Eric Goulden (born 18 May 1954, Newhaven, East Sussex, England), known as Wreckless Eric, is an English rock and roll/new wave singer-songwriter, best known for his 1977 single "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World" on Stiff Records. More than two decades after its release, the song was included in Mojo magazine’s list of the best punk rock singles of all time.[1] It was also acclaimed as one of the "top 40 singles of the alternative era 1975–2000".[2] After some years living in France with his wife and co-performer, singer-songwriter Amy Rigby, Goulden moved with her to the United States in 2011. As of November 2011 they live in upstate New York, and continue to tour together.
Contents[]
- 2 End of Stiff days
- 3 Post-Stiff bands
- 4 Post-Stiff albums
- 5 Recent times
- 6 Discography
- 7 See also
- 8 Bibliography
- 9 References
- 10 External links
Early history[edit][]
Wreckless Eric is best known as one of the original members of the late 1970s Stiff Records artist roster, along with Ian Dury, Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. Eric’s first appearance on recordwas "Whole Wide World" on the Stiff label sampler A Bunch of Stiff Records in April 1977. The single version of that song was finally released in August. The song was produced by, and featured bass guitar (and most of the other instruments) by Nick Lowe, with Steve Goulding on drums. The following month, the song was one of five tracks broadcast for the first of two sessions Eric recorded for DJ John Peel at BBC Radio 1.[3] The song went on to make number 47 in John Peel's 'Festive Fifty', the so-called 'lost list' of 1977;[4] it was number 8 in theSounds critics' singles of the year; and it received an ‘honourable mention’ in the NME critics’ chart. The song’s reputation has grown over the years and numerous bands have covered "Whole Wide World", such as the Lightning Seeds, Mental As Anything, The Monkees (who covered the song on their Pool It! album in 1987), The Proclaimers (who covered it on their 2007 album Life With You), and Paul Westerberg.
His debut album Wreckless Eric was a Top 50 hit in the UK Albums Chart. But, by the time his second album with Stiff Records The Wonderful World of Wreckless Eric came out, he was pushed by the punk record label to openly display the effect of his alcohol intake.[citation needed] He attempted a more pop music style on his next album, entitled Big Smash!, his last with Stiff. Ironically Cliff Richard's cover of "Broken Doll", from Big Smash!, was the highest that one of his songs ever charted.[citation needed]
End of Stiff days[edit][]
Eric became increasingly unhappy with Stiff Records' business ideas and promotion. The label forced Eric to work with songwriting teams and hired backing bands. By 1980, shortly after the release of Big Smash!, he decided to leave Stiff and record music at his home studio. While Eric may have left the music business and the public eye, he has continued writing songs and performing consistently at underground clubs and bars. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s Eric has released albums on numerous independent record labels.[5]
Post-Stiff bands[edit][]
Eric's post-Stiff bands include: The Captains of Industry, The Len Bright Combo, Le Beat Group Electrique (which, actually wasn't a band, but the title of one of Eric's solo albums), The Hitsville House Band and one album called "Karaoke" (1997) under his real name, Eric Goulden.[5]
[1][2]The Wreckless Eric Manual==Post-Stiff albums[edit]==
In 1985 he released A Roomful of Monkeys with a new band, Captains of Industry. It was followed in 1986 by a couple of homemade garage albums with "The Len Bright Combo". He always stayed in touch with Ian Dury and the Blockheads - two Blockheads, Norman Watt-Roy and Mick Gallagher, were in the Captains of Industry.
In 1989, he signed to New Rose Records as Eric Goulden, released the homemade Le Beat Group Electrique with bassist André Barreau and drummer Catfish Truton. This same year he moved to France, in a quiet countryside corner where he stayed for about ten years. By the time he made this move to the vineyard country, he had already ended his "career of full-time alcoholic."[citation needed]
Eric toured Eastern Europe in a 1960s Peugeot car, both solo and with his band. In 1990, he released a second Le Beat Group Electrique album, recorded live in a New Rose record shop inParis, entitled At the Shop with Eduardo Leal de la Gala and Fabrice Bertran on the drums. Together they formed the Hitsville House Band.
Eric returned to the UK in 1998, wrote his autobiography A Dysfunctional Success - The Wreckless Eric Manual about his life in England in the punk rock years and the music industry, ending at his departure for France. A second part is expected. Eric contributed his version of "Clevor Trever" (sic) to the Ian Dury tribute album Brand New Boots and Panties released in 2001. His latest album Bungalow Hi was home recorded, produced and released in 2004.
Recent times[edit][]
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The soundtrack to the 2002 film, Heartlands, contained "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World".
In late 2005 Eric toured the UK (also playing Dublin) supporting fellow ex-Stiff artists The Damned.
A tribute album to Wreckless Eric is currently being recorded,[when?] featuring cover versions of his songs performed by upcoming bands like The Crimea, plus established acts, such as The Wedding Present, among others.
In the 2006 film, Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell, Ferrell sings "Whole Wide World" while playing the guitar, until the original Wreckless Eric version takes over.
