I kind of forgot about this series…….
A reminder that it’s designed to suggest that a singer/band and/or record label missed a trick by not issuing a particular track as a single.
Heaven Up Here, the second album from Echo & The Bunnymen, was released on 30 May 1981. It wasn’t preceded by the release of any single, and indeed only one of its tracks, A Promise was released on the 45rpm format, and not until 10 July, some six weeks later.
I don’t know why this was the case given the quality of the material on the album. Maybe everyone had a listen and felt that while the songs were first-rate, none of them really stood out as having the potential to make an impact on daytime or commercial radio. It shouldn’t be forgotten that the band’s previous singles had barely dented the charts, and indeed A Promise stalled at #49, although I’ve long advocated that if it had been released a few weeks in advance of the album instead of six weeks after, then it would have cracked the Top 20.
Heaven Up Here had entered the album charts at #10 on the week of its release. It continued to sell in decent enough number for the next month or so before just about slipping out of the Top 75. The release of A Promise did give it the expected and hoped-for boost in mid-summer, and it climbed back into the Top 40. But after that, it was a gradual drift back down the charts, disappearing by the end of August. Surely a second single would have boosted sales, especially if it had been the song from which the album took its name:-
mp3: Echo & The Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here
Go on…..admit it, it makes you want to throw back the years and shake all your limbs in a totally uncontrollable fashion.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Oh I’m shakin’. This was my first Bunnymen record.
A Promise was a Bunnymen masterpiece, a brilliant, sweeping, choral epic of a song that has not lost any power in the interviewing 42 years (Christ, that long . . . ). If I had to pick another single from HUH, it would probably be All My Colours. With A Hip is a great choice too, but it works best as a killer 1-2 opening punch with Show Of Strength. They were pretty good back then, weren’t they? Caught them at a smallish venue in ’82 and it remains one of the best shows I’ve seen. Saw Mac on the Sky Arts songwriters thing recently. Confident lad . . .
chaval
Definitely some of Mac’s best singing on record. But the album is of a piece–it’s hard to separate out singles. Great milestone on the post-punk landscape. I saw this tour as a teenager and was hooked.
Their best album, great songs from start to end. This could have bene a single I guess, bit too frenetic to have got much radio play but would love to have seen them do it on top of the pops.