Care's precious diamonds and emeralds..

Formed by Paul Simpson and Ian Broudie in 1983 in Liverpool, England. The band released a string of singles in the 1980s but soon broke up without producing an album. Their songs, which include "Whatever Possessed You," "Flaming Sword," "My Boyish Days," and "Chandeliers," were compiled and released posthumously as the album Diamonds and Emeralds (1997, Camden/Sire Records).

Paul Simpson, in between Care's activity, was the vocalist of another English band, The Wild Swans, whose songs include the Zoo Records 12" single "The Revolutionary Spirit" and "Young Manhood," "Bible Dreams," and "Whirlpool Heart," from their first album Bringing Home the Ashes (1988, Sire); currently, Simpson uses the moniker Skyray and released the albums The Dream Diaries and Liquid Crystal Display, both in 2004.

Ian Broudie, on the other hand, became more successful after forming The Lightning Seeds in the late 1980s, releasing a string of albums which spawned hit singles like "Pure," "All I Want," "Life of Riley," "Three Lions," and "Life's Too Short." Now solo, Broudie released his first album, Tales Told, in 2004.

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Shack, simply the best Liverpool band!

Before founding Shack, Michael and John Head were in the cult 1980s band The Pale Fountains, and released two albums, Pacific Street in March 1984 and ...From Across The Kitchen Table in March 1985. However, though critically acclaimed, the albums only reached Numbers 85 and 94 in the UK Albums Chart. That band folded in 1986 when bassist Chris "Biffa" McCaffrey died of a brain tumour.

The Head brothers soon re-emerged as Shack, signing to the Ghetto Recording Company, home of record producer Ian Broudie's solo project, The Lightning Seeds and British soul band Distant Cousins. Shack's first album Zilch was released in 1988, but was neither critically nor commercially successful. The follow-up, Waterpistol, was recorded in 1991 at London's Star Street Studio. Shortly after the recording of Waterpistol was complete, the studio burnt down and most of the tapes were destroyed. The only remaining DAT of the album was in the possession of producer Chris Allison. At the time, Allison was in Los Angeles, California and when he returned, it transpired that he had left the copy in his hire car. It was only found weeks later after a frenzied search. However, by this point, Ghetto had folded so the record was without a distributor. Shack split, with Wilkinson joining fellow Liverpudlian John Power (formerly of The La's) to form the successful Britpop band Cast. The Head brothers accompanied Love for a few touring dates. They then went on to form The Strands, which found them further critical acclaim.

Waterpistol was finally released in 1995 on the German independent record label, Marina (NME described Mick Head as "a lost genius and among the most gifted British songwriters of his generation"), but had negligible sales. Mick Head went on to suffer problems with heroin addiction.

The Head brothers, along with Iain Templeton (who drummed on The Magical World of the Strands) and bassist Ren Parry reformed Shack in 1998, releasing HMS Fable (1999). Perry was replaced by Guy Rigby on bass for ... Here's Tom With the Weather (2003). Wilkinson rejoined in 2005, replacing the departed Rigby.

The band are currently signed to Noel Gallagher's 'Sour Mash' record label. May 2006 saw the release of the album ...The Corner of Miles and Gil named after two of the Head brothers' heroes, Miles Davis and Gil Evans.

In October 2007 the band released their greatest hits compilation album, Time Machine, including two new tracks. They toured briefly in England in October and November with Martyn Campbell on bass, including a set at the Liverpool Academy on 26 October 2007, which was filmed and recorded for a possible live album and/or DVD.

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The Bunnymen's sugar kisses...

Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk group, formed in Liverpool in 1978. Their original lineup consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut album, Crocodiles, met with critical acclaim and made the UK Top 20. Their second album, Heaven Up Here (1981), again found favour with the critics and reached number 10 in the UK Album chart. The band's cult status was followed by mainstream success in the mid-1980s, as they scored a UK Top 10 hit with "The Cutter", and the attendant album, Porcupine (1983), reached number 2 in the UK. Their next release, Ocean Rain (1984), continued the band's UK chart success, and has since been regarded as their landmark release, spawning the hit singles "The Killing Moon", "Silver" and "Seven Seas". One more studio album, Echo & the Bunnymen (1987), was released before McCulloch left the band to pursue a solo career in 1988. The following year, de Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident, and the band re-emerged with a new line-up. Original members Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson were joined by Noel Burke as lead singer, Damon Reece on drums and Jake Brockman on keyboards. This new incarnation of the band released Reverberation in 1990, but the disappointing critical and commercial reaction it received culminated with a complete split in 1992.

