You might know the name Wreckless Eric, from his famous 1976 track 'Whole Wide World'. You also might remember the name from it being tied to Cage The Elephant, who covered the track back in 2017 for their stripped down acoustic album 'Unpeeled'. Well, since then Wreckless Eric (a.k.a. Eric Goulden) has battled Covid-19 and has since recovered and now will have his famous song resonate with a national television audience on an upcoming episode of the ABC-TV hit comedy The Goldbergs.
“’Whole Wide World’ is and was always about escape,” admits Wreckless Eric. “The Goldbergs offers a brief escape from the horrors of our time.”
The Goldbergs, a popular sitcom about a suburban family in the 1980s, will feature “Whole Wide World” on the next episode airing on ABC-TV on Wednesday, January 13 at 8 p.m.
“The Goldbergs to me is pop art, and ‘Whole Wide World’ is a pop record,” said Wreckless Eric. “I’m proud and honored for my song to be included in this episode which I’m hoping will be every bit as beautifully monstrous as other the Goldbergs episodes.”
“Whole Wide World,” was produced by Nick Lowe who also played guitar and bass on the recording, with Steve Goulding on drums. And, while the song didn’t chart for Wreckless Eric, it subsequently became his best-known recording.
After recording “Whole Wide World” in 1977, Wreckless Eric sidestepped the mechanics of stardom to become Britain’s biggest underground household name, much loved, and often underestimated.
He was given the name “Wreckless Eric” to hide behind. After a while, he realized he was stuck with it. He shuns the dictates of nostalgia and doesn’t do comebacks for the simple reason that he never went away.
His most recent albums, 2018’s “Construction Time & Demolition” and 2019’s “Transience” are widely regarded as his best work to date.