In 2008, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby was released. The album had a sound that is described as including "lots of strummed acoustic guitars, insistent and melodic bass lines and atmospherics created by vintage keyboards, synthesizers, processed electric guitars and electronic effects". They are touring to support the album.[6]
Eric joined The Proclaimers onstage at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, on 19 July 2008, to perform his song, "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World" which they covered on their album, Life With You.[citation needed] Eric and Amy Rigby joinedJohn Wesley Harding onstage at Wiggins Park in Camden, New Jersey on 25 July 2009, to perform "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World".
In September 2010, Eric and Rigby offered a track for the compilation album, Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos. They recorded a cover of the 1950s doo-wop song, "I Want To Be Your Happiness." The Wind Records, along with Norton Records, released the album.[7]
In 2012 Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby recorded a version of the Bread song "The Guitar Man", for the fund raising CD Super Hits Of The Seventies, for the radio station WFMU.[8]
In December 2013 Fire Records re-released both Len Bright Combo records[9] and the band reunited for a one off show at The Lexington in London.[10]
Discography[edit][]
Albums[edit][]
As Wreckless Eric
- Wreckless Eric (March 1978: Stiff Records, SEEZ 6) No. 46 UK Albums Chart[11]
- The Wonderful World of Wreckless Eric (October 1978: Stiff, SEEZ 9)
- The Whole Wide World (December 1979) [compilation album] US release
- Big Smash! (February 1980: Stiff, SEEZ 21) [double compilation album] No. 30 UK
- The Donovan of Trash (1991)
- Almost a Jubilee: 25 Years at the BBC (with Gaps) (2003)
- Bungalow Hi (2004)
With Captains of Industry
- Roomful of Monkeys (1984)
With The Len Bright Combo
- The Len Bright Combo Presents... (1985)
- Combo Time (1986)
(The two Len Bright Combo albums were re-released on a single CD on Eric's Southern Domestic label in 2004).
With Le Beat Group Electrique
- Le Beat Group Electrique (1989)
- At the Shop (1990)
With Hitsville House Band
- 12 o'Clock Stereo (1996)
As Eric Goulden
- Karaoke (1997)
With Amy Rigby
- Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby (2008)
- Two-Way Family Favourites (2010)
- A Working Museum (2012)
Various artists compilation album appearances[edit][]
- A Bunch of Stiff Records (1977)
- Stiffs Live (1978: Stiff Records, GET 1) No. 28 UK Albums Chart[11]
- Heroes & Cowards (1978)
- Can't Start Dancing (1978)
- "Whole Wide World" featured on the That Summer! compilation album (June 1979) UK No. 36
- The Last Compilation Album (1980)
- The Stiff Records Box Set (1991)
- DiY 3: Teenage Kicks - UK Pop I (1976–79) (1993)
- Stranger Than Fiction Soundtrack (2006)
- The Sandinista! Project (2007)
Singles[edit][]
| Band name / Release date | 'A' side | 'B' side | Label | Catalogue Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wreckless Eric: August 1977 | "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World" | "Semaphore Signals" | Stiff | BUY 16 |
| Wreckless Eric: February 1978 | "Reconnez Cherie" | "Rags And Tatters" | Stiff | BUY 25 |
| Wreckless Eric: October 1978 | "Take The K.A.S.H." | "Girlfriend" | Stiff | BUY 34 |
| Wreckless Eric: December 1978 | "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" | "I Wish It Would Rain" | Stiff | BUY 40 |
| Wreckless Eric: October 1979 | "Hit And Miss Judy" | "Let’s Go To The Pictures" | Stiff | BUY 49 |
| Wreckless Eric: January 1980 | "A Popsong" | "Reconnez Cherie" | Stiff | BUY 64 |
| Wreckless Eric: March 1980 | "Broken Doll" | "I Need A Situation" | Stiff | BUYIT 75 |
| Captains of Industry: November 1984 | "Lifeline" | "A Girl In A Million" | Go! Discs Records | GOD 6 |
| Len Bright Combo: April 1986 | "Someone Must’ve Nailed Us Together" | "Mona" | Empire | LEN 1 |
| Wreckless Eric: October 1989 | "It’s A Sick World" | "Reconnez Cherie" | New Rose | NEW 100 |
| Wreckless Eric: May 1990 | "Haunted House" | "Depression (version Francaise)" | New Rose | NEW 136 |
| Wreckless Eric: December 1990 | "Yuletide Forty-Five" | Kelt | ||
| Wreckless Eric: February 1993 | "Joe Meek" | "Tell Me I’m The Only One" | Hangman | SFTRI 226 |
| The Hitsville House Band: 1996 | "The Girl with the Wandering Eye" | "Palace Of Tears" / "Laurence Of Arabia On Ice" | Humbug | |
| Wreckless Eric: 2002 | "Sweet Jane" | "Continuity Girl" | Vibroscope | |
| Wreckless Eric: 2007 | "Whole Wide World 4 England" | "Wayne Rooney's Foot" | Firerce Panda |