After working together as Electrafixion, McCulloch and Sergeant regrouped with Pattinson in 1997 and returned as Echo & the Bunnymen with the UK Top 10 hit "Nothing Lasts Forever". An album of new material, Evergreen, was greeted enthusiastically by critics and the band made a successful return to the live arena. Though Pattinson left the group for a second time, McCulloch and Sergeant have continued to issue new material as Echo & the Bunnymen, including the albums What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001) and Siberia (2005). The band are scheduled to release a new album, The Fountain, in 2009.

Ian McCulloch began his career in 1977, as one third of the Crucial Three, a bedroom band which also featured Julian Cope and Pete Wylie. When Wylie left, McCulloch and Cope formed the short-lived A Shallow Madness with drummer Dave Pickett and organist Paul Simpson, during which time such songs as "Read It In Books", "Robert Mitchum", "You Think It's Love" and "Spacehopper" were written by the pair. When Cope sacked McCulloch from the band, A Shallow Madness changed their name to The Teardrop Explodes, and McCulloch joined forces with guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson to form Echo & the Bunnymen. This early incarnation of the band featured a drum machine, assumed by many to be "Echo", though this has been refuted by the band. In the 1982 book Liverpool Explodes!, Will Sergeant explained the origin of the band's name:

"We had this mate who kept suggesting all these names like The Daz Men or Glisserol and the Fan Extractors. Echo and the Bunnymen was one of them. I thought it was just as stupid as the rest." - Will

In November 1978, Echo & the Bunnymen made their debut at Liverpool's Eric's Club, appearing as the opening act for The Teardrop Explodes.

Echo & the Bunnymen's debut single "The Pictures on My Wall" was released on Bill Drummond's Zoo Records in May 1979, the B-side being the McCulloch/Cope collaboration "Read It in Books" (also recorded by The Teardrop Explodes approximately six months later as the B-side of their final Zoo Records single "Treason"). McCulloch has subsequently denied that Cope had any involvement with the writing of this song on more than one occasion.

By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles, the drum machine had been replaced by Trinidad-born Pete de Freitas. The lead single, "Rescue", climbed to UK #62 and the album broke into the Top 20 at #17, following critical acclaim. Their next album, Heaven Up Here (1981), was an even bigger critical and commercial success, reaching the UK Top Ten (#10), although a single lifted from the album, "A Promise", could only reach UK #49.

In June 1982, the Bunnymen achieved their first significant UK hit single with "The Back of Love" (#19). This was followed in early 1983 with their first Top 10, the more radio-friendly "The Cutter", which climbed to #8. The parent album, Porcupine, hit #2 in the album chart. Now firmly established as a chart act, further hits followed with a one-off single, "Never Stop" (#15), and "The Killing Moon", a preview from the new album featuring a dramatic McCulloch vocal, which became the band's second UK Top 10 single at #9.

Following a PR campaign which proclaimed it "the greatest album ever made", 1984's Ocean Rain reached #4, and today is widely regarded as the band's masterpiece. Single extracts "Silver" (UK #30) and "Seven Seas" (UK #16) consolidated the album's continued commercial success. In the same year, McCulloch had a minor solo hit with his cover version of "September Song".

Echo & the Bunnymen toured Scandinavia in April 1985, performing cover versions of songs from Television, the Rolling Stones, Talking Heads and The Doors. Recordings from the tour emerged as the semi-bootleg On Strike. Unfortunately for the band, Ocean Rain proved to be a difficult album to follow up, and they could only re-emerge in 1985 with a single, "Bring On the Dancing Horses" (UK #21), and a compilation album, Songs to Learn & Sing, which made #6 in the UK album chart. However, all was not well in the Bunnymen camp, and Pete de Freitas left the band. The next (self-titled) studio album was recorded with ex–ABC drummer David Palmer, but when de Freitas returned in 1986, it was largely re-recorded. Eventually released in mid-1987, the record sold well (UK #4), and was a small American hit, their only LP to have significant sales there.

In the United States, the band's best-known songs were "The Killing Moon" (from Ocean Rain) and "Lips Like Sugar" (from Echo & the Bunnymen), although "Bring On the Dancing Horses" is well-known as one of the songs on the soundtrack to the John Hughes film Pretty in Pink. They also contributed a cover version of The Doors song "People Are Strange" to The Lost Boys soundtrack.

