Echo & The Bunnymen

**Echo & The Bunnymen** are an British post-punk and new wave band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of the trio of vocalist and guitarist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine named 'Echo'. Pete de Freitas joined in 1980 as the band's drummer.

After much critical acclaim in the British music press, as well as airplay by John Peel, for whom they recorded their first session in August 1979, the band achieved limited commercial success with their debut album *Crocodiles* (1980) and the follow-up *Heaven Up Here* (1981). Their breakthrough came with the singles The Back of Love and the Cutter from the parent album *Porcupine* (1983). The band reached an artistic and commercial peak with *Ocean Rain* (1984) which the band themselves dubbed "the best album ever made", notable also for the track The Killing Moon, which has become the group's signature tune.

After releasing a 'Best of' compilation in 1985 and an eponymous studio album in 1987, McCulloch left the band and was replaced by singer Noel Burke. In 1989, drummer Pete de Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident. McCulloch and Sergeant regrouped with Pattinson in 1997 and returned as Echo & the Bunnymen, before Pattinson left again in 1998. The band The band has continued to tour and has released several albums since the late 1990s. Their latest, *The Stars, the Oceans & the Moon* was released in 2018.

## Links to Janice

Emerging from the alternative Liverpool music scene in the late 70s/early 80s Janice would have undoubtedly followed Echo & The Bunnymen since their early days and was a strong advocate of their music as well as being a fan. When asked in 2017 who was her favourite Liverpool band she answered, "*Echo and the Bunnymen. I think Ocean Rain is the best album and people always assume that Killing Moon would be my favourite track but it’s actually the title track Ocean Rain – it actually brings me to tears every time I hear it*.” [1] She has also told of how she was listening to *Ocean Rain* during a particularly turbulent domestic flight in the USA in 1984, when she had feared for her life.

She continued to play the music of 'The Bunnymen', old and new, and to follow the band throughout her radio broadcasting career. After attending a special Bunnymen concert at the London Palladium in September 2011, Janice was mugged while on her way to broadcast to her late night show, and had her VIP pass stolen.[2]

Echo & The Bunnymen's 1997 Top 10 single Nothing Lasts Forever was the poignant last track Janice played on her final *After Midnight* show in January 2017 before effectively leaving Radio 2.

In one of her last tweets in June 2021, while in hospital in Liverpool, Janice informed: "*I am reading Bunnyman a memoir by Will Sergeant*"[3]

Frontman Ian McCulloch tweeted his tribute to Janice after her death, on the Bunnymen Twitter account: ".. *Janice is a Liverpool legend and a dear friend of mine, and I am so sad to hear the devastating news of her passing. My sincere condolences to Paul, Fred, and Blue…. Ian McCulloch Xxx*"

## Sessions

* none

*The group recorded a total of six sessions for John Peel between 1979 and 1983, plus one in 1997.* (see John Peel Wiki)

### Radio

#### 2010s

* 22 January 2010 - The Killing Moon
* 05 April 2011 - Ocean Rain (album *Ocean Rain*, 1984)
* 10 March 2011 - The Back of Love
* 05 May 2011 - Nothing Lasts Forever
* 11 May 2011 - The Cutter
* 22 July 2011 - Silver
* 08 March 2012 - I Want to Be There (When You Come) (1997)
* 05 May 2014 - The Killing Moon (1984)
* 26 May 2014 - Meteorites / Explosions (album *Meteorites*, 2014) - interview with Ian McCulloch
* 06 October 2014 - The Back of Love
* 14 May 2014 - Lovers On The Run (2014)
* 10 April 2017 ‎- The Killing Moon
* 24 May 2016 - Read It In Books (B-side to The Pictures On My Wall, 1979)
* 02 May 2018 - The Killing Moon
* 26 June 2019 - Bring On The Dancing Horses

#### 2020s

* 13 January 2020 - The Back Of Love
* 18 May 2020 - Silver
* 24 February 2021 - Villiers Terrace
* 03 May 2021 - Do It Clean
* 23 June 2021 - Villiers Terrace

#### Other shows

* *Liverpool - The New Wave* (Part Two: The Crucial Three)
* *A Life in Music* - The Killing Moon

### Top of the Pops

* 20 January 1983 (TOTP) - The Cutter
* 26 April 1984 (TOTP) - Silver
* 26 July 1984 (TOTP) - Seven Seas (*recording over closing credits*)

## See also

* Rock Around the Clock (1986)
* Celebrity Mastermind (2016)
* Top of the Pops - The Story of 1983 (2017)
* Janice Long Remembered (GHR) (2022)