A Man Called E is Mark Oliver Everett's 1992 major-label debut album, and the first on which he used the pseudonym "E". (As Mark Everett, he had previously self-released the limited edition LP Bad Dude in Love in 1985.)
"Hello Cruel World" was released as a one-track single in 1992. "Nowheresville"/"Strawberry Blonde" was released in March of that year.
Background
In 1987, Everett moved from his family home in Virginia and resettled in California. There, in 1991, he signed a contract with Polydor Records and released A Man Called E under the name E a year later. The single "Hello Cruel World" was a minor success. Touring to support the album, E opened for Tori Amos.[1]
Everett became known as "E" because there were several people in his life at the time who had the same first name. While it may have caused some confusion in record stores and radio stations, the single-letter name gave the press a playful handle. This playfulness was evident in a review of the album by the eminent writer Daniel Levitin which began: "Excellent eponymous effort, energizingly eclectic. Early enthusiasm effectively ensures E's eminence."[2]
Everett released one further solo album, 1993's Broken Toy Shop, before forming the band Eels in 1995.
Michael Zwirn, in Trouser Press, wrote that "the production is uncluttered, [E's] singing is unforced and the tunes are eminently hummable, with a sense of cockeyed humor and periodic wistful optimism that is noteworthy in the later context of the Eels' pronounced bitterness."[4]
