Culture

Track of the Day: 'Faron Young'

By Chris Bodenner
Saved Stories
Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021.

A reader mentions my favorite radio station, in Seattle:

KEXP was playing these guys the other day, and the lyric “the sunset makes a fence out of the forest” made me sit up and listen, and find out who they were: Prefab Sprout. Intentionally terrible name for a really stupendous band. The album this song comes from, Steve McQueen, is one of the all-time under-appreciated greats.

The basics on the band:

Prefab Sprout are an English rock band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham, England who rose to fame during the 1980s. Nine of their albums have reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart, and one of their singles, “The King of Rock 'n' Roll,” peaked at number seven in the UK Singles Chart.  The band had minimal chart success in the United States. Their 1985 album Steve McQueen was released in the US with the title Two Wheels Good and peaked at number 180 in the Billboard 200. Frontman Paddy McAloon has been hailed as one of the great songwriters of his era.

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