Paint It Red (Newcastle Arts Magazine) – September 1990

NO STAGE FRIGHT

“I finally feel comfortable about going on tour,” beams Paddy McAloon, arriving back in Newcastle from Dublin via London. it’s Friday night, and he‘s got to be back In the capital by Monday for a Wogan appearance. These are busy and heady days for the Durham songster, whose debut with Prefab Sprout back in 1984, brought instant acclaim, I’ve asked him how he feels about returning to the boards after five years. and he doesn‘t show any signs of trepidation….he‘s very positive in fact.

“We’re now in the position to have the musicians and the technology to produce the actual style of the album in a live situation” he says. “We can do it justice now. The whole band are really looking forward to the shows.”

So what about the album – Jordan the Comeback – it’s very long!

“Yes, 19 tracks. It’s real value for money! We actually had a battle with CBS over the length of it but we stuck to our guns and quite rightly too.

“The album‘s divided into four parts; a general pop section, followed by the Elvis/comeback portion, then some love songs – kinda – and then the God/Death bit.

“Not morbid, mind, it’s the Devil trying to get back into heaven which ties in with the comeback theme earlier. I felt strongly about these four parts making up a whole album, and I wasn‘t prepared to cut back on any of it.”

If all that sounds a bit serious, don‘t be fooled. Paddy’s warm humour is displayed over Jordan‘s considerable length and there’s real beauty in the songs.

Produced by Thomas Dolby, the Sprout’s Newcastle label Kitchenware are proclaiming it as “the most challenging and complete Prefab Sprout album to date”