Wreckless Eric

Wreckless Eric

Wreckless Eric (real name Eric Goulden ; born May 18, 1954 in Newhaven , East Sussex , England ) is a British rock singer who moves between punk , pub rock and new wave . His pronounced Cockney accent is characteristic of his quite simple, but very catchy songs .

He began his career in the late 1970s as one of the artists on Stiff Records . This label pioneered the renewal of British pop music with artists like Ian Dury , Madness , Elvis Costello , and Nick Lowe . His debut single Whole Wide World / Semaphore Signals (1977) was produced by Nick Lowe, who also played bass, and Ian Dury hit the drums on it. Wreckless Eric never had a hit worth mentioning, but made a name for himself with his chaotic concerts, which he often gave while drunk. After his fourth solo album, dubbed Big Smash , in 1980 was not a commercial success either, he temporarily withdrew from the music business.

In 1984 he founded the band Captains of Industry with former band members Ian Durys , which were not successful with their only studio album. In 1986 he founded the Len Bright Combo with former Milkshakes musicians , which he also disbanded after two unsuccessful albums. Meanwhile, his alcohol problem had worsened. He retired to France, where, as he wrote on his former website, he pursued a "career as a full-time alcoholic". After a few years in France, however, he recovered and founded the band Le Beat Group Electrique , whose three albums were much more pop-oriented than his previous projects, but were only moderately successful.

In 1998 he returned to the UK. In 2004 he published his autobiography A Dysfunctional Success - The Wreckless Eric Manual (Eng. "A dysfunctional success - The Wreckless Eric Manual").

With amERICa , he released another solo album in 2015 after more than 10 years, with which he then toured Europe.

Discography

As Wreckless Eric

• Wreckless Eric (1978)
• The Wonderful World of Wreckless Eric (1978)
• The Whole Wide World (1979)
• Big Smash (1980)

• Almost a Jubilee: 25 Years at the BBC (with Gaps) (2003)
• Bungalow Hi (2004)

• amERICa (2015)

With the Captains of Industry

• Roomful of Monkeys (1984)

With The Len Bright Combo

• The Len Bright Combo Presents ... (1985)
• Combo Time (1986)

With Le Beat Group Electrique

• Le Beat Group Electrique (1989)

With Fabrice Bertran / Eduardo Leal de la Gala

• At the Shop (1990)
• The Donovan of Trash (1991)

With the Hitsville House Band

• 12 o'Clock Stereo (1996)

As Eric Goulden

• Karaoke (1997)

literature

• Eric Goulden: A Dysfunctional Success - The Wreckless Eric Manual Do Not Press (2004), ISBN 1-904316-18-2 (autobiography)

Web links

• Official website
• Wreckless Eric at Allmusic (English)
• Wreckless Eric in the Internet Movie Database (English)