by Andy KellmanThe big-mouthed/well-coifed frontman of Liverpool's Echo & the Bunnymen, Ian McCulloch got his start with Pete Wylie and Julian Cope as the Crucial Three. This band lasted just over a month; Wylie and Cope bounced around in a couple of bands, with Wylie eventually starting Wah! and Cope forming the Teardrop Explodes. McCulloch formed Echo & the Bunnymen with Will Sergeant in 1978, who went on to become one of England's most successful and important pop bands throughout the '80s. McCulloch left the band in late 1988 to pursue a solo career. 1989's atmospheric Candleland stood up to his band's best work and was quite successful in the U.K., reaching the Top 20. 1992's Mysterio wasn't as strong, failing to do as well on the charts. During the tail-end of the '80s and the early '90s, McCulloch shut himself out from the rest of the world, staying in his Liverpool house and helping raise his two daughters. The combination of a frenzied lifestyle and the death of his father were enough to make him take a few steps back and virtually disappear from the public eye for several years. Around 1994, McCulloch patched up his friendship with Sergeant. Under the name Electrafixion, the duo added a rhythm section and released 1995's Burned, which scored the band a couple of minor hits on alternative radio in the U.S. Echo bassist Les Pattinson entered the picture, and the trio decided to record again as Echo & the Bunnymen. 1997's Evergreen, 1999's What Are You Going to Do with Your Life, and 2001's Flowers were each received positively in the press, if not quite living up to the high standard of the group's original incarnation. 2001 proved to be a busy year for McCulloch, who toured with the Bunnymen and inked a solo deal with U.K. indie Jeepster. Rhino also issued a four-CD box set of Echo & the Bunnymen material, entitled Crystal Days. Nearly eleven years after his last solo effort, McCulloch returned with Slideling in spring 2003. The album was released on Echo & the Bunnymen's stateside label spinART and featured collaborations with Coldplay's Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland and actor John Simm (24 Hour Party People).