Echo and the Bunnymen gave a rocking live performance of ‘Bring on the Dancing Horses‘ on Later…with Jools Holland last night — October 9th, 2018.
And it was nice to see the lads back on TV playing live. Especially Ian McCulloch with his deadpan singing, and Will Sergeant and his gorgeous guitar.
Echo and the Bunnymen’s ‘Bring on the Dancing Horses‘ is from the band’s 1985 album Songs to Learn & Sing. It was the only single ever released from the album, and was originally recorded for the hit John Hughes film Pretty in Pink.
It charted in six countries when it was released, including at number 21 in the UK.
The band also unveiled a new song while on the show.
New song ‘The Somnambulist‘
Called ‘The Somnambulist‘, the track is one of two new songs from The Stars, The Oceans & The Moon, the band’s first new album in four years.
The other tracks on the album are what the band is calling ‘reworked favorites’. Including a ‘transformed’ version of ‘Bring on the Empty Horses’, which brings Ian McCulloch’s vocals further to the front than in the original version.
Or, as McCulloch explained about the songs in a press release, “I’m doing it as it’s important to me to make the songs better. I have to do it.”
Alrighty then!
You can watch Echo and the Bunnymen perform both tracks on Later…with Jools Holland in the videos below.
Listen to The Stars, The Oceans & The Moon in its entirety in the Spotify widget below that. And, of course, you can watch last night’s entire Later…with Jools Holland show on the BBC’s iPlayer.
Related: Listen to Echo and the Bunnymen’s ‘Seven Seas’ — still perfect 30 years after release