A current British rock musician, vocalist, and songwriter, Ian McCulloch
was born 5 May 1959 in Liverpool, England. He first came to public notice
in the British music world as a member of the seminal Liverpudlian punk
band, The Crucial Three, fronted by the infamous Julian
Cope. Highly opinionated and flamboyant himself, McCulloch was thrown out
of this band and formed a new one with Will Sergeant and Lester Pattinson.
Originally a trio backed up by Echo, a drum machine (hence
their name Echo and the Bunnymen), they soon added a real
drummer and went on to become the standard bearers of Liverpool's neo-
psychedelic movement. One critic claimed that their "moody, atmospheric
music combined punk's energy and edge with the Door's poetic
theatricality."
The Bunnymen with their self-conscious, literary,
out-spoken and arrogant lead singer, McCulloch (aka "Mac the
Mouth") despite massive popularity in Europe never made it big in
North America. Their distinct influence however can be seen in
Britain in the attitudes and guitar textures of such 90's English
bands such as Slade.
In 1989, McCulloch left the band to pursue a solo career and
released two albums: Candleland and
Mysterio, neither of which received
any success comparable to his albums with The
Bunnymen.
Ian McCulloch rejoined fellow ex-Bunnyman Will Sergeant in 1994
to form the new group Electrafixion --
Here (and)
Here.
Their most recent release is Zephyr.
This group has not achieved success so "Mac the Mouth" and the original
members of "Echo and the Bunnymen" reformed their band in 1997 and went on
the road. ( Go here ).