Echo & the Bunnymen- The Cutter (REACTION//DISCUSSION)

[@mana3735]

Still sounds so good and fresh, 38 years later! THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS! Shiiiiite!

[@avenueb]

40 years sir

[@cadanrichards2615]

You should do the whole Ocean Rain album. Every song is brilliant.

[@gino88]

Been waiting years for someone, anyone to listen to and react to this whole album.

[@jawoody9745]

I still love that album. The song "Ocean Rain" was played at my dear friend's wake, many years ago, but I still love the album "Porcupine" more.

[@colinfletcher7335]

One of the greatest songs ever written

[@gammaanteria]

I rediscovered this song recently-remembered the video vaguely on MTV during the ‘80s and decided to watch it again…wow, fell in love with song, and now am playing it all the time! Definitely one of their best…

[@mikew4001]

Wow one of my favourite band from the 1980s! Their first albums are real masterpieces! Check out the title track Porcupine!

[@a.k.1740]

I definitely prefer the musical orientation of this third album over the softer Ocean Rain. Porcupine is a great album but my favorite from Echo & the Bunnymen has always been their debut album, Crocodiles more neo-psychedelia tinged with post-punk. their second, Heaven Up Here has a more hazy atmosphere but with quite similar uniform pieces with tribal and incatatory rhythms.

[@piershollott339]

I think the "cutter" is also a reference to A Clockwork Orange... the band's own imprint, Korova, is taken from the Korova Milk Bar in Clockwork Orange, and "cutter" refers to money in the book and movie.

[@mereniecrosby7120]

This song is from Porcupine. Back of Love and My White Devil are other Jewells on this album. But if you want my opinion the best sing they ever wrote was Never Stop. Crocodiles was the first release l remember by them and contained " "Rescue" an absolute fav for fans...as was "do it clean" This was back in 1980. Porcupine was 1983 and they released Heaven up There in between. Some really great stuff there. I know. I was there. ❤❤

[@gino88]

You started big with "Killing Moon" being your introduction to them. Not only regarded as one of their best songs, but maybe one of the best songs of the 80s. I adore their entire discography, even their comeback albums where most fans of their 80s albums stopped listening. His solo stuff is great. But probably my favorite is an album the singer Ian McCulloch did with an orchestra in a cathedral called "Holy Ghosts", he revamps his best songs.

[@JustJP]

Ty Gino :) So I started at the top lol 😂

[@matthewburkart7718]

Crocodiles is the best album

[@SingleTrack66]

Probably the greatest song .

[@countduckula9977]

Hey Justin, Wonderful video! I envy you listening to this absolute classic for the first time. The 80's probably the last decade that had the most diverse range of musical styles. You need to check out The Sisters of Mercy & their song "Marian".

[@scottguffey5809]

One of my more transcendent moments in my life is the chorus of this song. I urge you to listen to it a couple more times.

[@kevinm4138]

An album that is in my top 10 is their 2nd lp” Heaven Up Here”. Try “ A Promise” or “ Over the Wall. You can’t go wrong with anything from their first four albums

[@mereniecrosby7120]

For sure

[@ijustneedmyself]

👏🏽 I'd love to see him listen to All My Colours.

[@alanh7247]

one of my favorite echo/bunnies tunes... try never stop...

[@julieb.5860]

'spare us the cutter' is a term from the movie 'A Clockwork Orange', not sure if you got that. I'll have to check out your movie channel to see if you've watched that one. A very groundbreaking and controversial movie from 1971, there is a lot of Russian inspired slang used liberally in the book and the movie. 'cutter' is the droogs term for 'money'. thanks for doing this particular song. I really enjoy Echo and the Bunnymen, particular Lips Like Sugar.

[@boq780_2.0]

If you're enjoying Echo and the Bunnymen, you should check out The Teardrop Explodes, a band from the same Liverpool scene led by Julian Cope, who was in a band with Ian McCulloch of the Bunnymen. They're also psychedelic, but a bit more poppy. They only released two albums before splitting, 'Kilimanjaro' and 'Wilder', both of which are very good.

[@foxandscout]

I love both those albums. I like Julian Cope. Only saw him once; saw Mac (and the rest of the Bunnymen) many times over the decades. Julian fired Mac, Mac never forgave him. Hatred/a feud brewed for a very long time ... probably still exists.

