THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

971-Echo & the Bunnymen-Bring On the Dancing Horses.

1985-Number 21 single.

Best Bit-At 3.23. They had a mate who kept suggesting names, they could have been ‘The Daz Men,’ or ‘Glisseroi and the Fan Extractors,’ but they saw sense, and chose the much more sensible ‘Echo & the Bunnyman.’

Echo & the Bunnymen were formed in Liverpool, England, in 1978 by Ian McCulloch, (vocals, guitar, and keyboards) Will Sergeant, (guitars) and Les Pattinson (bass.) In 1979, prior to the release of their debut studio Album they were joined by Pete de Fretas, (1961-1989) (drums) who on becoming the groups first drummer, replaced the drum machine (affectionately known as ‘Echo’) that they had relied upon until then. The quartet would remain together until the departure of Ian McCulloch in 1988, who was replaced by the Northern Irish singer Noel Burke. McCulloch who is known for being outspoken said of his replacement,’I think it’s pretty obvious what I think. Noel Burke, the name says it all really doesn’t it? No, that’s not fair. It wasn’t his fault, it was Will and Pete who were the berks really. But no, I thought it was disgraceful and after that I suppose it was quite surprising that I continued working with Will after that. I’m glad I did though. Johnny Marr (see also best songs 673-222-167 and 42) called them Echo and the Bogusmen when that happened.’ McCulloch and Sergeant did begin working together again in 1994 using the name ‘Electrafixion,’ before reverting back to ‘Echo & the Bunnymen’ in 1996. In total there have been seven different official members of the band, with both McCulloch and Sergeant still active at the time of writing.

The discography of Echo & the Bunnymen includes 13 studio Albums released between 1980-2018, and 30 singles issued between 1979-2018, there are also nine official compilation Albums available. In the UK, 14 of their singles have reached the top 40, with ‘The Cutter’ from 1983, and ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ from 1997, both charting the highest at Number 8. McCulloch and Sergeant (with two others) when working as ‘Electrafixion’ also released an Album (‘Burned’) in 1995, as well as five singles between 1994-1997. McCulloch has also released four solo studio Albums between 1989-2012, and nine singles between 1984-2003, while Sergeant has issued four solo Albums between 1978-2012, and four singles between 1982-2000.

‘Bring On the Dancing Horses’ was recorded for the 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film ‘Pretty in Pink,’ and was also the only brand new track on Echo & the Bunnymen’s 1985 compilation Album ‘Songs to Learn & Sing,’ which was a collection of all of their 11 singles up to that point. All four of the groups members share the writing credits, with ‘The Bunnymen,’ and Laurie Latham producing. Latham who had previously worked with artists such as ‘Squeeze,’ and ‘The Stranglers,’ had his greatest success in 1979 when producing the UK Number 1 single ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’ (see also best songs 150.)

Ian McCulloch has explained the meaning behind ‘Bring On the Dancing Horses,’It’s about the way people would sooner look at statues than themselves. We revere things that tell us about ourselves. It’s that thing of how we think art is very important. A life without art, who knows what that would be like? We think the Mona Lisa is this thing that’s valuable, when something else isn’t.

In my personal opinion, reading between the lines, I think that Ian McCulloch is telling us to make up our own minds about what is important, and what really matters, and don’t just believe something, because that is what you were told.

‘Jimmy Brown, made of stone. Charlie Clown, no way home. Bring on the dancing horses, headless and all alone, shiver and say the words of every lie you’ve heard. First I’m gonna make it, then I’m gonna break it ’til it falls apart.’

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