The previous mention of the Brighton-based 14 Iced Bears in this ongoing (and to some, never-ending!!) series featured their sole single for Sarah Records, thanks to its inclusion on the 2006 release of CD48. But they really were too heavily involved not to have also been included on the 2014 C86 expanded release issued by Cherry Red Records
Track 15, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition
This was their debut single, issued on Frank Records, a short-lived indie label based in Hertford, a town some 30 miles north of London.
Yup. The Jesus and Mary Chain, despite not being part of the original C86 tape have songs on both the later CD86 release and the 2016 expanded re-issue. I’ve a feeling that the compilers of the original tape would have wanted to include them, but they were perhaps turned down by Creation Records or the asking price was too high.
A reminder that the JAMC released their debut single in November 1984. The following year saw three more singles and a debut album. 1986 was a bit quieter, with just the one EP. As such, those compiling the later CD collections, who of course didn’t have to restrict themselves to songs released in 1986, had some leeway.
mp3: Inside Me – The Jesus and Mary Chain
Track 19, Disc Two of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition
Originally released on the debut album Psycho Candy, a #31 hit in the UK charts on its release in November 1985
There was quite a relatively long post on The Groove Farm on their previous appearance in this series, so I’ll keep this brief.
A band from Bristol who were active and prolific between 1986 and 1990 across a number of labels. Their debut EP, Sore Heads and Happy Hearts, had been issued by Raving Pop Blast! Records, a local label, with the picture sleeve coming in four different colours
mp3: It Always Rains On Sundays – The Groove Farm
Track 3, Disc 2 of CD86.
Shop Assistants. What a detailed tale there is to tell if there was loads of time.
They formed as a four-piece in Edinburgh in 1984, initially as Buba and The Shop Assistants. Over the next seven years, there would be six singles/EPs and one album across five different labels. By the time they called it a day in 1990, eleven different musicians could count themselves as having been a member of some point or other, with just guitarist and main songwriter, David Keegan, having been on board for the entire journey.
The debut single had come out on the locally based and short-lived Villa21 Records. They next showed up on one half of a flexidisc, with the other half featuring The Chesterfields, that was included with two fanzines. They then, in 1985, accepted an invitation to record an EP for the Bristol-based The Subway Organisation. Their next single, Safety Net, came out on the Edinburgh-based 53rd & 3rd in 1986, a release that seemed to really capture everyone’s imagination. They next popped up on the C86 cassette:-
mp3: It’s Up To You – Shop Assistants
Track 1 on side 2 of the C86 cassette; Track 12, Disc One of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition
It was a re-recording of one of the tracks on the EP released on The Subway Organisation a few months previously.
Next up was a move to Blue Guitar, the label that was an offshoot of Chrysalis Records and was supposed to operate like an indie under the guidance of Geoff Travis of Rough Trade. There was a debut album and one single before 1986 was out, but the hoped for buzz, never mind sales, anticipated on the back of Safety Net never materialised. As few months later, in early 1987, lead singer Alex Taylor quit the band. It would take until 1990 before they re-emerged with two more singles on Edinburgh-based Avalanche Records. But the spark wasn’t quite there and before two long, the band members went their separate ways.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Three of my favourite bands: 14 Iced Bears, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Shop Assistants. 14 Iced Bears have for reasons unknown remained on the fringes despite still playing live. A fantastic way to start the day.
Flimflamfan