[@disconsolatemoose6637]

This was a great choice! Echo & the Bunnymen have a bunch of great songs, even the later, softer stuff (Lips Like Sugar, Bring on the Dancing Horses). They do pretty kick ass versions of Paint it Black and People Are Strange, too!

[@amnril]

My sister was a big fan of E&TBM and saw them in concert a few times in the early 1980’s. Great choice and a great era in Brit Bands like The Smiths, The Cure, Jesus and Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins, The Associates… plus many more….. I sound like a K-Tel advert from the time 😂🤦‍♂️

[@markspooner1224]

I'm very fond of Ian McCulloch, always quality.

[@jonsmith9518]

Loved this band. I’d explore the “Crocodiles “ album …. Songs called “Villiars Terrace”, “Rescue”, “Stars are stars”, “Pictures on my wall”, Great album.

[@davidmaholchic6146]

My favorite Echo and the Bunnymen song Hope you enjoy love you

[@jeremyb5640]

It's definitely the eastern influences which make this stand out for me. Good spot re Shankar! It's an Indian raga violin, apparently and is really distinctive. I hadn't spotted that Ian Broudie produced this album - he went onto have a lot of success as the Lightning Seeds throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Some interesting conjecture about the meaning of the lyrics on the Songfacts website, including some of the band's comments at the time, and its similarity to a line in the novel 'A Clockwork Orange'.

[@foxandscout]

Thank you for doing an Echo & the Bunnymen song. A band I love and have seen many times from early on and through the decades. I missed your reaction to Killing Moon: I’ll go listen to that. Very few people react to them and to be honest I don’t listen to them often as there’s so much new music always to explore. But as soon as I hear Mac I go to my happy place. They still perform though the pandemic cut their touring like it did to all musicians. Mac and Will will be back.

[@s.collintuck3227]

Okay, not music related. The third time my dog encountered a porcupine. I was in the ravine across the cow pasture from my house. I was dicking around in the creek, and my dog started barking into a stump I'd passed sooooo many times. Then he comes back "sneezing" again and again towards me. I find about twenty porcupine quills in his jowls. My dog was a GOOD dog and sat still while I pulled them out. (This was a ten-fold reduction of quills in the face of the last time he tangled with a porcupine btw) And I NEVER saw the animal in question, even though I practically lived in that ravine growing up. So don't worry about the porcupines. They are super shy!

[@jawoody9745]

From my absolute favorite Echo album!

[@tentruesummers9043]

Agree with @kevin m...Over The Wall is glorious

[@spartacusforlife1508]

it was around this time a liverpool music scene grew led by echo. try listening to teardrop explodes and julian cope

[@mereniecrosby7120]

I had all their albums and saw them. They were great!!! Love this one.

[@steve55sogood16]

Now you've done the Bunnymen, try the Teardrop Explodes, and then some Wah Heat!!

[@christiaanvandenakker901]

This is the song that got me into them. I was lucky enough to see them live twice, and both times they came through town (Los Angeles) they would cover the Doors' Soul Kitchen with Ray Manzarek guesting on keyboards. Ocean Rain is fantastic - packed full of great tracks.

[@rikconant1228]

There are about 30 songs on their first 4 albums that I consider to be remarkable. Echo pushed post punk to great heights. You can hear several influences in their music, but I can't think of any other artist who sounds like them. They are so unique and their early catalog is deep with memorable songs

[@InsideBilderberg]

A bit of trivia, the photo session for the album art was done in Iceland.

[@josmith9662]

The bunnymen, memories of the first video screen pubs. You called it post punk, have you tried early Adam and the Ants, suprisingly punky and great lyrics. Any song from the 79 album , DIRK WEARS WHITE SOCKS, or start with cartrouble and go through the lot......

[@rogerpatton5604]

Such a great groove to this song..

[@bjwnashe5589]

You're right, JP. The Bunnymen rhythm section is great, probably the best on the whole early 80s post-punk era. Check out the 1984 show at The Royal Albert Hall (the whole show is on KZbin). They lay down a furious dance-rock groove. The rest of the band adds moody layers on top. Great live band.

