Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen | |
---|---|
Live 2005 |
|
General information | |
origin | Liverpool , England |
Genre (s) | Post-punk , new wave , pop |
founding | 1978 |
Website | www.bunnymen.com |
Founding members | |
Ian McCulloch (born May 5, 1959) | |
guitar |
Will Sergeant (born April 12, 1958) |
Les Pattinson (born April 18, 1958) | |
echo | |
Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Ian McCulloch |
guitar |
Will sergeant |
former members | |
Drums |
Pete de Freitas († 1989) (1980–1986, 1988–1989) |
Drums |
Blair Cunningham (1986) |
Vocals, guitar, piano |
Noel Burke (1990) |
Drums, percussion
|
Reece (1990) |
Jake Brockman († 2009) (1990) |
Echo & the Bunnymen are a British rock band , whose musical style from a psychedelic colored New Wave in the late 1970s and early 1980s to a melancholy pop developed. After several line-up changes, the band today essentially consists of the two founding members Ian McCulloch (guitar, vocals) and Will Sergeant (guitar).
history
founding
The band was founded in 1978 by McCulloch, Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson in the vicinity of Eric's Club , a nucleus of the Liverpool post-punk scene, which also includes the bands The Teardrop Explodes and Wah! came from. They originally performed with a drum machine called the Echo, which gave the band its name. Another version tells guitarist Sergeant:
“We had this buddy who suggested us all these names like The Daz Men or Glisserol and the Fan Extractors . Echo and the Bunnymen was one of them. I thought he was just as silly as the others. "
The drum computer was replaced in 1980 by the drummer Peter de Freitas.
First successes
With this line- up , the group quickly achieved cult status with the albums Crocodiles (1980) and especially Heaven Up Here (1981) on the label "Korova" created especially for the band. The New Musical Express praised Heaven Up Here as a "flawless masterpiece" that "did for rock what Tamla Motown did for dance music ". With the three following albums Porcupine (1983), Ocean Rain (1984) and Echo and the Bunnymen (1987), the band also achieved major commercial success. The single The Cutter reached number 8 in the British singles charts in 1983, the album Ocean Rain came to number 4 in the British album charts, in which it held its own for 26 weeks.
Personal changes
In 1988 McCulloch left the band to begin a solo career. In 1989, de Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident. The remaining bunnymen hired Irish singer Noel Burke and drummer Damon Reece and recorded the album Reverberation in 1990 , which sold quite well in the United States , with criticism that McCulloch's distinctive vocals were lacking but not well received. In 1994 Sergeant and McCulloch teamed up with bassist Leon de Sylva and drummer Tony McGuigan to form the band Electrafixion, but the commercial success of the 1995 album Burned remained moderate.
reunion
Since Elextrafixion always played material from Echo & the Bunnymen on their live performances, McCulloch and Sergeant decided to bring the band back to life. In 1997 they recorded the album Evergreen with founding bassist Les Pattinson and drummer Michael Lee , which was very well received by critics and audiences. The released single Nothing Lasts Forever (Backing Vocals: Liam Gallagher ) reached number 8 in the British single charts. Pattinson left the group in 1999, McCulloch and Sergeant released the albums What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? With changing accompanists . (1999), Flowers (2001), Siberia (2005) and The Fountain (2009)
style
Especially on their first albums, Echo & the Bunnymen combined the energy and nervousness of the New Wave with a "pompous psychedelic" that was based on the Velvet Underground and the Doors . The lyrics of this time dealt with disturbing drug experiences ( Villiers Terrace ), cries for help ( Rescue ), despondency in life ( The Disease ), but McCulloch often sang, according to the authors of the Rock Lexicon , also simply "Rock-lyricism [...] full of nonsense- Rhymes, obscure ambiguities, claused banalities ”. The singer explained that musically it is primarily a matter of sound :
“I just write songs that sound good and have a nice melody. We just want to do something that is good and atmospheric. "
From 1984 the sound of the group expanded to include strings and sitar playing . The eponymous album, released in 1987, endeavored to produce more commercially pleasing sounds and less morbid lyrics, which disappointed many fans from the very beginning. The Rolling Stone criticized the album sounded "as empty as pretty." With the record, Echo & the Bunnymen acknowledged their preference for the Doors, whose keyboardist Ray Manzarek contributed a solo to the track Bedbugs and Ballyhoo . In the same year coverten Echo & the Bunnymen and The Doors classic People are strange for the soundtrack of the American horror film The Lost Boys . The sound after the reunification is more poppy than that of the early years, strings, woodwind instruments and keyboard sounds are used in many pieces , which is rated differently by the critics. The New Musical Express praised the What are You Going to Do with Your Life? : "The arrangements posit Burt Bacharach leading the Love Unlimited Orchestra , with only the occasional edgy guitar motif to remind one of Will Sergeant's presence" ( The arrangements create the impression that Burt Bacharach is conducting the Love Unlimited Orchestra, with only the angular Guitar motif reminds of Will Sergeant's presence ). The magazine Mojo describes the music on the album The Fountain as "mid-tempo, middle of the road, middle-aged pop-rock" ( medium-tempo pop-rock suitable for the masses for middle-aged people ).
