Echo & the Bunnymen are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson.
In 1979, Pete de Freitas joined as the band's drummer.
members: Ian McCulloch
formed in: Liverpool
labels: Warner Bros. Records, Korova
genres: post-punk, neo-psychedelia, gothic rock, new wave
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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 McCulloch left the band, A Shallow Madness changed their name to the Teardrop Explodes, and McCulloch joined 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 denied by the band. In the 1982...
In 1994, McCulloch and Sergeant began working together again under the name Electrafixion; in 1997, Pattinson rejoined the duo, as did Colin Mackin, meaning the three surviving members of the original Bunnymen line-up 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.
Are you them, or do you know them? The mail slot is open.
"Bring On the Dancing Horses" is a single by the English rock band Echo & the Bunnymen, released on 7 October 1985. It was the only single from their compilation album Songs to Learn & Sing (1985) and was recorded for the John Hughes teen romantic comedy-drama film Pretty in Pink (1986).
The song reached number 21 on the UK singles chart and number 15 on the Irish Singles Chart.
The band's lead singer Ian McCulloch said of the song: "When I write, the words tend to come first and the meaning later. It's a romantic single, not in a wishy-washy way, but in a big powerful way."
The single was released as a 7" single, a 12" single and a shaped picture disc. On the 7" single and the picture disc the title track is three minutes and 59 seconds long and the B-side is "Over Your Shoulder". The title track was extended by one minute and 38 seconds for the 12-inch single, to five minutes and 37 seconds, and an extra track, "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo", was added to the B-side. The 7" single was also released as a limited edition with an extra disc containing "Villiers Terrace" and "Monkeys" from the August 1979 Peel Session. Laurie Latham produced the title track and the Bunnymen produced the B-sides. The singles were released on Korova in the United Kingdom and on WEA elsewhere.
AllMusic journalist Stewart Mason praised the song's "dreamily catchy chorus" and "nice melody", adding that the layers of synths and Ian McCulloch's overdubbed vocals on the chorus add to the "psychedelic haze of the track".
"Lips Like Sugar" is a single by the English rock band Echo & the Bunnymen, which was released in July 1987. It was the second single from their eponymous fifth studio album (1987).
Ian McCulloch wrote the lyrics to "Lips Like Sugar" and "Rollercoaster", while the music is credited to McCulloch, Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson. "Lips Like Sugar" was produced by Laurie Latham.
"Lips Like Sugar" was released as the second single from Echo & the Bunnymen, backed with "Rollercoaster". The song was a chart success, reaching number 36 in the UK, number 24 in Ireland, and number 43 in New Zealand. The song did not chart in the US, despite "how much attention it seemed to garner at the time of its initial release and how it’s so often held up as the band's signature song in the States". The song largely saw success on college radio.
Pitchfork described the track as a "hook-heavy reverb bomb". David Cleary of AllMusic noted that "Pete de Freitas' solid drumming at times veered toward the danceable" on the track.
A photo gallery accompanied by audio of Coldplay performing "Lips Like Sugar" live in Paris is included on their 2002 DVD single "The Scientist". This audio track was also included on the Australian release of their 2003 single "God Put a Smile upon Your Face". McCulloch notably performed the song live with Coldplay in 2003 at the Scottish T in the Park festival.
"The Killing Moon" is a song by the English rock band Echo & the Bunnymen. It was released on 20 January 1984 by Korova as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Ocean Rain (1984).
It is one of the band's highest-charting hits, reaching number 9 in the UK singles chart, and often cited as the band's greatest song. Ian McCulloch has said: "When I sing 'The Killing Moon', I know there isn't a band in the world who's got a song anywhere near that." In a retrospective review of the song, AllMusic journalist Stewart Mason wrote: "The smart use of strings amplifies the elegance of the tune, bringing both a musical richness and a sense of quiet dignity to the tune."
According to the liner notes of Echo & the Bunnymen's box set Crystal Days: 1979–1999 (2001), Ian McCulloch woke up one morning with the phrase "fate up against your will" in mind. In a 2015 interview, McCulloch said: "I love (the song) all the more because I didn't pore over it for days on end. One morning, I just sat bolt upright in bed with this line in my head: 'Fate up against your will. Through the thick and thin. He will wait until you give yourself to him.' You don't dream things like that and remember them. That's why I've always half credited the lyric to God. It's never happened before or since." McCulloch attributed the use of astronomical imagery in the song to a childhood interest in space.
"The Killing Moon" was featured in the 2001 film Donnie Darko, setting the tone for the opening scene as Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) enters the town. Richard Kelly had originally planned to use "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS in this scene, but was unable to secure the rights for the theatrical release. For the director's cut of the film in 2004, "Never Tear Us Apart" is featured in the opening scene and "The Killing Moon" is used later in the film. The Digital Fix film review opined that the Bunnymen song worked much better in the opening scene.