We Are Icerink
How many bands do you suppose are out there that made one perfect song and then disappeared into oblivion? So I've been pondering anyway as I listen to the sounds of Icerink.
I would suppose, this is the only song Elizabeth City State ever released. It was always rumored that they couldn't hold onto a singer long enough to finish a single, so this song on the We Are Icerink compilation is the extent of their discography. Shame.
The Icerink label was choc full of bands like that though... from those who had their name swiped by a German techno outfit to the un-classifiable oddity that is...
Not every band who released material on Bob Stanley & Pete Wigg's Icerink label was doomed to complete obscurity, after all Shampoo became the pancake-make-up-glamgirl idols of eastern Asia for a year or three and Spring released a few records and became rather well known in the twee scene. I suppose there's always World of Twist whose dance hall stormer, New Electric Pop and Soul, was included as a bonus on the "We Are Icerink" comp2.
At this point I'm just rambling on as the memories flood over me... but that's always the good bit of pulling out an old compilation isn't it? It's like an old friend has come back to remind you of who you are and how you got here.
1It wasn't until 1996 when Lawrence Hayward released Novelty Rock under his then musical incarnation Denim that anyone really knew who Supermarket really was. A friend and I always speculated it was Bob & Pete sans a singer.
2 RIP Tony
Buy some: Good luck with buying anything on Icerink... it's all down to eBay or Gemm since most of this material is going on 15 years plus.