The Psychedelic Furs
Photo: Michael Halsbrand

Eighties alternative pioneers Echo & the Bunnymen and the Psychedelic Furs will hit the road for a three-week North American tour in mid-November.

The 18-city trek begins November 15 in Atlanta and wraps up December 9 in Las Vegas, according to their publicists. Both bands are promoting new releases.

Echo & the Bunnymen's Flowers, released in May, is the follow-up to 1999's What Are You Going to Do With Your Life? and spotlights Ian McCulloch's deep, cigarette-stained vocals and Will Sergeant's dark guitar lines. A four-disc retrospective, Crystal Days: 1979-1999, was issued in July and features live tracks, outtakes and singles such as "Read It in Books," "Crocodiles" and "The Killing Moon" (see "Echo And The Bunnymen Hop Back With Album, Box, Tour").

The Psychedelic Furs are set to release their first live album, Beautiful Chaos (Greatest Hits Live), on November 20. The LP was recorded at a reunion show in May at the House of Blues in Los Angeles featuring original members Richard Butler (vocals), Tim Butler (bass) and John Ashton (guitar). The album includes live renditions of hits such as "Pretty in Pink," "Love My Way" and "Heartbreak Beat" as well as a new song titled "Alive."

Psychedelic Furs/Echo & the Bunnymen tour dates, according to their publicists:

• 11/15 - Atlanta, GA @ Earthlink Live (Center Stage)
• 11/17 - Washington, DC @ Nation
• 11/18 - New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
• 11/19 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
• 11/20 - Boston, MA @ Avalon
• 11/22 - Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus
• 11/23 - Akron, OH @ Highland Theatre
• 11/24 - Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
• 11/25 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
• 11/26 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
• 11/28 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
• 11/30 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
• 12/1 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
• 12/2 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
• 12/5 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
• 12/6 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
• 12/7 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
• 12/8 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
• 12/9 - Las Vegas, CA @ House of Blues

• The Psychedelic Furs
• Echo & the Bunnymen

Echo And The Bunnymen
Photo: Spinart

With a new album out, a box set on the way and a U.S. tour about to begin, Echo and the Bunnymen are everywhere these days. But don't call it a comeback.

"I don't do nostalgia," guitarist Will Sergeant said good-naturedly from his home in Liverpool. "We had the album in the works, and the box set was going to come out whether we wanted it to or not, so we figured we might as well be involved." Flowers, the new album, sounds like classic Bunnymen, with psychedelic guitar washes and lyrics from singer Ian McCulloch that mix optimism and dread. The darkness-in-beauty theme is reflected in the album's cover, a pastoral shot of a late-19th-century couple and their baby in a rowboat.

"That's from a book called 'Wisconsin Death Trip,' about this place called Black River Falls where people went crazy and did all these evil things," Sergeant said, savoring the contrast between the surface and what lies underneath. "We've always tried to mix the pretty with the dark." The album is the third since McCulloch and Sergeant started recording again under the name Echo and the Bunnymen after a mid-'90s hiatus. The two released a 1995 album, Burned, as Electrafixion, because McCulloch, who had pursued a solo career, was uncomfortable using his old band's name.

"He didn't want to do it, but that never made sense to me," Sergeant said. "We are who we are, and that's what our fans expect, even if we did release some dodgy albums in there." Sergeant said fans can expect a mix of new material and Bunnymen standards such as "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo" and "Lips Like Sugar" on their U.S. tour, which kicks off June 30 in Detroit. "Those songs are like old friends," Sergeant said. "I never get sick of them, but we always try to do something a bit different with them." Even hard-core Bunnymen fans should be satisfied with Crystal Days 1979-1999, a four-disc collection of singles, album tracks and rarities, including a disc of covers, due July 17.

"We wanted to give people lots of things they didn't already have," Sergeant said.

Sergeant promised some surprises in addition to hits on the tour. He'll also do a 30-minute set of ambient electronic music prior to Bunnymen's performance. "I hope to have everyone asleep by the time we come on," he said with a laugh.

Echo and the Bunnymen tour dates, according to the band's publicist:

• 6/30 - Detroit, MI @ Comerica Michigan Tastefest
• 7/ 2 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
• 7/3 - New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place
• 7/5 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
• 7/6 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 7/7 - Plainview, NY @ The Vanderbilt
• 7/8 - Sea Bright, NJ @ Tradewinds
• 7/10 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
• 7/12 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
• 7/13 - Cleveland, OH @ Odeon Concert Club
• 7/14 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
• 7/15 - Minneapolis, MN @ Quest Club
• 7/17 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
• 7/19 ñ Los Angeles, CA House of Blues
• 7/20 - San Diego, CA @ Del Mar Racetrack
• 7/21 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
• 7/22 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
• 7/24 - Vancouver, BC @ Richard's on Richards
• 7/25 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox

• Echo & the Bunnymen

Echo & the Bunnymen's<BR>Ian McCulloch
Photo: Warner Bros.

Echo & the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch is working on songs with Courtney Love, Natalie Imbruglia and the Fun Lovin' Criminals for his upcoming solo album, a spokesperson at Jeepster Records said.

McCulloch, who is in the process of inking a record deal with the U.K. label, may also collaborate with good friend David Bowie on the as-yet-untitled album, Jeepster's Mark Jones said. McCulloch has recorded about a dozen demo tracks for the record, tentatively scheduled for a September release.

