Steve McQueen (album)

Steve McQueen
Studio album by
Prefab Sprout
ReleasedJune 1985 (1985-06)
Recorded1984–1985
Studio
  • Nomis (London)
  • Marcus (London)
GenreSophisti-pop[1]
Length45:18
Label
ProducerThomas Dolby (except for track 4, which was produced by Phil Thornalley)
Prefab Sprout chronology
Swoon
(1984) 		Steve McQueen
(1985) 		From Langley Park to Memphis
(1988)
Singles from Steve McQueen
  1. "When Love Breaks Down"
    Released: October 1984 (first issue)
  2. "When Love Breaks Down"
    Released: March 1985 (reissue)
  3. "Faron Young"
    Released: July 1985
  4. "Appetite"
    Released: August 1985
  5. "When Love Breaks Down"
    Released: October 1985 (second reissue)
  6. "Johnny Johnny"
    Released: January 1986

Steve McQueen is the second studio album by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released in June 1985 by Kitchenware Records. The album was released by Epic Records in the United States as Two Wheels Good in anticipation of legal conflict with the estate of American actor Steve McQueen.[2][3] The album cover references Steve McQueen's lifelong passion for Triumph motorcycles and the 1963 film The Great Escape.

The album released to highly positive reviews from critics and was a modest commercial success, reaching number 21 in the United Kingdom. Four singles from the album entered top 100 of the UK Singles Chart, with "When Love Breaks Down" reaching the top 30. Retrospectively, Steve McQueen has received lasting critical acclaim, widely credited as an indie pop benchmark and ranked by many British publications among the greatest albums of all time. On 2 April 2007, it was reissued as a "legacy edition" double CD, featuring a remastered version of the original album and a bonus disc featuring acoustic versions of the songs recorded in 2006 by the band's frontman, Paddy McAloon.

  1. ^ "Top 15 Sophisti-Pop Albums". Classic Pop. 25 August 2021. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  2. ^ Keefe, Michael (6 August 2007). "Prefab Sprout: Steve McQueen". PopMatters. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  3. ^ McAloon, Martin [@CulpaFeliks] (1 April 2020). "Steve McQueen's estate never officially commented on the album title, it was nervousness in a notoriously litigious nation, that sparked the name change. Almost thirty years later I did correspond with Steve's first wife Neile who was lovely. #timstwitterlisteningparty" (Tweet). Retrieved 1 April 2020 – via Twitter.