The Crucial Three was a very short-lived band but notable because of the individual success of the three founding members: Ian McCulloch (later of Echo & the Bunnymen), Julian Cope (who went on to join The Teardrop Explodes and then release many albums under his own name) and Pete Wylie (later of many "band names" usually featuring the nonsense exclamation Wah!). McCulloch sang, Cope played bass, and Wylie played guitar. A drummer, Stephen Spence, also joined at some point in their brief life.