[@bethanynjosephsadventures2935]

No way! You should definitely do more of these. They were overshadowed by bands like The Cure and over gothic-styled; though they are similar in nature in the movement they came from originally in the early eighties, moving to a more commercially unexpected spund later. They really are a good band and not just any; while they have millions of followers, they still need more attention I believe even if they have a big cult following as from their early years. And I'm just eighteen and I know this! 😂 Songs I definitely recommend after this one is - "A Promise" [1980] - "The Killing Moon" [1984]; - "Bring on the Dancing Horses" [1985]; - "Lips Like Sugar" [1987 Their cover of The Door's "People are Strange" from thr film "The Lost Boys" [1987]

[@thomasferrarojr.9772]

They're better than The Cure.

[@SingleTrack66]

Love that gen Z can appreciate this despite the generally awful music that is the main stream right now.

[@gentillygirl545]

Rescue Me. Incredible.

[@4tuneagent]

Very cool.. I agree about "Over the Wall", one of my favorites..

[@chriscrilly947]

If you love this song, check out live version 2001 in Liverpool. Studio version is great, but the live 2001 version is to die for.

[@gchristyer]

Bring on the dancing horses !

[@ProgMannen]

Nice. Just bring on the dancing horses !

[@JustJP]

🕺🐎

[@foxandscout]

@@JustJP Yes, please react to that wonderful song (Bring on the Dancing Horses). I think you’ll like it. I also recommend Silver. I could recommend most songs from the first few albums. If you don’t want to react, then do yourself a favor and listen to the entire albums.

[@mariflame1821]

I remember Echo & the Bunnymen from the 80s New Wave era of music I love. There were so many good bands back then. My favorite by them was "Lips like Sugar"

[@sspsfivefivefive]

Echo & The Bunnymen's The Cutter entered the UK Top 40 on the 22nd January 1983 and peaked at no.8. The Top 10 this week was: 1 - Men At Work - Down under 2 - Phil Collins - You can't hurry love 3 - Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue 4 - Wah! - The story of the blues 5 - The Belle Stars - Sign of the times 6 - Joe Jackson - Steppin' out 7 - The Maisonettes - Heartbreak Avenue 8 - Keith Harris & Orville - Orville's song 9 - Laura Brannigan - Gloria 10 - Kajagoogoo - Too shy Also in this week's Top 40: Echo & The Bunnymen - The cutter U2 - New Years day The Stranglers - European female Dire Straits - Twisting by the pool Fleetwood Mac - Oh Diane Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes - Up where we belong Wham - Wham rap Indeep - Last night a DJ saved my life Level 42 - The Chinese way The Jam - Going underground China Crisis - Christian Central Line - Nature boy Ultravox - Hymn I always loved the beginning of 1983, some great music back then.

[@bryanforis1839]

When you hear this in concert it becomes more more heavy metal band see them live ads things

[@maruad7577]

Spare us the... cutting room floor? being cut from the sports team? from the choir? So many places to be cut. Fun song a good review. Speaking of reviews, today I found a yt video of one of my favourite authors (Ian Rankin) tasting single malts and matching them to songs. It was put on by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS).

[@musicaddict5076]

One of the best covers ever was done by these guys. They cover The Doors’ “People are Strange.” A must listen.

[@MikeKeel]

Reacting the the whole Porcupine album would be cool, as it has The Back of Love on too :)

[@BigC.]

Great track.

[@rossobolo]

This album sneaks up on you. It’s brilliance needs a few sits…

[@lucianoteixeira7993]

I love this song. Thanks for the reaction. One of Echo's best songs. And alive is even better! I'd love you react to Bedbugs and belyhoo and People Are Strange - songs fro them with thre great Ray Manzarek on keyboards

[@ErikWolowitz]

Back of love is probably one of the best songs on this album.

[@Pcrimson1]

Love this band, even the newer material is great. But, start from the beginning, I'd love ro hear a reaction to The Puppet, its raw but good!

[@foxandscout]

Puppet -one of my very favorites. Whenever I saw them do it live, it was thrilling. Books as well.

[@Grizazzle]

Now you gotta do Ian McCulloch's solo cover of "Lover, Lover, Lover".

