Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk group, formed in Liverpool in 1978. Their original lineup consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut album, Crocodiles, met with critical acclaim and made the UK Top 20. Their second album, Heaven Up Here (1981), again found favour with the critics and reached number 10 in the UK Album chart. The band's cult status was followed by mainstream success in the mid-1980s, as they scored a UK Top 10 hit with "The Cutter", and the attendant album, Porcupine (1983), reached number 2 in the UK. Their next release, Ocean Rain (1984), continued the band's UK chart success, and has since been regarded as their landmark release, spawning the hit singles "The Killing Moon", "Silver" and "Seven Seas". One more studio album, Echo & the Bunnymen (1987), was released before McCulloch left the band to pursue a solo career in 1988. The following year, de Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident, and the band re-emerged with a new line-up. Original members Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson were joined by Noel Burke as lead singer, Damon Reece on drums and Jake Brockman on keyboards. This new incarnation of the band released Reverberation in 1990, but the disappointing critical and commercial reaction it received culminated with a complete split in 1993.
After working together as Electrafixion, McCulloch and Sergeant regrouped with Pattinson in 1997 and returned as Echo & the Bunnymen with the UK Top 10 hit "Nothing Lasts Forever". An album of new material, Evergreen, was greeted enthusiastically by critics and the band made a successful return to the live arena. Though Pattinson left the group for a second time, McCulloch and Sergeant have continued to issue new material as Echo & the Bunnymen, including the albums What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001), Siberia (2005) and The Fountain (2009).
History
Early years
Ian McCulloch began his career in 1977, as one third of the
Crucial Three, a bedroom band which also featured
Julian Cope and
Pete Wylie. When Wylie left, McCulloch and Cope formed the short-lived
A Shallow Madness with drummer Dave Pickett and organist
Paul Simpson, during which time such songs as "Read It In Books", "Robert Mitchum", "You Think It's Love" and "Spacehopper" were written by the pair. When Cope sacked McCulloch from the band, A Shallow Madness changed their name to
The Teardrop Explodes, and McCulloch joined forces with guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson to form Echo & the Bunnymen. This early incarnation of the band featured a
drum machine, assumed by many to be "Echo", though this has been refuted by the band. In the 1982 book
Liverpool Explodes!, Will Sergeant explained the origin of the band's name: }}In November 1978, Echo & the Bunnymen made their debut at Liverpool's
Eric's Club, appearing as the opening act for The Teardrop Explodes.
Echo & the Bunnymen's debut single "The Pictures on My Wall" was released on Bill Drummond & David Balfe's Zoo Records in May 1979, the B-side being the McCulloch/Cope collaboration "Read It in Books" (also recorded by The Teardrop Explodes approximately six months later as the B-side of their final Zoo Records single "Treason"). McCulloch has subsequently denied that Cope had any involvement with the writing of this song on more than one occasion.
By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles, the drum machine had been replaced by Trinidad-born Pete de Freitas. The lead single, "Rescue", climbed to UK #62 and the album broke into the Top 20 at #17, following critical acclaim. Their next album, Heaven Up Here (1981), was an even bigger critical and commercial success, reaching the UK Top Ten (#10), although a single lifted from the album, "A Promise", could only reach UK #49. 1984's Ocean Rain reached #4, and today is widely regarded as the band's masterpiece. Single extracts "Silver" (UK #30) and "Seven Seas" (UK #16) consolidated the album's continued commercial success. In the same year, McCulloch had a minor solo hit with his cover version of "September Song".
Echo & the Bunnymen toured Scandinavia in April 1985, performing cover versions of songs from Television, the Rolling Stones, Talking Heads and The Doors. Recordings from the tour emerged as the semi-bootleg On Strike.
Unfortunately for the band, Ocean Rain proved to be a difficult album to follow up, and they could only re-emerge in 1985 with a single, "Bring On the Dancing Horses" (UK #21), and a compilation album, Songs to Learn & Sing, which made #6 in the UK album chart. However, all was not well in the Bunnymen camp, and Pete de Freitas left the band. Their next album, the self-titled Echo & the Bunnymen (1987), was recorded with ex–ABC drummer David Palmer, but when de Freitas returned in 1986, it was largely re-recorded. Eventually released in mid-1987, the record sold well (UK #4), and was a small American hit, their only LP to have significant sales there.
In the United States, the band's best-known songs were "The Killing Moon" and "Lips Like Sugar". "Bring On the Dancing Horses" is well-known as one of the songs on the soundtrack to the John Hughes film Pretty in Pink. "The Killing Moon" was featured in the films Grosse Pointe Blank and Donnie Darko. The band also contributed a cover version of The Doors song "People Are Strange" to The Lost Boys soundtrack.
