1988 Prefab Sprout – From Langley Park To Memphis
From Langley Park to Memphis is the third album by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released on 14 March 1988.
The title is taken from a lyric to one of the album’s songs, ‘The Venus of the Soup Kitchen’, and refers to the village of Langley Park, County Durham, and the city of Memphis, Tennessee. ‘Nightingales’ features the harmonica playing of Stevie Wonder, while Pete Townshend plays acoustic guitar on ‘Hey Manhattan!’. All songs on the album are written by frontman Paddy McAloon, who also produced many of the tracks.
The album reached number five on the UK Albums Chart, the highest position for any studio album released by the band, and contained their highest charting single, with ‘The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ peaking at number seven on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in May/June 1988.
Five singles were released to promote the album; in order of release these were ‘Cars and Girls’, ‘The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’, ‘Hey Manhattan!’, ‘Nightingales’ and ‘The Golden Calf’.
Tracks
1 | The King Of Rock n Roll | 4:22 | |||
2 | Cars And Girls | 4:27 | |||
3 | I Remember That | 4:14 | |||
4 | Enchanted | 3:47 | |||
5 | Nightingales | 5:53 | |||
6 | Hey Manhattan! | 4:47 | |||
7 | Knock On Wood | 4:17 | |||
8 | The Golden Calf | 5:06 | |||
9 | Nancy (Let Your Hair Down For Me) | 4:04 | |||
10 | The Venus Of The Soup Kitchen | 4:28 |
The Band
Martin McAloon | Bass |
Neil Conti | Drums |
Wendy Smith | Guitar |
Paddy McAloon | Guitar |
Paddy McAloon | Keyboards |
Wendy Smith | Keyboards |
Martin McAloon | Percussion |
Other Musicians
1 The King Of Rock n Roll
Keyboards | Thomas Dolby |
2 Cars And Girls
Keyboards | Gary Moberley |
Keyboards | Prefab Sprout |
Keyboards | Paul Wickens |
Percussion | Luis Jardim |
3 I Remember That
Keyboards | Thomas Dolby |
Background Vocals | Andrae Crouch Choir |
4 Enchanted
Keyboards | Gary Moberley |
Keyboards | Prefab Sprout |
Keyboards | Paul Wickens |
5 Nightingales
Keyboards | Gary Moberley |
Keyboards | Prefab Sprout |
Keyboards | Paul Wickens |
Harmonica | Stevie Wonder |
Percussion | Luis Jardim |
6 Hey Manhattan!
Acoustic Guitar | Pete Townshend |
Keyboards | Andy Richards |
Strings | Gavyn Wright |
Percussion | Luis Jardim |
7 Knock On Wood
Keyboards | Thomas Dolby |
8 The Golden Calf
Keyboards | Prefab Sprout |
Percussion | Wendy Smith |
9 Nancy (Let Your Hair Down For Me)
Keyboards | Prefab Sprout |
Keyboards | Paul Wickens |
10 The Venus Of The Soup Kitchen
Keyboards | Prefab Sprout |
Keyboards | Thomas Dolby |
Percussion | Lenny Castro |
Background Vocals | Andrae Crouch Choir |
Producer – Jon Kelly (Tracks 2, 4, 5, 9), Paddy McAloon (Tracks: 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9), Andy Richards (Track 6), Thomas Dolby (tracks: 1, 3, 7, 10)
Arranged By (Strings Arranged By), Conductor (Strings Conducted By) – Robin Smith (Tracks 1, 9)
Arranged By (Strings Arranged By), Conductor (Strings Conducted By) – John Altman (Track 6)
Engineer (String Recording Engineered By) – Mike Ross, Richard Hollywood (Track 1, 9)
Engineer (String Recording Engineered By) – John Timperly (Track 6)
Engineer (Engineered By) – Clif Brigden, Dave Concors, David Leonard, Gary Olazabal, Geoff Bruckner, Gonzalez Espinoza, Jon Kelly, Karl Lever, Mark O’Donoughue, Michael H. Brauer, Michael Ade, Mickey Sweeney, Peter Jones, Richard Moakes, Steve Lyon, Steve Van Day, Terence Wilson, Tim Hunt, Tony Phillips
Mastered By – Tim Young
Mixed By – David Leonard (Tracks 1, 3, 7, 10)
Mixed By – Richard Moakes (Tracks 2, 4)
Mixed By – Mike Shipley (Track 5)
Mixed By – Tony Philips (Track 6)
Mixed By – Michael H. Brauer (Track 8)
Design – Stephen Male
Photography By – Nick Knight
Phonographic Copyright (p) – CBS Records
Copyright (c) – CBS Records
Published By – Kitchen Music Ltd.
Published By – SBK Songs Ltd.
Manufactured By – DADC Austria
Distributed By – CBS Records
Distributed By – CBS Disques S.A.