A spokesperson for Love did not return phone calls, and a spokesperson for Fun Lovin' Criminals was not available. Imbruglia's RCA Records publicist was unaware of any collaboration, as was Bowie's spokesperson.

Echo & the Bunnymen formed in Liverpool, England, in 1978 and went on to release several hit albums in the U.K. The band, which melded British pop with post-punk psychedelia, also built a cult following in the States. What Are You Going to Do With Your Life, their most recent album, was released last year.

McCulloch launched his solo career with 1989's Candyland and followed with Mysterio in 1992. He also record two albums with Electrafixion in the mid-'90s.

For his latest project, McCulloch has written several songs with Bobby Bluebell of '80s Scottish pop ensemble the Bluebells, Jones said. And when Imbruglia asked to sing one of McCulloch's songs, McCulloch instead suggested they record a duet together, according to Jones.

• Echo & the Bunnymen

A song penned by Echo and the Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch and ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has been selected to be the official theme for England's World Cup soccer team.

According to "NME," the song, entitled "(How Does It Feel To Be) On Top Of The World," was written by Marr and McCulloch five years ago and beat out tracks submitted by Blur, the Lightning Seeds and Pulp.

The Bunnymen had originally recorded the song for a BBC documentary series on soccer. Plans now call for "On Top Of The World" to be re-recorded, with vocals to be provided by a number of British groups and members of the U.K. soccer team.

World Cup '98 kicks off June 10 in Paris, France.

• Echo & the Bunnymen
• Morrissey
• The Smiths

July 2 [12:00 EDT] -- Tempers were thin at the annual Glastonbury festival last weekend and the fallout is still raining down in Britain.

The annual event, held on a 600-acre site North of London, was plagued by the worst rainstorm in the area in 118 years resulting in bad roads, muddy fields and a stage that literally sunk in the mud. Roughly 90,000 people braved the elements to see the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, Phish, Prodigy, Radiohead and dozens of others.

Now promoter Michael Eavis tells New Musical Express this week that he's thinking about suing Echo & The Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch after the singer told the audience that Greenpeace, the benefit¹s beneficiary, wouldn't be seeing any money from the festival. McCulloch also recommended that the audience demand a refund for "coming down to this shithole."

Eavis calls the accusation "nonsense." He says that even though he had to spend $400,000 in unexpected weather-related costs to ensure the safety of the crowd and performers, he will meet his commitment to Greenpeace and co-benficiary Oxfam although he may have to take a loan out against next year¹s festival to do so.

Eavis told NME he didn't want Echo & The Bunnyman, he only booked them as a favor to their agent because the said agent "made my life a misery trying to get them to play."

• Echo & the Bunnymen

June 5 [16:00 EDT] -- Fans who can't wait until the new Oasis album hits stores on August 25 can hear Liam Gallagher do his thing on Echo and the Bunnymenís upcoming reunion album.

The Oasis frontman contributes an uncredited backing vocal to "Nothing Lasts Forever," one of the songs on "Evergreen," which marks the first album from the original Bunnymen in nine years.

While Liam's appearance might seem like a clever marketing ploy, it was actually a bit of studio spontaneity, as head Bunnyman Ian McCulloch recently told MTV News. The two bands were toiling away in studios very near each other, and hooked up through a mutual appreciation. The rest was just Liam being Liam.

"Once he was at the mic, really there's no room. He just sort of eats it," McCulloch said of the younger Gallagher brother. "I was looking at him and saying, 'This is fantastic,' because I give it a little croon, and he's like 'Yeeeeaaaah'"

In addition to lending his vocal talents to the track, Liam brought a few other ideas as well, as McCulloch recently told MTV News.

"He said, 'I think it should have some tambourine in it as well,'" McCulloch said. "Then, 'How 'bout some handclaps at the end,' and it was just three things like that, and it's just fantastic. I mean, it's only a little bit that he's in, but it's unmistakably him."

The first single from "Evergreen," called "I Wanna Be There," arrived at radio this week, and the reunited English mood-rockers will cross paths with Liam once again on June 14 when Echo and the Bunnymen and Oasis both play the annual KROQ Weenie Roast. "Evergreen" will arrive in record racks on July 15.

• Echo & the Bunnymen
• Oasis

May 9 [14:00 EST] -- Don't look now, but Echo and the Bunnymen are back.

The 80s mood rock ensemble have reformed to record "Evergreen," the first album from the band's original line-up in nine years. The theatrical post-punk outfit will release its latest effort on July 15, and will make their return to the stage on May 14 in Liverpool, England. The band will then head to the U.S. for a handful of radio festival dates, and shows in New York on May 17 and 18, and Los Angeles on June 16.

The influential band can claim an all-star list of admirers (Hole covered the group's "Do It Clean" while Pavement has performed the band's songs in concert), and Echo can now apparently add Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher to those ranks.

Gallagher joined the band in the studio and recorded backing vocals for the band's first single, "Nothing Lasts Forever." But don't look for the Brit-pop singer's name in the liner notes: Gallagher's involvement in the project was very casual, and he is not credited on the album.

• Echo & the Bunnymen
• Oasis

KROQ's Inland Invasion 3 in Devore, CA Sept 20, 2003

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