Biggest US Single: The Killing Moon or Lips Like Sugar?

[YoYoMan]

I was not a Bunnymen fan in the 80's - too young. I didn't know the name of the band, but I definitely knew of Lips Like Sugar. It was recognizable just from airplay on pop radio in the US. I did not know The Killing Moon until I got into the band in the late 90's.

So.....I really thought the Bunnymen's greatness had probably gone over the heads of the US. I considered Lips Like Sugar as a one hit wonder - in terms of popularity. Obviously, the Bunnymen had better songs, though Lips was still good to me too and obviously was a great single.

Anyway, trying to come to my question. Nowadays, it seems young people only know The Killing Moon. If you look at Spotify, it gets way, way more listens on Spotify than Lips Like Sugar. I know The Killing Moon was on Donnie Darko, but could that little movie really account for it? I wonder, b/c young ppl who recognize the Killing Moon surprisingly always cite Donnie Darko.

So, my questions Was The Killing Moon a hit in the US in the 80's? Was The Killing Moon a bigger hit than Lips Like Sugar?

Just been curious, and figured you all would know. My cursory research delivered nothing.

[crystal daze]

http://www.villiersterrace.com/charts.htm

[YoYoMan]

http://www.villiersterrace.com/charts.htm

Wow, I feel dumb for not noticing that feature. Thank you.

So, Lips Like Sugar didn't even chart in the Billboard 200? So hard to believe, since I knew it from the radio as just a dumb US kid in the 80's whose only tapes were Def Leppard and Genesis at the time.

[Mr. Brian]

Unless you had a decent "alternative" radio station in your area in the 80s, usually run by or catering to college students, you didn't hear the Bunnymen on the radio in the US. In my area we were lucky to have 97X/WOXY. The Bunnymen also just didn't tour much in the US, even then. I never even heard of them until about 1984, which is about the time a friend of mine came back from the UK with some new music he got turned onto and about when 97X started. MTV did play the videos for Killing Moon, Seven Seas, Dancing Horses and Lips.

I think the reason people know of Killing Moon more now is just because of how long they've been around and services like Sirius, Spotify and Pandora, etc. play that. Killing Moon also got a boost because of Donnie Darko and it's inclusion in Rock Band 3.
On First Wave on Sirius, I've heard Lips Like Sugar, Seven Seas, New Direction, Bring on the Dancing Horses, Killing Moon, People Are Strange. Maybe a couple of more but it's not often.

[Mr. Brian]

Also, as you noticed, the "Modern Rock" charts didn't really begin until after they broke up. They never placed a single at all on the regular Billboard charts, since that was more for mainstream pop music. They barely cracked the top 200 for a few albums.

[YoYoMan]

Unless you had a decent "alternative" radio station in your area in the 80s, usually run by or catering to college students, you didn't hear the Bunnymen on the radio in the US. In my area we were lucky to have 97X/WOXY. The Bunnymen also just didn't tour much in the US, even then. I never even heard of them until about 1984, which is about the time a friend of mine came back from the UK with some new music he got turned onto and about when 97X started. MTV did play the videos for Killing Moon, Seven Seas, Dancing Horses and Lips.

I think the reason people know of Killing Moon more now is just because of how long they've been around and services like Sirius, Spotify and Pandora, etc. play that. Killing Moon also got a boost because of Donnie Darko and it's inclusion in Rock Band 3.
On First Wave on Sirius, I've heard Lips Like Sugar, Seven Seas, New Direction, Bring on the Dancing Horses, Killing Moon, People Are Strange. Maybe a couple of more but it's not often.

I guess I was pretty young when Killing Moon came out, so I wouldn't have known if it was on MTV. I was still pretty young when Lips Like Sugar came out though too. And as I said, I was in no way "hip" to alternative music at the time. Yet, I totally knew Lips Like Sugar from the radio. So, I just assumed Lips was a fairly big hit here. I use Spotify, and I visit the Bunnymen page often. I'm just always surprised whenever I see Killing Moon with like 4 X as many listens as Lips. Now, I think Killing Moon is better for sure (I still like Lips too). I think most anybody - even ppl not fond of other Bunnymen stuff - would recognize the greatness of Killing Moon. It being more popular than Lips is just contrary to what I've believed for so long, it made me curious.

I agree that Donnie Darko has something to do with it. I didn't even think that was that big of a movie. Funny thing is I read on Wikipedia they replaced Killing Moon with an INXS song in the Director's Cut. So weird. Until I read that, I was thinking about asking you all if Donnie Darko was inspired by EATB, b/c I recall there literally is a Bunnyman in the movie!!! Just seems like too big of a coincidence, but who knows.

Thanks a lot for replying and providing insight!

[YoYoMan]

I also asked a couple 80's enthusiasts at work who are older than I am by a bit - 80's was their decade. They totally knew Lips and didn't know Killing Moon. Inspired the one dude to revisit Lips, and he confessed he liked it a good bit.

I am looking forward to hearing a live version of Lips. I think the song is great, but the producer's keyboards sound pretty dated imo. I'm not a big keyboards fan anyway, so it'd be cool to hear it with the emphasis all on the guitar without the keyboards.

[Mr. Brian]

I also asked a couple 80's enthusiasts at work who are older than I am by a bit - 80's was their decade. They totally knew Lips and didn't know Killing Moon. Inspired the one dude to revisit Lips, and he confessed he liked it a good bit.

I am looking forward to hearing a live version of Lips. I think the song is great, but the producer's keyboards sound pretty dated imo. I'm not a big keyboards fan anyway, so it'd be cool to hear it with the emphasis all on the guitar without the keyboards.

Yeah the production on the Grey Album has always been a source of contention with older fans and even the band. I was hoping for the anniversary/remaster release in 2004 we'd get some new mixes or something.
Holy moly has it been 12 years since then???

[NOF]

I quite like the production on The Grey Album. Laurie Latham did a similar job with the Stranglers on Aural Sculpture and it really helped shape the songs in epic rock songs.

The problem I've always had with The Grey Album is the songwriting. Besides The Game, LLS, BAB and All My Life, the songwriting is too comfortable to be classic Bunnymen.

[YoYoMan]

I quite like the production on The Grey Album. Laurie Latham did a similar job with the Stranglers on Aural Sculpture and it really helped shape the songs in epic rock songs.

The problem I've always had with The Grey Album is the songwriting. Besides The Game, LLS, BAB and All My Life, the songwriting is too comfortable to be classic Bunnymen.

I actually like the production of Lips real well - except for the keyboards. I'm not a keyboads fan anyway - and I really don't like the sound of those keyboards. Just a matter of taste. They play a key part of the melody though, so it'd be interesting to me to think how it'd sound if that part was played by something different.

I agree with you on the Grey Album, except I actually just like Lips and The Game. I like those two a lot. I don't really think about the other songs much. From what I recall, the band doesn't even like that album, right? Like they figured they gave it their all to make it on substance without enough success so they just gave in and went all style. That was my impression.

[Mr. Brian]

New Direction would be perfect except for the synthy background vocals on the chorus. Will really gets going at the end and the song really drives and is catchy. The band was in good form on that one.