Esta é a primeira de oito partes em que Paddy McAloon fala da sua obra, da sua vida. Em 2003 para uma televisão sueca, promovendo o (excelente) "I Trawl the Megahertz".

* não sei que diga sobre o novo Silver Jews. Para já causou-me estranheza suficiente para querer ouvir de novo.

This is the 2nd Prefab Sprout Interview I have from 1985 which takes place after the previously posted session . Paddy McAloon seems quite enthused by Thomas Dolby's production of the Steve McQueen album and is already dismissive of how well previous album Swoon would stand up in 1985's move towards a more heavily produced sound.

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Prefab Sprout are genius and Jordan: The Comeback is probably the best thing they've ever done. One of the zillion tracks there is called Mercy and it's largely acappella with some sparse guitar strums here and there. The Drill by The Drill is an insistent, nagging full-on progressive house track with no vocals and is a bit scary.

Mercy is 1min 23 secs and The Drill is 6 mins 49. Mercy comes from a 'song suite' about redemption, religion and the devil realising that he can't be forgiven because he is needed to give man free will. Matt Schwartz's last track as Dada was about offering to eat someone's ice cream as long as they licked his lollipop. Could these be fused? As soon as I discovered they are both in the same key, I reckoned 'why not?'

Anyway, this is my first attempt as a mashup, so be nice. I'm not 100% pleased with it at all, but I want to get it out there. I may revisit it another time.

Download The Mercy Drill (Prefab Sprout vs The Drill) (10MB mp3) [Internet Archive link]

Dad has a cold, so the singing this morning was cracked and the high notes were just that little bit beyond his grasp. Junior found some faint hilarity in this, but lightning didn’t strike twice. Paddy McAloon’s gifts for gentle ribbing and pop catchiness were no match for a growing girl’s hunger pangs.

Perhaps it’s a shame that Prefab Sprout will linger in the memory of most for this track alone. Yes, there’s a quirkiness to many of their songs, but it’s most obvious here and it muddies the more thoughtful message beneath. Rock ‘n’ roll posturing, its bombast is being pricked, with no little affection.

Affection runs through McAloon’s work, but his words could be caustic. Nonetheless, as the albums have become less frequent and he has quietly slipped into his 40s, the tone has softened. It makes Prefab Sprout more suited to Radio 2 these days, although there are flickers of beauty that reach beyond pigeonholing. So, they were never kings of rock ‘n’ roll, but you may as well be remembered for something.