Prefab Sprout - a tale of mystery, eccentricity and pop’s most famous motorbike
About this episode
Nige Tassell discusses his book on Prefab Sprout, exploring their unique story and the eccentricities of their music.
Nige Tassell fell in love with the literary allusions of Prefab Sprout when at school and his new book ‘Truly Gifted Kids’ tells their unique and inscrutable story – and involves some delightfully off-road “deerstalker” investigation. You’ll find self-sabotage, square pegs in round holes, the eternal pressure to have hits, and a devoted portrait of ringmaster Paddy McAloon that leaves you convinced there’s never been anyone quite like him before or since. This sparks off in a million directions, these among them … … the lure of bands who'd clearly been to the library and were unlikely to have a huge hit ... Paddy’s stoic defence of their name … his distaste for “diary songwriting” of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen … Jesse James, Elvis, Hey Manhattan: the obsession with the romance of America … the archive of unrecorded songs (one box labelled ‘For Rod Stewart’) … how the success of The King Of Rock ‘N’ Roll came to haunt them … the inconceivable moment they appeared on the National Lottery with Bob Monkhouse and Mystic Meg … pop tribalism on the school bus … the dreadful circumstance that lead to I Trawl the…
People in this episode
Hosts: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth, Alex Gold
Guest: Nige Tassell
Topics covered
- Prefab Sprout
- music history
- literary allusions
- pop music
- Paddy McAloon
- investigation
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Truly Gifted Kids, I Trawl the Megahertz, The King Of Rock ‘N’ Roll, Hey Manhattan, Steve McQueen
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