[@falcongal63]

I love these 80's mornings with you, Justin. Keep 'em coming! Bands & songs I'd still love you to hear: The Church (Unguarded Moment), Style Council (You're the Best Thing or My Ever Changing Moods), Psychedelic Furs (Love My Way or President Gas), Depeche Mode (Enjoy the Silence), INXS (Don't Change or The One Thing). A gal can dream, can't she? :-)

[@JustJP]

Ty! 🦅

[@falcongal63]

@@JustJP In my case it's actually a 🚗 but I like the birds too, I just don't own one. 😁

[@JustJP]

@@falcongal63 Oh man I can't believe I forgot that, you've mentioned that before 🤣 Sorry bout that!

[@falcongal63]

@@JustJP I’ll give you a pass this time but next time I’m outta here! 😬 You’re all good. I’m only one of many so I don’t expect you to remember.

[@rydelldownward7808]

Psych Furs “All That Money Wants”

[@jamesmccallum209]

Great song great album. Ocean rain even better aw best

[@ButtonPhonics]

Great band - you have also dabbed or dove into the brilliant Prefab Sprout, Talk Talk, Stranglers and so on. Please add 'The The' , Psychedelic Furs, Lloyd Cole (& the Commotions) and China Crisis for something extremely pleasing ('Wishful Thinking' one of the best songs of that era).

[@JustJP]

I'll try to keep em in mind!

[@sagnyc]

For me, Heaven Up Here and Ocean Rain are their best albums; the former thundery and doomy, the latter dreamy and semi-acoustic. Opposite ends of their range Plenty of good tracks on Porcupine, though, and I always liked this track, The Back Of Love, and the closer In Bluer Skies.

[@johngill9750]

Pete and Les are epic here

[@МихайлоНіколів]

If I'm not mistaken Pete de Freitas here in this album porcupine used a drum set by Tama Superstar, it sounds good here in this album, I wonder what cymbals he used here, and the bass drum sounds very soft, in this song, I mean where he is foot works

[@anthonypallen7919]

Dancing Horses

[@bobkubeczko7221]

I always loved this song 💕

[@bigneon_glitter]

👉 "Bedbugs & Ballyhoos [Original Version]" (1985) The Echo song to check out.

[@happymethehappyone8300]

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN "BEDBUGS AND BALLYHOO"

[@johnhawk1089]

Ray M. From The Doors played keyboards on it and I believe produced that album!

[@tonybarruk2]

Purists will scoff, but even though I love "Heaven Up Here" and "Ocean Rain", Echo & The Bunnymen are one of those bands whose best album is actually their singles album i.e. "Songs To Learn And Sing". Their sound didn't really change hugely over time, so the compilation hangs together really well, and even though it's a chronological collection, the track sequencing really works well... PS The band recently revealed that the Eastern-sounding string riff that opens "The Cutter", is actually the instrumentalist playing a version of Cat Stevens' "Matthew & Son"!

[@mereniecrosby7120]

Saw them in 2015 at the Fillmore in Detroit ❤❤❤

[@JustJP]

How was it? :D

[@pentagrammaton6793]

Now this is definitely my kind of 80s pop. :)

[@mana3735]

First Bunnymen song I got into....all the first 3 albums are class. Ocean Rain is ok.

[@ijustneedmyself]

Fun fact: Pete was born in Trinidad! Also, not fun fact, he unfortunately died in '89 in a motorcycle accident. Omg, JP!! I learned something new today about that song re: Ravi. That is so freaking cool. I'm with you as far as Killing Moon being better. You should listen to Heaven Up Here. It's a great album with a more post-punk sound.

[@a.k.1740]

No, you must confuse violinist L. Shankar with Sitar player Ravi Shankar ! Here it is about the violinist, who among other things played on the album Face Value by Phil Collins.

[@ijustneedmyself]

@@a.k.1740 Oops! Apologies. I was half listening to that bit and heard Shankar and assumed it was Ravi :/ Thank you for correcting me.

[@a.k.1740]

@@ijustneedmyself I think there is often confusion between the two but there is nevertheless a thirty year gap between the two musicians (Ravi Shankar was born in April 1920 and L. Shankar in April 1950).

[@a.k.1740]

Speaking of Pete de Freitas, I don't think Echo & The Bunnymen remained a united band after his death. he was however the last to join the formation in 1979 to replace their drum machine.

[@ijustneedmyself]

@@a.k.1740 That's pretty funny. The people making that mistake clearly don't know much about either. Haha. Re: Pete, I was watching some video earlier this year and someone claiming to be his daughter commented. I believe it probably was her. It'd be an odd thing to lie about, but stranger things have happened.

