The most infamous drum machine named ‘Echo’ and its right hand dudes the Bunnymen made their debut in their Liverpool stomping grounds on this day in 1978 at a dive called Eric’s Club.
Pre-Pete de Feritas, pre-debut LP Crocodiles, the Doors‘ loving, Bowie-idolizing post-punks had one original song, and ‘Echo’ wouldn’t even work for the first 10 minutes, so said lead singer Ian McCulloch in a Guardian look-back piece. McCulloch also referred to himself as a “frustrated black soul singer in a white man’s underpants.”
Chalk that up to modesty, we suppose, because that one song that they did play, “Pictures on my Wall,” was a perfect opening allegory for a decade run at some of the best twisted pop numbers of the 80s. A dark comedy wrapped in Talking Heads vocal quirks and strangled guitar strums, McCulloch wailing with a permanent smirk:
The pictures on my wall
Are about to swing and fall
Love it all
Love it all
