Echo & the Bunnymen

About the artist

Post-punk band Echo & The Bunnymen used a drum machine behind singer Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant, and bassist Les Pattinson until drummer Pete de Freitas joined them in 1979. ∙ McCulloch’s first group, The Crucial Three, included future fellow rock stars Julian Cope and Pete Wylie. ∙ Although Sergeant grew up a big music fan, he was working toward becoming a chef when Echo & The Bunnymen made their live debut in 1978 at Eric’s Club in Liverpool. ∙ Their first album, 1980’s Crocodiles, was Top 20 hit in the UK, and NME included it on its list of the 50 Greatest Albums of the 1980s. ∙ The band recorded their 1984 album, Ocean Rain, with a 35-piece orchestra, and in later years they performed it with live orchestral accompaniment. ∙ Promoted with an Anton Corbijn-directed video, “Lips Like Sugar” was a US hit in 1987 and has since been covered by Coldplay and Smashing Pumpkins. ∙ “The Killing Moon” plays in the 2001 film Donnie Darko as Jake Gyllenhaal’s character bikes home after mysteriously waking up in a clearing.