After performing 1980’s ‘Crocodiles’ and 1981’s ‘Heaven Up Here’ on tour in the U.S. this coming May, Echo & The Bunnymen will skip ahead two albums this fall, spending the end of September on the road in the U.K playing the band’s classic fourth album ‘Ocean Rain’ at six new concerts.

On May 26, 1984 — just three months after the release of ‘The Smiths’ — a young and occasionally smiling Morrissey appeared on the BBC TV game show ‘Pop Quiz,’ which pitted two teams of musicians against each other in a battle of musical knowledge hosted by a ridiculously attired DJ named Mike Read.

A crisp studio recording of The Ocean’s Blue’s ‘City Traffic,’ a never-before-released concert favorite by the late-’80s/early-’90s jangle-pop outfit, surfaced on YouTube this summer accompanied by a homemade music video.

Thanks to the folks at Canada’s HushMusic, we’ve got copies of the forthcoming ‘Retro:Active 7 — Rare & Remixed’ compilation CD to give away to three lucky Slicing Up Eyeballs readers. The new installment features mixes of songs by Echo & The Bunnymen, Tears For Fears, OMD and a-ha.

The debut album from Julian Cope’s neo-psychedelic band The Teardrop Explodes — 1980’s ‘Kilimanjaro’ — is due to receive an expansive 3CD reissue next month, along with Cope’s 1993 compilation of post-Teardrop recordings entitled ‘Floored Genius 2: Best of the BBC Sessions 1983-1991.’

The expanded 2CD reissue of This is Big Audio Dynamite — the 1985 debut from Mick Jones’ post-Clash project, Big Audio Dynamite, which featured breakout […]