McCulloch quit the band in 1988 and de Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident in mid-1989. After former Colenso Parade singer Oscar turned down an offer to take over from McCulloch, Pattinson and Sergeant recruited ex-St. Vitus Dance vocalist Noel Burke and drummer Damon Reece. Keyboardist Jake Brockman (a touring member of the band for several years previously, and a contributor to the 1987 album) was promoted to full member, and the five-piece recorded Reverberation in 1990. This did not generate much excitement among fans or critics, and the group was abandoned in 1992. McCulloch, meanwhile, had continued his solo career, with the albums Candleland in 1989 and Mysterio in 1992.

In 1994 McCulloch and Sergeant began working together again under the name Electrafixion; in 1997 Pattinson rejoined the duo, meaning the three surviving members of the original Bunnymen lineup were now working together again. Rather than continue as Electrafixion, the trio resurrected the Echo & the Bunnymen name and released the album Evergreen (1997), which reached the UK Top 10.

Immediately prior to the release of the band's next album, What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Les Pattinson quit to take care of his mother. McCulloch and Sergeant have continued to tour and record as Echo & the Bunnymen, touring repeatedly and releasing the albums Flowers (2001) and Siberia (2005). The group's current touring incarnation comprises McCulloch and Sergeant along with Stephen Brennan (bass), Gordy Goudie (guitar), Nicholas Kilroe (drums) and Ceri James (keyboards).

In 2002 the group received the Q Inspiration award. The award is for inspiring "new generations of musicians, songs and music lovers in general." The band were said to be worthy winners as they have done much to promote the Mersey music scene. In a later interview for Magnet magazine, McCulloch said "It validates everything that we've tried to achieve—cool, great timeless music. It's not like an inspiration award affecting the past, it's affecting the current music."

On 11 September 2006, Echo & the Bunnymen released an updated version of their 1985 Songs to Learn and Sing compilation. Now re-titled More Songs to Learn and Sing, this new compilation was issued in two versions, a 17-track single CD and a 20-track version with a DVD featuring 8 videos from their career.

In March 2007, the Bunnymen announced that they had re-signed to their original record label, Warner, and were also working on a new album. The band were also said to be planning a live DVD, entitled "Dancing Horses", which also contained interviews with the band. This was released in May 2007, on Snapper/SPV.

On 11 January 2008 Ian McCulloch was interviewed on BBC Breakfast at the start of Liverpool 08. He was asked about new Bunnymen material and he revealed that a new album would coincide with their gig at the Royal Albert Hall in September. He went on to say that the album was, "The best one we've made, apart from Ocean Rain."

In a 20 April 2008 interview with the Sunday Mail Ian McCulloch announced The Fountain as the title of the new Echo & the Bunnyman album with producer John McLaughlin, which was originally due to be released in 2008 but has now been put back to mid-2009. The first single will be "Think I Need It Too" which was scheduled to be released in August 2008, but didn't materialise.

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The Lotus Eaters, great lads from Liverpool

The Lotus Eaters was the name of a 1980s New Wave band from Liverpool, England, whose single "The First Picture of You," from their debut album, No Sense of Sin (1984), became a hit in the UK.

The Lotus Eaters was formed in 1982. Many music enthusiasts regard the group as a part of the New Romantic movement. However, although Peter Coyle (vocals), Jeremy Kelly (guitar), Mike Dempsey (bass guitar), and Stephen Creese (drums) had the elegant attire, and fashionable haircuts of New Romantic bands, their music was more understated and folksy than the synthesized Euro disco of Japan, Visage and Duran Duran. The Lotus Eaters toured extensively throughout Japan, despite arguments with their record label over there.

In 1998, The First Picture of You, a compilation of the Lotus Eaters' BBC Radio 1 sessions, was released, and the No Sense of Sin album was reissued on CD with bonus tracks.

In 2002, The Lotus Eaters, reduced to the duo of Peter Coyle (vocalist - formerly with The Jass Babies) (born 25 January 1962, Liverpool) and Jeremy Kelly (guitarist - formerly with The Wild Swans) (born 8 April 1962, Liverpool), reformed after almost two decades, to record and release a new album, entitled silentspace.

In 2009 The Lotus Eaters Announced a Concert to be Held at the Liverpool Philharmonic on Sat 25th July as part of the Summer Pops

the band comprising Peter Coyle (vocals, lyrics, melody), Jem Kelly (guitars, samples, programming) and Stephen Emmer (arranger, programmer, composer) are currently writing and recording demos for a new album. They will be working with producer, Steve Power in February.

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