[@sidecardog5244]

“Spare some cutter brother?”-old beggar in Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange. Then the droogs go all Singing in the Rain on him. Request for your movie channel. It will require quite a few cuts though. It was rated X upon first release.

[@michaelwallden7261]

Listen to the live, year 1984, from Albert Hall magic

[@jairsantos9467]

I've read somewhere that this lyrycs is about the doubt about their career, would they find success in music? And "spare us the cutter" means "give us a little money ", a slang in A Clockwork Orange movie.

[@johnhawk1089]

They do a great version of the Doors' People are Strange.

[@drums4b]

80's bar none had a combination of anything and everything. It was drug fueled, emotion, and hardcore.

[@MisterWondrous]

Nocturnal Me is a lot of good clean fun.

[@mereniecrosby7120]

It draws me too. The Eastern feeling. Listen to My White Devil.

[@jasperdevries1726]

Echo & The Bunnymen kept a very high standard throughout their first run (their album without Mac is musically not bad, but not on the same level). However, I do like some of the later work, especially the Siberia album (the first tour I saw them on after seeing Mac solo a few years earlier). Well worth checking out.

[@ste.6026]

Next to David Sylvian, Ian McCulloch is certainly one of my favourite vocalists, not the greatest singer but I love the tone, richness and depth to his voice, this materialises a little later in his career... 'A Promise', 'The Back Of Love' & 'Angels & Devils' would all be good picks but would just be happy for you to persist with the Bunnymen...

[@RandomJane104]

Oh yeah! Bring it. I love this band, especially the post-punk stuff. Mac has OCD. I think mostly this song is about the music industry but it probably has more than one meaning.

[@emilvantbregen622]

Flash and the Pan califonia?

[@patrickdoake6022]

Did a song called zimbo meant to be about Jim Morrison of the doors great chant type song also fuel good song

[@johnhawk1089]

What is your movie reaction channel? I'm not finding it so far.

[@stephenolney6942]

Classic still

[@padraigsisk4057]

Try Wonderland from Big country

[@bigjapi1]

Hey Justin, don´t forget to do the last song of Abacab, which for me should be called Talk Talk Collins because it is a mix of TT and PC soloist 😅

[@JustJP]

Haha, working on it, probably this coming week? :D

[@-davidolivares]

See, that L. Shankar album is already coming in handy heh heh. You could have grabbed Shakti also. Probably, subconsciously, I felt his presence, because I thought the song decent but, I did enjoy the guitar-violin, I know, I know, people, violin. Peace and guitaraviolin Music

[@JustJP]

Indeed it did 😀

[@johnhouston8857]

Spare us the cutter means gives us the money

[@johnhouston8857]

Spare us the cutter original came from the clockwork orange scene where some beggar is asking for money

[@jfergs.3302]

A strong track this from a really good band. And not just saying that cos they're from my home town :) A touch of East meets Scouse here. A really good band who had a lot of success with some great tunes, but never quite made it to the top. I had visions of them being an English U2 for a while, but it wasn't to be. This is rousing stuff.

[@palantir135]

Porcupine; we call them ‘egel’ (Dutch)

[@Lwize]

Porcupines are adorable. Just don't pet them without Kevlar gloves.

[@darrenhoskins8382]

The Killing Moon is THE best song!

[@ogmandog]

Seven seas brah....

[@jimmyfortrue3741]

Here's a Halloween song suggestion for you. Vanilla Fudge "Season of the Witch" 1968 or thereabouts, but it's my favorite version. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWiZlZqXmqmplZI

[@chronomatt6990]

“Sounds like” new wave or post-punk? Echo and the Bunnymen IS original “new wave or post-punk”.

[@paulhansberry8168]

Sounded a lot like a meh Billie Idol....the song has potential, but the singer sounded mostly monotonal, needed to up his game to match the music.

[@foxandscout]

Nope, nope, nope and nope.

[@vdggmouse9512]

It sounds so 'Vegasy' - so fabricated. This just isn't rock music the way I like rock music to be. If this is a one off effort - that's one thing. If this is Echo and the Bunnymen doing something all together different - OK - they're experimenting. But if they are regularly this 'schmalzy' - then - no not my thing. All that being said - it does sound 'Bowie-ish.'