This is an amazing comeback single.
The band had fallen apart when singer Ian McCulloch left in 1987, and drummer Pete de Freitas died in a motorcycle accident in 1989. After the Electrafixion project ended up with the three remaining (and, indeed, original) Bunnymen being involved, the band inevitably reverted to the Echo & the Bunnymen name. This was the lead single from the 1997 comeback LP.
After leaving the Bunnymen, McCulloch released a couple of non-remarkable solo LPs, before forming Electrafixion with Bunnyman Will Sergeant. This new band produced a way better LP in my view. By the time Les Pattinson got involved, the original three Bunnymen were together again and the next record was released under the original name.
This lead single was, somehow, simultaneously “a new start” and “picking up where they left off”. It’s exactly what you would want from an Echo & The Bunnymen reunion single.
An aside
The original line-up of the band was McCulloch, Will Sergeant, and Les Pattinson, playing along with a drum machine (sometimes described as the eponymous “Echo”). They did a famous Peel session in this format, but hit more widespread popularity after they recruited a “real” drummer Pete de Freitas.
One feature of this band is that they didn’t put the drummer at the back, out of the way. In live shows, the four were usually set up side-by-side, with de Freitas on the left or right, but definitely toward the front.
He was the brother of Rose and Rachael de Freitas of The Heart Throbs, who were featured earlier on this site - though Rachael had left by the recording of the song I featured, Tiny Feet. De Freitas passed away after a motorcycle accident in 1989.
Another aside
I was recently reminded of this track via a repeat of an episode of the BBC quiz show Pointless. The subject was “... and the ...” bands. Nothing Lasts Forever was the lowest-scoring, and therefore best, answer.