Discography
Albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | |||
1980 | Crocodiles |
UK17th
gold
(6 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: 1980
|
1981 | Heaven Up Here |
UK10 (16 weeks) UK |
US184 (2 weeks) US |
First publication: 1981
|
1983 | Porcupine |
UK2
gold
(17 weeks)UK |
US137 (9 weeks) US |
First published: 1983
|
1984 | Echo & the Bunnymen | - |
US188 (3 weeks) US |
First published: 1984
|
Ocean Rain |
UK4th
gold
(26 weeks)UK |
US87 (11 weeks) US |
First published: 1984
|
|
1986 | Songs To Learn and Sing |
UK6th
gold
(15 weeks)UK |
US158 (9 weeks) US |
First published: 1986
|
1987 | Echo and the Bunnymen |
UK4th
silver
(9 weeks)UK |
US51 (37 weeks) US |
First published: 1987
|
1990 | Reverberation | - | - |
First published: 1990
|
1997 | Ballyhoo - The Best Of |
UK59
silver
(3 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: 1997
|
Evergreen |
UK8th
silver
(11 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: 1997
|
|
1999 | What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? |
UK21 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1999
|
2001 | Flowers |
UK56 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 2001
|
2005 | Siberia |
UK83 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 2005
|
2006 | The Very Best Of - More Songs To Learn |
UK47 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 2006
|
2007 | Killing Moon - The Best Of |
UK-
silver
UK
|
- |
First published: 2007
|
2009 | The Fountain |
UK63 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 2009
|
2014 | Meteorites |
UK37 (1 week) UK |
US138 (1 week) US |
First published: 2014
|
2018 | The Stars The Oceans & The Moon |
UK11 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 2018
|
2019 | The John Peel Sessions 1979-1983 |
UK65 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 2019
|
More albums
- 2001: Crystal Days 1979–1999 (4 CD Boxed Set)
- 2002: Live in Liverpool
- 2006: More Songs to Learn and Sing
- 2006: Me I'm All Smiles - Live
EPs
- 1981: Shine So Hard
- 1984: The Sound of Echo
- 1984: Life at Brian's - Lean and Hungry
- 1988: The Peel Sessions
- 1988: New Live and Rare
- 1997: World Tour EP
- 2000: Avalanche
- 2019: Live from Glasgow
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | |||
1980 | Rescue Crocodiles |
UK62 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 1980
|
1981 | Crocodiles crocodiles |
UK37 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First publication: 1981
|
A Promise Heaven Up Here |
UK49 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First publication: 1981
|
|
1982 | The Back of Love Porcupine |
UK19 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1982
|
1983 | The Cutter Porcupine |
UK8 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1983
|
Never stop |
UK15 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1983
|
|
1984 | The Killing Moon Ocean Rain |
UK9
silver
(6 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: 1984
|
Silver Ocean Rain |
UK30 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1984
|
|
Seven Seas Ocean Rain |
UK16 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1984
|
|
1985 | Bring On The Dancing Horses Songs to Learn & Sing |
UK21 (9 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1985
|
1987 | The Game Echo & the Bunnymen |
UK28 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1987
|
Lips Like Sugar Echo & the Bunnymen |
UK36 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1987
|
|
1988 | People Are Strange The Lost Boys OST |
UK29 (5 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1988
|
1990 | Enlighten Me Reverberation |
UK96 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 1990
|
1991 | People Are Strange [1991] |
UK34 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
First publication: 1991
|
1997 | Nothing Lasts Forever Evergreen |
UK8 (6 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1997
|
I Want To Be There When You Come Evergreen |
UK30 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1997
|
|
Don't Let It Get You Down Evergreen |
UK50 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1997
|
|
1999 | Rust What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? |
UK22 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 1999
|
2001 | It's alright flowers |
UK41 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: 2001
|
Make Me Shine Flowers |
UK84 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 2001
|
|
2005 | Stormy Weather Siberia |
UK55 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: 2005
|
swell
- ↑ Mark Cooper: Liverpool Explodes! . Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1982
- ↑ Quoted from Barry Graves and Siegfried Schmidt-Joos : Das neue Rock-Lexikon . Vol. 1, Rowohlt, Reinbek 1990, p. 253.
- ^ Barry Graves and Siegfried Schmidt-Joos: The new rock lexicon . Vol. 1, Rowohlt, Reinbek 1990, p. 252.
- ^ Barry Graves and Siegfried Schmidt-Joos: The new rock lexicon . Vol 1, Rowohlt, Reinbek 1990, p. 253.
- ↑ Quoted from Barry Graves and Siegfried Schmidt-Joos: Das neue Rock-Lexikon . Vol. 1, Rowohlt, Reinbek 1990, p. 253.
- ↑ What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? In: New Musical Express, March 6, 1999 ( online , accessed June 2, 2012).
- ^ Johnny Sharp: Echo & The Bunnymen: The Fountain . In: Mojo , issue 192 (November 2009), p. 91
- ↑ a b Chart sources: UK US
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Echo & the Bunnymen in the Internet Movie Database (English)