manager and the former boss of Kitchenware Records. Seeming to be a protest song about the administration of Donald Trump, and released with no accompanying publicity, the song was the subject of discussion and speculation.^{[22][23][24][25]}

Personal life

As of September 2013, McAloon resides in his native County Durham with his wife and three daughters.^[26] He suffers from a detached retina and tinnitus,^[19] which significantly limited his ability to work in the studio. McAloon dedicated Crimson/Red to "my wife and daughters", "the women with whom I'm lucky enough to share my life".^[27]