What are Echo & The Bunnymen's best songs?

20 January 2024, 18:00

The Liverpool post-punk legends fronted by Ian McCulloch made some of the most memorable tracks of the 1980s and 90s. But which of their songs have been played the most?

By Radio X

@RadioX

Emerging from the vibrant live music scene of Liverpool in the late 1970s, Echo & The Bunnymen quickly became one of the key post-punk bands of the 80s. Singer Ian McCulloch was well-known in the city as one of the legendary "Crucial Three" with Julian Cope and Pete Wylie and his dark charisma and often barbed comments made him the ideal frontman. McCulloch formed the Bunnymen with guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson, and were soon joined by drummer Pete De Freitas.

Commercial success followed critical success and the band were making inroads in the United States when McCulloch left for a solo career in 1988. The death of De Freitas not longer afterwards called time on the band, but a reformation in the latter half of the 1990s brought them new fans and McCulloch and Sargeant continue to tour under the name to this day.

As the classic single The Killing Moon turns 40 years old in January 2024, we ask: what are the Bunnymen's most-played tracks? Let's take a look...

1. Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon (release date: 20th January 1984)

   

   Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon (Official Music Video)

   The Bunnymen's greatest song made Number 9 on its release in January 1984, but the track's inclusion on the soundtrack to the 2001 film Donnie Darko gave the band a whole new audience. The Killing Moon has now achieved over 167 million Spotify streams and over 42 million YouTube views of the official video clip.

2. Echo & The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar (release date: 20th July 1987)

   

   Echo & The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar (Official Music Video)

   The second single from the band's eponmous album of 1987, Lips Like Sugar garnered the Bunnymen some college radio play in the US and was a modest hit at home, peaking at Number 36 in the summer of 1987. The track has enjoyed just under 46 million Spotify plays and over 16 million YouTube views.

3. Echo & The Bunnymen - Bring On The Dancing Horses (release date: 11th October 1985)

   

   Echo & The Bunnymen - Bring on The Dancing Horses (Official Music Video)

   This one off single was recorded for the soundtrack to John Hughes' teen film Pretty In Pink and included on the 1985 compilation Songs To Learn And Sing. Making Number 21 in the UK chart, the song has now had over 33 million Spotify streams and over 6.2 million YouTube views.

4. Echo & The Bunnymen - The Cutter (release date: 14th January 1983)

   

   Echo And The Bunnymen - The Cutter HD

   The second single from the band's third album Porcupine, The Cutter is one of the Bunnymen's most famous hits, making Number 8 in February 1983; together with 1997's Nothing Lasts Forever, it's their highest charting single in the UK. In the digital era, the track has amassed over 21 million streams on Spotify and over 1.1 million views of the official audio clip on YouTube.

5. Echo & The Bunnymen - Seven Seas (release date: 6th July 1984)

   

   Echo & The Bunnymen - Seven Seas (Official Music Video)

   The third single from the stellar Ocean Rain album, this graceful and impressionistic track made Number 16 in the summer of 1984 and has now amassed just under 12 million Spotify streams and over 3.4 million YouTube views.

6. Echo & The Bunnymen - Nocturnal Me (from the album Ocean Rain, release date 4th May 1984)

   

   Nocturnal Me

   A key track from the acclaimed 1984 album Ocean Rain, the epic Nocturnal Me has now enjoyed over 13 million streams and over 980,000 views on YouTube.

7. Echo & The Bunnymen - Nothing Lasts Forever (release date: 16th June 1997)

   

   Echo & The Bunnymen - Nothing Lasts Forever (Official Video)

   In early 1988, Ian McCulloch left the Bunnymen, who vowed to find a new singer. However, the death of drummer Pete De Freitas in a motorbike accident in June 1989 meant that the band now featured the core of Will Sargeant and Les Pattinson and the sole album with the new line-up, Reverberation, failed to make much of an impression. In 1997, original members McCulloch, Sargeant and Pattinson reformed the Bunnymen with session drummer Michael Lee. The single Nothing Lasts Forever was a surprise hit, making Number 8 in the UK charts; this poignant song featured guest appearances from Oasis men Liam Gallagher and Bonehead. The track has now had over 12 million streams and over 660,000 video views.

8. Echo & The Bunnymen - People Are Strange (release date: 8th February 1988)

   

   People Are Strange

   The Doors originally recorded this classic for their 1967 album Strange Days and the Bunnymen's version, made for the soundtrack to the teen vampire odyssey The Lost Boys, was produced by Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek. It would be the final recording by the classic Bunnymen line-up of McCulloch, Sargeant, Pattinson and De Freitas. The track made Number 29 in the UK charts and has now had over 8 million streams and over 660 YouTube views.

9. Echo & The Bunnymen - It's Alright (release date: 23rd April 2001)

   

   Echo & The Bunnymen - It's Alright - official music video

   The lead single from the 2001 album Flowers, this track made Number 41 in the UK charts and has now had over 4.3 million streams and just under 200,000 YouTube views.

10. Echo & The Bunnymen - Bedbugs And Ballyhoo (from the album Echo & The Bunnymen, release date 6th July 1987)

    

    Echo & The Bunnymen - Bedbugs And Ballyhoo (Official Music Video)

    Taken from the band's self-titled 1987 album, this track was released as a single in some territories and it's well-regarded enough to have had over 2.7 million Spotify streams, plus 1.2 million YouTube views and counting.