"Ocean Rain" to anchor Bunnymen's show

[In The Margins]

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September 30, 2008

"Ocean Rain" to anchor Bunnymen's show

By KELLY-JANE COTTER
MUSIC WRITER

Ian McCulloch, the handsome, deep-voiced singer in Echo & the Bunnymen, is singing to me.

Sure, everyone feels that way. You put on a favorite album, and the singer speaks directly to you.

But, no, this time, Ian McCulloch really is singing to me.

He's in his native Liverpool, I'm in my native New Jersey, and he's on the phone singing something that sounds like a sea chantey.

"Those far away places with the strange sounding names, far away over the sea. Those far away places with strange sounding names are calling, calling me."

These are lines from a song his dad used to sing to him, when McCulloch was a child, and thus began a lifelong fascination with lyrical phrasing and imagery.

"He'd sing "Nellie the Elephant' and other children's songs," McCulloch said. "And every now and then, one of the songs would stick with me, and I'd think about the words and how they sounded, as well as what they meant. Me dad, he died in 1988, but the second he died, he was inside of me, and I carry him with me."

A little post-interview Googling reveals that the song is "Far Away Places," written in 1948 by Alex Kramer and Joan Whitney and recorded by everyone from Bing Crosby to Dusty Springfield. All I can think is that Echo & the Bunnymen should really cover this song.

"Uh," I say, "can you sing that again?"

And he does. (Oh, my).

Our discussion then turns to those far away places, and McCulloch says that American cities sound much more romantic than British ones.

"New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, New Orleans, hmm, I don't want to leave anyone out, San Francisco," McCulloch says. "The names sound like something's happening in those places, exotic places in a land where the horizon goes on forever. We have Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds. Now you might think those names sound interesting, but, they're not."

Grass is always greener, I tell him. England, meanwhile, seemed like a magical place to anyone who listened to alternative music in the 1980s. That chilly, rainy, stylish land that produced a staggering number of punk, new wave and post-punk bands that sounded and looked so different, so cool.

"Yeah," McCulloch says, "OK. Cool is one thing we can do."

Only U.S. appearance

To wit, Echo & the Bunnymen's upcoming concert, Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall, at which the band will perform "Ocean Rain," its 1984 landmark album, in its entirety, accompanied by a 10-piece orchestra. It's the band's only U.S. appearance, and, judging from reviews of last month's concert at London's Royal Albert Hall, it should be a night of Cool Britannia.

"Ocean Rain" yielded the alt-radio staples "Silver," and "The Killing Moon," but it also was the band's most cohesive album, with a watery, deep-blue feeling on every track.

Moody and opulent, the music of Echo & the Bunnymen made its way into American dance clubs and onto college radio stations. From 1978 to 1989, McCulloch's melancholy vocals and Will Sergeant's bright, chiming guitar were ably backed by bassist Les Pattinson and drummer Pete De Freitas. The band did not enjoy the commercial success of U2 or The Cure, but Echo & the Bunnymen influenced many other bands, in scenes such as Manchester in the '90s.

De Freitas died in a motorcycle crash in 1989. The band broke up, McCulloch went solo; the band continued without him, then Mac came back.

Echo & the Bunnymen decided to perform "Ocean Rain" in concert as a way to reflect on the band's early days. The band played an acclaimed show at Royal Albert Hall in 1983, so McCulloch was happy to return.

Unlike many musicians, McCulloch is forthright about his need for validation. Most rock stars are dismissive of the role of critics, saying they don't care what anyone says. But not McCulloch. He does read reviews in newspapers — he can even quote from them.

"The Guardian really got it," McCulloch says. "And there was one that said I had a "voice like torn silk,' and I felt great about that."

"Torn silk, and as magnificent as ever," was how Simon O'Hagan put it in a review of the recent Royal Albert Hall show for The Independent.

Royal treatment

McCulloch is gratified that critics seemed to enjoy the Royal Albert show as much as the band did.

"I wanted it to be special, and it was better than I anticipated," McCulloch says. "It surpassed my expectations, especially in how emotional it was. When the picture of Pete was up there, there was just this massive cheer, for someone who, as a bloke and as a drummer, was one of the best in the world. It was deep and spiritual, and days after the concert, we're still saying how we can't believe how well it went."

"There was a sense of unfinished business for us, as a band," he says, "because, for all the amount of bands who've cited us as an influence, from Coldplay to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, we still felt a bit unrecognized. I wanted to play the album whole, maybe as a commemoration for Pete, and ego always plays a part, too. All this getting ready for "Ocean Rain' has reminded me — I want those five-star reviews."

A collector's edition of "Ocean Rain," with a second disc of the 1983 Royal Albert Hall concert, is scheduled for release this week. Echo & the Bunnymen's 10th studio album, "The Fountain," is due for release soon. "I Think I Need It Too" is the first U.K. single.

At Radio City, Echo & the Bunnymen will begin with a set of non-"Ocean Rain" material, so fans stand a chance of hearing "Lips Like Sugar," "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo," "The Back Of Love and" "Rescue." The Scottish band Glasvegas will open the show.

[moondance]

Wow, what a great article!

"Uh," I say, "can you sing that again?"

And he does. (Oh, my).

Swoon! I'm glad that he saw his reviews and liked them
I'm sure that NY will be special too.

Thanks again In the Margins.

[Epsilon]

Could you only imagine him singing to you..what a lucky girl. Great article.

[blinkilite]

Wow, what a great article!

"Uh," I say, "can you sing that again?"

And he does. (Oh, my).

Swoon! I'm glad that he saw his reviews and liked them
I'm sure that NY will be special too.

Thanks again In the Margins.

swoon indeed!!!