Echo & the Bunnymen

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<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #f9f9f9;">Image:Echo and the Bunnymen T in the Park 2005.jpg
Echo & the Bunnymen performing in 2005.</td></tr><tr><th>Origin</th><td>Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg Liverpool, England</td></tr><tr><th>Years active</th><td>1978-1992, 1996-present</td></tr><tr><th>Genres</th><td>Post-punk, Alternative rock</td></tr><tr><th>Labels</th><td>Zoo Records (1979), Warner Bros. Records (1980-90), Euphoric (1991 - 92) London Records (1997 - 99), Cooking Vinyl (2001-present)</td></tr><tr><th>Members</th><td> Ian McCulloch
Will Sergeant</td></tr><tr><th>Past members</th><td> Les Pattinson
Pete de Freitas
Noel Burke
Jake Brockman
Damon Reece</td></tr>

Echo & the Bunnymen

Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk group formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of Ian McCulloch, Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine assumed by many to be "Echo", though the band denies this. In the 1982 book Liverpool Explodes! Will Sergeant explains in an interview: "We had this mate who kept suggesting all these names," says Will, "like The Daz Men or Glisserol and the Fan Extractors. Echo and the Bunnymen was one of them. I thought it was just as stupid as the rest."

1 History
2 Discography
3 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

Ian McCulloch was previously in a band known as "The Crucial Three", also featuring Pete Wylie (later of "Wah!") and Julian Cope (later of The Teardrop Explodes). McCulloch and Cope had also been in the short-lived "A Shallow Madness".

Echo & the Bunnymen's debut single was "The Pictures On My Wall", released on the Zoo label in 1979. The B-side was "Read it in Books", written by McCulloch and Cope during their time in the Crucial Three, and also recorded a couple of years later by The Teardrop Explodes as the B-side of their hit single "Reward".

By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles - a top-20 UK hit - the drum machine had been replaced by Pete de Freitas. Their next, the critically-acclaimed Heaven Up Here, reached the Top Ten in 1981. The Bunnymen broke into the top-20 of the UK singles chart in 1982 with "The Back of Love" (#19) and "The Cutter" (#8), followed in early-1983 by the album Porcupine, which reached number 2 in the album chart. Now firmly established as a chart act, further top 20 hits followed with "Never Stop" (#15), and "The Killing Moon" (#9). '84's Ocean Rain reached number 4, and was followed by singles "Silver" and "Seven Seas". In the same year, McCulloch had a minor solo hit with his version of "September Song". Ocean Rain would be a hard album to follow up, but they re-emerged in 1985 with "Bring on the Dancing Horses" and the singles compilation "Songs To Learn And Sing". All was not well, however, in the Bunnymen camp, and de Freitas left the band. The next (self-titled) studio album was recorded with ex-Haircut 100 drummer Mark Fox, but when de Freitas returned in 1986, it was largely re-recorded. Eventually released in mid-1987, it was a disappointment for many long-term fans but nevertheless sold well, and was a small American hit, their only LP to have significant sales there.

[edit] 1988 split

McCulloch quit the band in 1988, and De Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident one year later. Pattinson and Sergeant recruited 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 shortly afterwards. McCulloch, meanwhile, had continued his solo career, with the albums "Candleland" in 1989 and "Mysterio" in 1992.

[edit] Re-formation

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 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. 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 group's current touring incarnation comprises McCulloch and Sergeant along with Simon Finley (drums), Stephen Brennan (bass), Gordy Goudie (guitar), and Paul Fleming (keyboards).

On September 11th 2006, Echo and the Bunnymen released an updated version of their 1985 Songs to Learn and Sing compilation. The new compilation, More Songs to Learn and Sing was issued in two versions, a 17 track single CD and a 20 track version with a DVD featuring 8 videos from their career.

[edit] Discography

[edit] 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
(1985) Songs to Learn and Sing (Singles collection) - UK #6
(1987) Echo & the Bunnymen - UK #4, U.S. #51
(1990) Reverberation - UK #19
(1996) Ballyhoo - UK #25 (Greatest hits collection)
(1997) Evergreen - UK #8
(1999) What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? - UK #21
(2001) Crystal Days 1979-1999 (4 CD Boxed Set)
(2001) Flowers - UK #56
(2002) Live in Liverpool - UK Indie #55
(2005) Siberia - UK Indie #10
(2006) More Songs to Learn and Sing (Singles collection)
(2006) Me I'm all Smiles (live)

[edit] Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions		Album
Year	Title	U.S. Modern Rock	UK Singles Chart	Album
1978	"Pictures on My Wall"	-	Unknown	Crocodiles
1980	"Rescue"	-	#62	Crocodiles
1981	"The Puppet"	-	#37	N/A
1981	"Shine So Hard (live)" EP	-	#37	N/A
1981	"A Promise"	-	#49	Heaven Up Here
1982	"Back of Love"	-	#19	Porcupine
1983	"The Cutter"	-	#8	Porcupine
1983	"Never Stop"	-	#15	N/A
1984	"The Killing Moon"	-	#9	Ocean Rain
1984	"Silver"	-	#30	Ocean Rain
1984	"Seven Seas"	-	#16	Ocean Rain
1985	"Bring on the Dancing Horses"	-	#21	Songs to Learn & Sing
1987	"The Game"	-	#28	Echo & the Bunnymen
1987	"Lips Like Sugar"	-	#36	Echo & the Bunnymen
1988	"People Are Strange"	-	#29	The Lost Boys Soundtrack
1990	"Enlighten Me"	#8	#96	Reverberation
1991	"Prove Me Wrong"	-	-	N/A
1992	"Inside Me Inside You"	-	-	N/A
1997	"Nothing Lasts Forever"	-	#8	Evergreen
1997	"I Want to Be There When You Come"	#26	#30	Evergreen
1997	"Don't Let It Get You Down"	-	#50	Evergreen
1999	"Rust"	-	#22	What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?
2001	"It's Alright"	-	#41	Flowers
2001	"Make Me Shine"	-	#84	Flowers
2005	"Stormy Weather"	-	#55	Siberia
2005	"In the Margins"	-	-	Siberia
2006	"Scissors In The Sand"	-	Unknown	Siberia