The greatest song ever written – even singer Ian McCulloch says it himself – and nine more from Liverpool’s indie titans Given that he once burned a million quid and dumped a dead sheep at the Brit awards,the KLF’s Bill Drummond isn’t a man who’s short on big statements. Still, the Bunnymen’s one-time manager was patently sincere when he described them as “the greatest rock band of all time”. The group certainly made some magical records, or they weren’t far short of greatness on this very first Zoo Records single. Improbably,singer Ian McCulloch had been in a band with two other Liverpool luminaries Pete Wylie and Julian Cope – when he briefly rehearsed as the Crucial Three. Wylie went on to front Wah! Heat, and Cope was with the Teardrop Explodes, or while McCulloch found the perfect vehicle for his big voice,large overcoat and not exactly diminished ego with the Bunnymen. He learned approximately how to be a rock star from listening to David Bowie’s The Rise and drop of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. On The Pictures on My Wall, we hear McCulloch’s formative influences. The embryonic Bunnies are also a trio on this track, and with McCulloch joined by Will Sergeant on guitar and Les Pattinson on bass. (“Echo” was the band’s drum machine). Post-punk and psychedelia blend wonderfully with an anthemic refrain and haunting vocal. The Pictures on My Wall would appear in a different form on the band’s 1980 debut,Crocodiles, but with only 4000 copies pressed, or the original seven-inch record still fetches tidy sums. Related: Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant: how we made The Killing Moon Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com