Echo and The Bunnymen
 The
origins of this renowned Liverpool, England-based band can be
traced back to the spring of 1977 when vocalist Ian McCulloch was
a member of the short-lived Crucial Three with Julian Cope and
Pete Wylie.
While the latter two later emerged in The
Teardrop Explodes and Wah!,
respectively, McCulloch put together his major band at the end of
1978.
Initially
the trio of McCulloch, Will Sergeant, and Les Pattinson was
augmented by a drum machine that they named "Echo".
After making their first appearance at the famous Liverpool club
Eric's, they made their vinyl debut in March 1979 with Pictures
On My Wall, produced by whiz kid entrepreneurs Bill Drummond
and David Balfe.
The production was sparse but intriguing and
helped the band to establish a sizeable cult following.
McCulloch's brooding live performance and vocal inflections were
already drawing comparisons with The
Doors' Jim Morrison.
After
signing to Korova Records (distributed by Warner Brothers
Records), they replaced "Echo" with a human being - Pete
De Freitas. The second single, Rescue,
was a considerable improvement on its predecessor, with a
confident driving sound that augured well for their forthcoming
debut album, Crocodiles.
The debut LP proved impressive with a wealth of strong
arrangements and compulsive guitar work.
After
the less melodic single The
Puppet, the band toured extensively and issued an EP, Shine
So Hard, which crept into the UK Top 40.
 The next album, Heaven
Up Here, saw them regaled by the music press. Although a less
accessible and melodic work than its predecessor, it sold well and
topped numerous polls.
Porcupine reinforced
the band's appeal, while The
Cutter gave
them their biggest UK hit so far, reaching Number 8 in January
1983.
The same year Sergeant released a solo set, Themes
For Grind. In January 1984 they reached UK Number 9 with The
Killing Moon, an excellent example of McCulloch's ability to
summon lazy melodrama out of primary lyrical colours.
The
epic quality of his writing remained perfectly in keeping with the
band's grandiloquent musical character. The accompanying 1984
album, Ocean
Rain, broadened their appeal further and brought them into the
US Top 100 album charts.
In
February 1986 De Freitas left to be replaced by former Haircut
100 drummer
Mark Fox, but he returned the following September. However, it now
seemed the band's best days were behind them.
The
uninspired title Echo
And The Bunnymen drew
matching lacklustre performances, while a cover version of The
Doors' People
Are Strange left
both fans and critics perplexed. This new recording was produced
by Ray Manzarek, who also played on the track, and it was used as
the haunting theme for the cult movie The
Lost Boys.
Yet, as many noted, there were simply dozens of
better Echo And The Bunnymen compositions that could have
benefited from that type of exposure.
In
1988, McCulloch made the announcement that he was henceforth
pursuing a solo career. While he completed the well-received Candleland,
his band mates made the unexpected decision to carry on. Large
numbers of audition tapes were listened to before they chose
McCulloch's successor, Noel Burke, a Belfast boy who had
previously recorded with St Vitus Dance.
Just as they were
beginning rehearsals, De Freitas was killed in a motorcycle
accident. The band struggled on, recruiting new drummer Damon
Reece and adding road manager Jake Brockman on guitar/synthesizer.
In
1992, they entered the next phase of Bunnymen history with Reverberation,
but public expectations were not high and the critics unkind. The
Bunnymen Mark II broke up in the summer of the same year, with
Pattinson going on to work with Terry Hall, while Sergeant
conducted work on his ambient side project, B*O*M, and formed
Glide.
McCulloch, whose solo career had stalled after a bright
start, and Sergeant eventually reunited in 1993 as Electrafixion,
also pulling in Reece from the second Bunnymen incarnation.
In
1996, an announcement was made that the three remaining original
members would go out as Echo And The Bunnymen once again.
McCulloch, Pattinson and Sergeant completed a remarkable comeback
when Nothing Lasts Forever reached
Number 8 in the UK charts, and their new album, Evergreen,
was released to widespread acclaim.
Pattinson
left before the recording of their second new album, a remarkably
mellow set from a band not normally associated with such a
concept. McCulloch and Sergeant parted company with London Records
later in the year, and the following year's mini-album Avalanche was
an Internet-only release.
The full-length Flowers,
picked up for release by Cooking Vinyl Records, marked a return to
the trademark Echo And The Bunnymen sound, with Sergeant's guitar
work to the fore.
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