The Name Game

Of all the cute and clever indie bands that came out of England in the 1980s, Prefab Sprout were easily the most polite and bookish, they were the band who sat in front of the class while Orange Juice were sitting at the back chewing gum and telling jokes. And of course there was that name Prefab Sprout which was so precious and twee it was just asking to be beaten up and have its lunch money stolen.

Sprout lead singer Paddy McAloon wrote highly literate pop songs which were so loaded with obscure references and clever allusions that they needed footnotes. How many other writers would come up with a title like "Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)" for their debut single because the first letter of each word spelled out the name Limoges, the French town where his girlfriend had gone to university? In another example of The Sprout's clever-dickery McAloon once planned an entire album called "Famous Fakes" where every song was named after a famous person, this never materialized (like most of Paddy's big ideas) but these two lovelies that were written as part of the project ended up as b-sides.

According to this discography "Donna Summer" has been a b-side on three different singles though in this case it's off the double-pack single release of "When Love Breaks Down" in 1984 from where the wonderful "Diana" also comes. "Donna Summer" is another of those Sprout songs that needs footnotes, even knowing the lyrics its meaning goes right over my head. It's a gorgeous record though and there's something nicely perverse about naming such a slow, mournful song after the Queen of Disco. The subject matter of "Diana" is clear enough, it really is about that Diana and I think is one of the best things The Sprouts ever did, much too good to be tucked away on a b-side. A slower version of this song appeared on their "Protest Songs" album which I think I prefer, but only just.

Download: Donna Summer - Prefab Sprout (mp3)
Download: Diana - Prefab Sprout (mp3)