From Langley Park to Memphis

From Langley Park to Memphis
Studio album by Prefab Sprout
Released March 14th 1988
Recorded 1988
Genre Pop
Length 45:32
Label Kitchenware
Producer Thomas Dolby, Jon Kelly, Paddy McAloon, Andy Richards
Prefab Sprout chronology

Steve McQueen
(1985)		 From Langley Park to Memphis
(1988)		 Protest Songs
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

From Langley Park to Memphis is the third album by English pop band Prefab Sprout, and was released in March 1988.[2]

The title is taken from a lyric to the song, "The Venus of the Soup Kitchen", and refers to the village of Langley Park, County Durham in England, and the city of Memphis, Tennessee in the United States. "Nightingales" features the harmonica playing of Stevie Wonder, while Pete Townshend plays acoustic guitar on "Hey Manhattan!".[3] All songs on the album are written by frontman Paddy McAloon, who also produced many of the tracks.[3]

The album reached number five in the UK Albums Chart, the highest position for any studio generated album recorded by the band.[4] However, their greatest hits compilation album, The Best of - A Life of Surprises, peaked at number 3 in August 1992.[4]

Five singles were released to promote the album; in order of release these were "Cars & Girls", "The King of Rock 'N' Roll", "Hey Manhattan!", "Nightingales" and "The Golden Calf". A sixth track, "I Remember That", was subsequently released as a single to promote A Life of Surprises.

Track listing

  1. "The King of Rock 'N' Roll"
  2. "Cars and Girls"
  3. "I Remember That"
  4. "Enchanted"
  5. "Nightingales"
  6. "Hey Manhattan!"
  7. "Knock On Wood"
  8. "The Golden Calf"
  9. "Nancy (Let Your Hair Down For Me)"
  10. "The Venus of the Soup Kitchen"

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 760. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Album credits by Jason Ankeny". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 433. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.