Prefab Sprout

Born in Witton Gilbert in County Durham, England, in 1957, Patrick ‘Paddy’ McAloon formed a band called ‘Prefab Sprout’in the late 1970s with his brother Martin (bass) and neighbour Michael Salmon (drums), rehearsing at the petrol station run by Patrick's and Martin's father. After quickly making a name for themselves with performances throughout the United Kingdom, the band toured Germany in 1984, with stops in Hamburg, Cologne and Stuttgart, among other cities. Their first album, entitled Swoon, was also released in 1984. In December 1985, Prefab Sprout performed in Munich for the first time (at the Alabamahalle) and also toured the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Sweden and Norway. Their first tour of Japan followed in 1986. The band subsequently released the albums Steve McQueen (1985), From Langley Park to Memphis (1988), Protest Songs (1989), Jordan the Comeback (1990), Andromeda Heights (1997) and The Gunman and Other Stories (2001).
From 2003 onwards, ‘Prefab Sprout’ referred to Paddy McAloon's solo project. In 2003, the album I Trawl The Megahertz was released under McAloon's name, but when it was re-released in 2019, this was replaced by ‘Prefab Sprout’. McAloon subsequently released two more albums as ‘Prefab Sprout’: Let's Change the World with Music (2009) and Crimson/Red (2013).