Wreckless Eric

A gifted songwriter, Wreckless Eric first earned recognition as part of Stiff Records' willfully quirky roster of punk and new wave artists during the late '70s. Early on, he bashed out a series of ragged, three-chord punk-pop singles highlighted by "Whole Wide World," a cult hit that later became a modern standard. After parting ways with Stiff in the early '80s, Eric scaled back on performing and recording. He returned to duty in 2004 with Bungalow Hi, and in 2008, he cut the first of two albums with Amy Rigby before kicking off a return to serious productivity with 2015's AmERICa, revealing a greater lyrical maturity along with his trademark melodic sense. Eric kept this revival running into the 2020s, when he released the evocative Leisureland.