13 reasons why

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13 reasons why

Postby fat cherry » Sat Jun 23, 2018 9:29 am

Just chatting to middle daughter whose been watching the second series and she says there's loads of bunnymen on it. That's it really. Anyone seen it.
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Re: 13 reasons why

Postby username » Sat Jun 23, 2018 12:33 pm

How this cult Brit band became a key part of ‘13 Reasons Why’

By Hardeep Phull

July 6, 2017 | 5:06pm | Updated
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How this cult Brit band became a key part of ‘13 Reasons Why’
Echo and the Bunnymen in 1984 (from left): Les Pattinson, Will Sergeant, Ian McCulloch and Pete De Freitas Paul Natkin/Getty Images

Thirty years ago, Echo and the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch got a call from Joel Schumacher. The Hollywood director was working on a new vampire movie called “The Lost Boys” and wanted the Liverpool band to cover the Doors’ classic “People Are Strange” for the opening credits.

“Initially I said, ‘No, thanks,’ because I didn’t get the Doors-Bunnymen comparisons, except [for] the fact that the frontmen for both bands are the most beautiful dudes on the planet,” McCulloch tells The Post with his trademark self-confidence and humor. “But then he said, ‘[Doors organist] Ray Manzarek really wants to work on the song with you — you’re the Doors of today.’ So I thought, ‘That’s enough arse licking. We’ll do it.’

That, along with a shorter sequence in John Hughes’ 1986 movie “Pretty in Pink,” which featured the song “Bring on the Dancing Horses,” sparked an unusual legacy for the group, which plays the Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk with the Violent Femmes on Wednesday.

Formed in 1978 when McCulloch teamed up with guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson (drummer Pete De Freitas joined in 1980, completing the classic lineup), they earned cult success during the 1980s for their expansive, new-wave sound and McCulloch’s powerful vocals. As a result, their music attracted directors like Schumacher and Hughes, who sought out the group to heighten the drama in their work.

Today, the band is more likely to be heard coming out of a television than a radio. Both “Pretty in Pink” and “The Lost Boys” get rerun regularly, and a new generation of filmmakers and showrunners are now seeking them out. Over the past year alone, they’ve had a song on the Netflix series “Stranger Things” and two on Netflix’s much-discussed teen-drama “13 Reasons Why” (albeit, covered by more contemporary bands).

“The Bunnymen have a cinematic quality, which is a really good fit for our show,” says “13 Reasons Why” creator Brian Yorkey, 46, who cites them as one of his all-time favorite groups since he was turned on to them by his older sisters back in the ’80s. The series has become a hit for its unflinching portrayal of bullying, sexual assault and suicide in high school, and Yorkey feels that the Bunnymen are an apt accompaniment.

“Nobody broods like Ian McCulloch, and I think that resonates with what the kids on our show are going through.”

Of all the band’s singles, it’s 1984’s “The Killing Moon” that continues to keep their cultural stock high on film and TV. McCulloch unapologetically claims it’s the best song ever written, and says the chorus came to him fully formed as he lay in bed one day.

“I attribute some of the writing to God — there was definitely some kind of divine intervention there,” he says.

“The Killing Moon” was featured in the 2004 comedy-drama “The Girl Next Door” (starring a young Elisha Cuthbert), 1997’s “Grosse Pointe Blank” and, most memorably, the moody opening sequence to 2001’s cult-classic “Donnie Darko” (another movie that gets regular re-airings on cable TV).

The band reportedly got just $3,000 for the song’s use on “Donnie Darko,” but the singer insists that’s not the point. “It got kids and a new generation of fans into us. That’s a lot more important than the money.”

It’s a trend that’s set to continue. Yorkey is currently filming Season 2 of “13 Reasons Why” and says it’s an “ongoing personal mission” to put Bunnymen originals in the new episodes, in the hope of converting newer, younger fans.

It’s music to McCulloch’s ears, but he’s adamant that there are some movies and TV shows he would flatly refuse to have anything to do with — no matter what the price.

“I’d never have any of the band’s music in any of the ‘Star Wars’ films,” he says. “I hate them all, especially the first one [now known as 1977’s “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope”]. All the monsters are crap, and that sodding robot with the stupid walk [C-3P0] — I always wanted someone to smash his head in! Oh, and anything with Nicolas Cage.”
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Re: 13 reasons why

Postby fat cherry » Mon Jun 25, 2018 10:56 am

good find. Good old Mac, there, charming the birds from the trees at the end.
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