Icehouse ca. 1982 – still the thin tie years! Personal note to Guy Pratt – Bryan Ferry would never wear crew socks with a suit – just saying

After beginning life as Flowers in Australia, only to find a Scot band using that name in the Northern Hemisphere, the group wisely chose to take the name of their debut album, Icehouse. For the follow up, leader Iva Davies jettisoned most of the band and worked almost solo with producer Keith Forsey, who was a member of Team Moroder who had made a name for himself with the first Billy Idol album. there were many singles in many territories with rarities to cull from this fertile period, which saw the band cementing their popularity at home and in my Record Cell as well. While I had loved the first Icehouse album, the second one was a huge leap forward to my ears. The chromium roxymusic finish and heavy reliance on Linn Drum and synths made this sleeker than the debut, and in the single “Hey Little Girl,” they coughed up the finest four minutes that Mr. Ferry had somehow neglected to record in his own illustrious career. But first the tail end of the “Icehouse” era must be accounted for.

Icehouse Rarities 1981-1982

Can’t Help Myself US PROMO 12″

• Can’t Help Myself [US club mix 1 – 5:56]
• Can’t Help Myself [US club mix 2 – 5:56]

While Ed Thacker had remixed the “Icehouse” album for Chrysalis and the Northern hemisphere, Daniel Coloumbe had a had in remixing the lead single for America for the clubs with a pair of mixes.

Icehouse UK 12″

• All The Way [live]
• Cold Turkey [live]

The UK was the sole recipient of the “Icehouse” 12″ single. There were no remixes [!] but two live B-sides figured on this release. One of them a rare, otherwise unrecorded John Lennon cover.

Great Southern Land OZ 12″

• Uniform [Ext. mix – 6:02]

The Oz anthem, “Great Southern Land” was the first single there, and the B-side was an album cut, “Uniform.” The cut first got an extended mix here, but savvier territories later got that track as an  A-side, as it should have been.

Hey Little Girl OZ 12″

• Hey Little Girl [OZ ext. dance mix – 6:59]
• Glam [OZ ext. dance mix – 6:38]

The best song Ferry never wrote got a Gerry Nixon remix in Oz, with a extended dub of the instro “Glam” as the B-side.

Hey Little Girl US 12″

• Hey Little Girl [US ext. dance mix – 6:11]
• Hey Little Girl [US dub mix – 6:14]

Nick Martinelli and David Todd remixed “Hey Little Girl” in the American market.

Street Café OZ 7″

• Street Café [7″ remix – 4:10]
• Over The Line – 3:46

“Street Café” got just an OZ 7″, but the song was much bigger in the UK and Europe. The A-side was a Bob Clearmountain remix with a non-LP B-side that later figured on the US “Fresco” EP.

Uniform UK 2×7″

• We Can Get Together [live]

In the UK, the A/B side of the OZ “Great Southern Land” was swapped, with “Uniform” ascendent as the A-side that was wasted, down under. The 2×7″ had a pair of live tracks on disc 2, and “We Can Get Together” only appeared here.

Uniform UK 12″

• Uniform [Ext. German ver. – 6:07]
• Can’t Help Myself [live – 5:35]

While the UK 12″ of “Uniform” had the same remix as on the Oz “Great Southern Land,” it had some unique bonus tracks. The 12″ mix in German, for one. And another live cut only here.

Next: …Sidewalking