The Alternative Number Ones: Ian McCulloch’s “Proud To Fall”

In The Alternative Number Ones, I'm reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988. This column is a companion piece to The Number Ones, and it's for subscribers only. Thank you to everyone who's helping to keep Stereogum afloat.

There is no Echo in Echo & The Bunnymen, just as there is no Hootie in Hootie & The Blowfish. Both band names are pure distilled nonsense. As the years have gone on, though, a whole lot of people still see Darius Rucker and think "Hootie." Ian McCulloch has never had that problem. When McCulloch split from his iconic mope-rock band and went solo in 1989, nobody called him Echo, even though he continued to make records that sounded a whole hell of a lot like the Bunnymen. This tactic didn't work for long, but it worked well enough to land the solo McCulloch in this column. For one month, at the very tail-end of the '80s, we gave ourselves to him.