1988 split
McCulloch quit the band in 1988 and de Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident in mid-1989. After former
Colenso Parade singer Oscar turned down an offer to take over from McCulloch, Pattinson and Sergeant recruited ex-
St. Vitus Dance vocalist
Noel Burke and drummer
Damon Reece. Keyboardist
Jake Brockman (a touring member of the band for several years previously, and a contributor to the 1987 album) was promoted to full member, and the five-piece recorded
Reverberation in 1990. This did not generate much excitement among fans or critics, and the group was abandoned in 1993. McCulloch, meanwhile, had continued his solo career, with the albums
Candleland in 1989 and
Mysterio in 1992.
Reformation
In 1994 McCulloch and Sergeant began working together again under the name
Electrafixion; in 1997 Pattinson rejoined the duo, meaning the three surviving members of the original Bunnymen lineup were now working together again. Rather than continue as Electrafixion, the trio resurrected the Echo & the Bunnymen name and released the album
Evergreen (1997), which reached the UK Top 10.
Immediately prior to the release of the band's next album, What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Les Pattinson quit to take care of his mother. McCulloch and Sergeant have continued to tour and record as Echo & the Bunnymen, touring repeatedly and releasing the albums Flowers (2001) and Siberia (2005). The Siberia band line up was Ian McCulloch, Will Sergeant, Paul Fleming (keyboards), Simon Finley (drums) and Pete Wilkinson (bass), Hugh Jones produced Siberia after previously engineering early Bunnymen albums. As from August 2009 the group's touring incarnation comprises McCulloch and Sergeant along with Stephen Brannan (bass), Gordy Goudie (guitar), Nicholas Kilroe (drums) and Jez Wing (keyboards).
In 2002 the group received the Q Inspiration award. The award is for inspiring "new generations of musicians, songs and music lovers in general." The band were said to be worthy winners as they have done much to promote the Mersey music scene. In a later interview for Magnet magazine, McCulloch said "It validates everything that we've tried to achieve—cool, great timeless music. It's not like an inspiration award affecting the past, it's affecting the current music."
On 11 September 2006, Echo & the Bunnymen released an updated version of their 1985 Songs to Learn and Sing compilation. Now re-titled More Songs to Learn and Sing, this new compilation was issued in two versions, a 17-track single CD and a 20-track version with a DVD featuring 8 videos from their career.
In March 2007, the Bunnymen announced that they had re-signed to their original record label, Warner, and were also working on a new album. The band were also said to be planning a live DVD, entitled "Dancing Horses", which also contained interviews with the band. This was released in May 2007, on Snapper/SPV. The live line up was Ian McCulloch, Will Sergeant, Simon Finley (Drums), Paul Fleming (Keyboards), Gordy Goudie (Guitar) and Steve Brannan (Bass) .
On 11 January 2008 Ian McCulloch was interviewed on BBC Breakfast at the start of Liverpool 08. He was asked about new Bunnymen material and he revealed that a new album would coincide with their gig at the Royal Albert Hall in September. He went on to say that the album was, "The best one we've made, apart from Ocean Rain."
In a 20 April 2008 interview with the Sunday Mail Ian McCulloch announced The Fountain as the title of the new Echo & the Bunnymen album with producers John McLaughlin and Simon Perry, which was originally due to be released in 2008 but was finally released on 12 October 2009. The first single from the album, "Think I Need It Too", was released on 28 September 2009.
On 1 September 2009 former keyboard player Jake Brockman died on the Isle of Man when his motorbike collided with a converted ambulance. Brockman had played keyboards for the band during the 1980's
In December 2010, Echo & the Bunnymen went on tour playing their first two albums Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here in their entirety.
Discography
Studio albums
(1980) Crocodiles - UK #17
(1981) Heaven Up Here - UK #10, U.S. #184
(1983) Porcupine - UK #2, U.S. #137
(1984) Ocean Rain - UK #4, U.S. #87
(1987) Echo & the Bunnymen - UK #4, U.S. #51
(1990) Reverberation - failed to chart
(1997) Evergreen - UK #8
(1999) What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? - UK #21
(2001) Flowers - UK #56
(2005) Siberia - UK #83
(2009) The Fountain - UK #63
References
Bibliography
Adams, Chris. Turquoise Days: The Weird World of Echo & the Bunnymen. NY: Soft Skull Press, 2002.
Reynolds, Simon. Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. London: Penguin, 2005.
Fletcher, Tony. Never Stop: The Echo & the Bunnymen Story. London: Omnibus Press, 1987.
External links
Official website
Villiers Terrace.com The Ultimate Echo and the Bunnymen Resource
Category:English rock music groups
Category:Music from Liverpool
Category:Musical groups established in 1978
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1993
Category:Musical groups reestablished in 1996
Category:Post-punk music groups
Category:Sire Records artists
Category:Warner Bros. Records artists
Category:Scouse culture of the early 1980s
Category:Zoo Records artists
