Editing Prefab Sprout (section)

===Peak commercial success (1983–1992)===
Prefab Sprout were signed by Keith Armstrong's [[Kitchenware Records]] in March 1983, after Armstrong heard their music played in the [[Newcastle on Tyne|Newcastle]] branch of [[HMV]] he managed.<ref name="prefabsprout.net"/><ref name="Consett Music Project">{{cite journal |title=No longer a Prefab Sprout |journal=Consett Music Project |date=1984 |issue=4 |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/consett-music-project-issue-4-1984/ |access-date=5 June 2019}}</ref> Their two singles were reissued by Kitchenware and attracted notice including praise from [[Elvis Costello]].<ref name="Young, gifted and... white?">{{cite journal |last1=Thrills |first1=Adrian |title=Young, gifted and... white? |journal=NME |date=27 August 1983 |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/interviews/adrian-thrills-kitchenware-feature-nme-august-27th-1983/ |access-date=6 June 2019}}</ref>

Following the departure of Michael Salmon as drummer, the band recorded their debut album with session drummer Graham Lant in a 24-track studio in [[Edinburgh]] on a budget of £5,000.<ref name="Sprout fever">{{cite journal |last1=Pye |first1=Ian |title=Sprout fever |journal=Melody Maker |date=28 January 1984 |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/interviews/ian-pye-melody-maker-january-28th-1984/ |access-date=8 June 2019}}</ref><ref name="No Sweat">{{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Mark |title=No Sweat |journal=Q Magazine |date=December 1988 |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/interviews/q-magazine-mark-cooper-december-1988/ |access-date=7 June 2019}}</ref> Entitled ''[[Swoon (Prefab Sprout album)|Swoon]]'' (an acronym for Songs Written Out Of Necessity), it was released on the Kitchenware [[record label|label]] in March 1984.<ref name="AMG"/> It was critically acclaimed, with several reviewers highlighting its unorthodox musical style and unconventional lyrics.<ref name="Costello’s new favourites">{{cite journal |last1=Andersson |first1=Jan-Olov |title=Costello's new favourites |journal=Aftonbladet (Sweden) |date=26 March 1984 |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/interviews/jan-olov-andersson-aftonbladet-sweden-march-26th-1984/}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nichols |first1=Kathryn |title=A Prefabricated Style |journal=Debut Magazine |date=1984 |issue=3 |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/interviews/kathryn-nichols-debut-magazine-1984/ |access-date=6 June 2019}}</ref><ref name="Sprout's honour">{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Graham K. |title=Sprout's honour |journal=Record Mirror |date=3 March 1984 |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/interviews/graham-k-record-mirror-march-3rd-1984/ |access-date=6 June 2019}}</ref> and it reached No. 22 on the [[UK Albums Chart]]. The album attracted the attention of musician [[Thomas Dolby]], who began producing a new batch of what McAloon would describe as simpler songs with the band.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Takahashi |first1=Kentaro |title=Prefab Sprout |journal=Music Magazine, Japan |date=September 1986 |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/interviews/kentaro-takahashi-music-magazine-japan-july-1st-1986-published-september-1986/ |access-date=12 October 2019}}</ref> Graham Lant's relationship with Prefab Sprout ended soon after recording of ''Swoon'', so [[Neil Conti]] joined the band as drummer.<ref name="Graham Lant">{{cite web |title=Swoon: A Brief Interview with Graham Lant |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/interviews/swoon-a-brief-interview-with-graham-lant/ |website=Sproutology |date=4 October 2014 |access-date=6 June 2019}}</ref> The resulting album, 1985's ''[[Steve McQueen (album)|Steve McQueen]]'' (released in America as ''Two Wheels Good'' in anticipation of displeasure from [[Steve McQueen|McQueen]]'s estate),<ref>{{cite web |last1=McAloon |first1=Martin |title=Steve McQueen's estate never officially commented on the album title, it was nervousness in a notoriously litigious nation, that sparked the name change. |url=https://twitter.com/CulpaFeliks/status/1245467048395898882 |website=Twitter |access-date=1 April 2020}}</ref> was highly praised by critics and gave the band its first hit single on the [[UK Singles Chart]], "[[When Love Breaks Down]]".<ref name="AMG"/>

The band's next project was ''[[Protest Songs (album)|Protest Songs]]'', a sparsely-produced and quickly recorded album intended for a limited release in late 1985. The album was put on hold by [[CBS Records International|CBS]] so as not to stunt sales of ''Steve McQueen'',<ref name="Pop Gear">{{cite journal |last1=Takano |first1=Yuko |title=Prefab Sprout: From Langley Park to Memphis |journal=Pop Gear |date=April 1988 |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/interviews/yuko-takano-pop-gear-april-1988/ |access-date=18 October 2019}}</ref><ref name="Billboard">{{cite magazine |last1=Dave |first1=DiMartino |title=Prefab Sprout Takes Root |magazine=Billboard |date=20 August 1988 |url=https://www.sproutology.co.uk/interviews/dave-dimartino-billboard-20th-august-1988/ |access-date=18 October 2019}}</ref> finally seeing release in 1989. In 1988, the band released their follow-up to ''Steve McQueen'', ''[[From Langley Park to Memphis]]''. The album gave the band their biggest commercial success in the UK with the single "[[The King of Rock 'n' Roll]]". The song is written from the perspective of a washed-up singer who had a [[one-hit wonder]] in the 1950s with a [[novelty song]] featuring the chorus "Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque". It reached No.&nbsp;7 in the [[UK Singles Chart]], their only single to reach the Top 10. ''From Langley Park to Memphis'' included guest appearances from [[Stevie Wonder]] and [[Pete Townshend]], and used multiple producers including Thomas Dolby, who could not commit to working on the entire album.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/><ref name="Sound on Sound">{{cite web |last1=Doyle |first1=Tom |title=Paddy McAloon: From Langley Park To Memphis (And Back) |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/people/prefab-sprout |website=Sound on Sound |access-date=5 June 2019}}</ref>

In 1990, ''[[Jordan: The Comeback]]'', fully produced by Thomas Dolby, was nominated for a [[BRIT Awards|BRIT Award]]. Though the music was more accessible than their earlier material, the lyrics and subject matter remained characteristically oblique and suggestive. McAloon has alluded in interviews to several albums' worth of songs that he has written but are unreleased/unrecorded including amongst others, [[concept album]]s based on the life of [[Michael Jackson]], the history of the world (''Earth: The Story So Far'') and a fictional superhero (''Zorro the Fox'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/6163329/Paddy-McAloon-of-Prefab-Sprout-interview.html|title=Paddy McAloon of Prefab Sprout|website=Telegraph.co.uk|date=9 September 2009 |access-date=2 March 2017}}</ref>

Their greatest hits, ''[[A Life of Surprises: The Best of Prefab Sprout]]'', gave them their biggest US hit, "If You Don't Love Me", which spent several weeks in the Top 10 on the [[Hot Dance Club Play|dance chart]]. McAloon joked in the album liner notes about the band's lack of [[concert tour|touring]] over the past decade.