Echo and The Bunnymen were built in stages. The musicians who would eventually form the venerable Liverpool band came together after the break-up of The Crucial Three, a bedroom band consisting of Ian McCulloch, Julian Cope and Pete Wylie. After Wylie’s departure, the two remaining members formed the ill-fated band A Shallow Madness, with organist Paul Simpson lending the outfit a distinctly retro psych edge.
Then came the much more successful Teardrop Explodes. After scoring a UK hit with ‘The Reward’, McCulloch joined bassist Les Pattinson and guitarist Will Sergeant to form Echo & The Bunnymen, a name suggested by a friend of the band along with ‘The Daz Men’, ‘Glisserol’ and ‘The Fan’ . Extractors”. While I can’t imagine Daz Men breaking America, it’s easy to imagine Echo & The Bunnymen doing it. However, it took them until 1987, by which time they had already released four studio albums, including 1984. Ocean rainwhich had created a bit of buzz stateside thanks to the lead single “Killing Moon”.
After release from Ocean rain, the band took some time off from touring and recording to give themselves a chance to recalibrate. Their manager, Scottish artist and KLF member Bill Drummond, thought that a period of respite would be good for the band, allowing them to draw on new musical influences and come back with fresh heads. It worked brilliantly and the Bunnymen recorded some of their most enduring singles, including ‘Lips Like Sugar’.
The single’s success would not have been possible without new manager Mick Hancock, who steered the band towards a cleaner, more commercial sound. The band hated almost everything about their 1987 self-titled album, but not everyone was so critical. In America, “Lips Like Sugar” received significant airplay on college radio and received frequent airplay on MTV.
“Just started building,” guitarist Will Sergeant told Songfacts, describing the song’s popularity. in America. “It built naturally, and then we got to the Greek Theater in Hollywood and the canopies and places like that. Suddenly the crowd began to change – they became like real little children. You wonder why? It was just weird. I would walk with Les [Pattinson, bass] and Pete [de Freitas, drums] in the crowd and no one knew who we were. That all changed. It was just weird. It was around “Lips Like Sugar” that it really changed.
Today, ‘Lips Like Sugar’ remains one of Echo and The Bunnymen’s most famous songs in America. You can revisit the single below.
