Paddy McAloon
English musician
title: "Paddy McAloon" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1957-births", "living-people", "alumni-of-northumbria-university", "english-male-new-wave-singers", "english-new-wave-singers", "english-male-guitarists", "english-male-singer-songwriters", "english-pop-keyboardists", "english-roman-catholics", "musicians-from-county-durham", "people-from-durham,-england", "people-with-ménière's-disease", "sophisti-pop-musicians"] description: "English musician" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_McAloon" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary English musician ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Paddy McAloon |
| landscape | |
| background | solo_singer |
| birth_name | Patrick Joseph McAloon |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | County Durham, England |
| death_date | |
| genre | Pop, new wave |
| occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| instrument | Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass |
| website | |
| :: |
| name = Paddy McAloon | image = | image_size = | landscape = | alt = | caption = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Patrick Joseph McAloon | native_name = | native_name_lang = | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = County Durham, England | origin = | death_date = | death_place = | genre = Pop, new wave | occupation = Singer-songwriter | instrument = Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass | years_active = | label = | website =
Patrick Joseph McAloon (born 7 June 1957) 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. He was trained to be a Catholic priest before deciding on a career in music.
Career
Prefab Sprout enjoyed success in the 1980s and early 1990s and peaked commercially with "The King of Rock 'N' Roll", which was a top ten single in the UK singles chart.{{Cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | page= 433 | isbn= 1-904994-10-5}}
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.
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. After losing his eyesight — now somewhat restored — he listened to CB radio and call-in talk shows and found inspiration for the album. In 2019, it was rereleased as a Prefab Sprout album.
In a 2013 interview, McAloon stated: ::quote
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. ::
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.
On 7 September 2009, Prefab Sprout released the album Let's Change the World with Music, based on a demo recording from 1992.
A Prefab Sprout album entitled Crimson/Red was released by Icebreaker Records in October 2013. McAloon is responsible for playing all of the instruments on the album.
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.
Personal life
As of September 2013, McAloon resides in his native County Durham with his wife and three daughters. He suffers from a detached retina and tinnitus, 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".
References
References
- (6 June 2007). "Happy Birthday".
- Clayton-Lea, Tony. (16 September 2017). "A book tailor-made for the Prefab Sprout fanatic". [[The Irish Times]].
- Simpson, Dave. (30 June 2020). "Paddy McAloon and Thomas Dolby: how we made Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen". [[The Guardian]].
- "Let's Change The World With Music worth the long wait".
- (7 March 1991). "Paddy McAloon: The Last Pop Genius".
- "Albums by Paddy McAloon: Discography, songs, biography, and listening guide". Rate Your Music.
- "Prefab Sprout: I Trawl the Megahertz".
- Paul Lester. (5 September 2013). "Paddy McAloon: 'I'll do without an audience to make the music I want'". [[The Guardian]].
- "Prefab Sprout Steve McQueen Review". BBC News.
- Jamie McGarry. (1 August 2013). "01/08/2013". Jamie McGarry.
- Paphides, Pete. (6 March 2017). "Why Prefab Sprout's return with America is a whim and a wonder". [[The Guardian]].
- (9 March 2017). "Paddy McAloon of Prefab Sprout Posts New National Anthem for Trump-Troubled USA – Stereo Embers Magazine". Stereo Embers Magazine.
- (7 March 2017). "Prefab-Sprout-Sänger Paddy McAloon: Pro-Einwanderungssong "America"".
- (6 March 2017). "'Do what's right': Prefab Sprout debuts new pro-immigration song 'America'".
- "Paddy McAloon the Return of the Prefab Sprouts Elusive Genius". [[The Independent]].
- [[Liner notes]] ''Crimson/Red''
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