Category: 14 Iced Bears

A guest posting by flimflamfan (and a great idea for a new series)

Uncovered / Unwrapped

Music is great, isn’t it? I’m sure each of us could wax lyrical on a multitude of genres; the artists, art work and illustrators (me, less so when it comes to illustrators) and most importantly, how that music makes us feel.

I’d like, if I may, to concentrate on art work; from the outer sleeve design and liner notes to the inner sleeve and liner notes, label, and if included, a booklet. The music plays as we (I hope you don’t mind the collective we?) pore over all of the information provided and the lyrics. Oh, the lyrics. Is it a standard rite of passage or only a rite of passage for those interested? I can’t answer that. However, what I can say is that on some occasions the art work seemed almost as important as the music.

Art work had a way of drawing me in. All those racks (please leave your double-entendres at the door) to explore, and all that music vying for my attention. An effort had to be made by bands/labels to make their release stand out and more than that stand up to the ever-changing whims of style and trends.

In a recent conversation with JC and Strangeways I noted that I often bought music based solely on the art work. I found it intriguing. I may like the cover art, but what would this sound like? What are its musical influences? Are they what I think they might be? What I hope they will be? There was only ever one way to find out – buy it. I often did. Now, these were rarely new LPs. They were second-hand and at the very affordable end of second-hand. I wasn’t being frivolous, oh no.

And so, it is, that I write this piece. Am I the only one that did this? JC and Strangeways didn’t – which I found odd. Based on the percentages, it was clearly me that was odd.

Before I offer up an LP bought for its cover art alone – I’d like to ask if anyone else did this / does this and share their cover art(s)? This could be a solo, irregular series from me but I’m hoping it may become a wider series for TnVV readers.

14 Iced Bears – 14 Iced Bears

There are perhaps some of you who may be thinking “they were on Sarah, you would have known about them?” I can honestly say I hadn’t. That may be because Come Get Me was released on Sarah in the same year as the LP (Thunderball Records, 1988). The previous proper singles (Frank Records) were, at that point, unknown to me.

I couldn’t wait to get this home. I bought it from the second-hand section of Missing Records (Glasgow) – located on the mezzanine. It was £2.99.

Take It sets the scene for this 10 track LP, and for me, that scene was one of psychedelic noise that immediately made me think New. Favourite. Band.

mp3: 14 Iced Bears – Take It

Quieter moments on the LP reminded me, in places, of another emerging band, Stone Roses.

I can’t say for certain, but I think that Take It would have appeared on my DJ playlist from that time?

The band released three LPs in its initial stage – two studio albums 14 Iced Bears and Wonder and a compilation Precision (singles 86 – 89). All are worth searching out.

Until the band split, I remained an active fan and believe their output to be some of the most interesting from that time. Often associated with shoegaze the band reformed when the first full-throated revival took hold in 2010/11.

From seeing the art work, to listening to the songs, to realising the connections to the emerging scene, that £2.99 bought me a little glint of happiness, a glint that continues to catch my eye.

I’ve added two more songs from the LP that I hope you’ll enjoy.

mp3: 14 Iced Bears – Cut
mp3: 14 Iced Bears – Florence

If you’ve had a similar experience, why not share it – otherwise there’ll be more of my nostalgic nonsense.

flimflamfan

The thing is….I need to apologise to everyone for a terrible drop in standards.  And not for the first time.

The thing is, I do my best to provide a daily posting but there is no way I can sit down every 24 hours and type something up.  Things are done in batches, post-dated and the magic of modern technology normally does the rest.

Problem is however, I do make mistakes often through tiredness but nowadays thanks to my advancing years, forgetfulness.  Which is why the songs that should have accompanied the piece on 14 Iced Bears last Sunday were missing.

And the reason it took so long to resolve the issue is that I’ve been away for the past three days with no access to the music files.

Sorry.  But I can’t promise it won’t happen again.  You’ve been warned.

mp3 : 14 Iced Bears – Come Get Me
mp3 : 14 Iced Bears – Sure To See
mp3 : 14 Iced Bears – Unhappy Days

Enjoy

The potted histories that I’ve been providing throughout this series come from a combination of personal memories, material I have in a couple of reference books and info that is out there on t’internet. But I’m having problems trying to provide a definitive guide to 14 Iced Bears as there are differing accounts out there and being a Brighton band that I can’t personally recall from the era I can’t pretend that what follows is 100% correct.

They did form in 1985 and there is no doubt that in their initial existence across some seven years that they had an ever-shifting line-up of musicians and were on a number of different labels.  They did however, centre around two principal songwriters in Rob Sekula (vocals) and Kevin Canham (guitars). They were an atypical 80s indie-pop outfit who had a number of devoted followers, particularly in and around their home town which has of course since become home to many talented and influential musicians of different genres but was seen in those days as being ‘not quite London’.   They concentrated on singles for the most part, with Come Get Me, their fourth 45, coming out in April 1988 as one of the earliest Sarah singles and thus now worth a fair bit of money if you’re lucky enough to have an original.

There were five performers on this single with the two main protagonists joined by Steven Ormsby (bass), Graham Durrant (drums) and Susan Freeman (backing vocals).

By the time a self-titled debut LP was released six months later, the band were on a different label with a new bass player and no sign of Susan…..

By 1992 it was all over but they were a band that many later emerging acts on the indie scene frequently name checked as an influence, although whether that was true or was simply the idea of quoting an obscure name in an attempt to be hip is hard to tell.

For a band that sold next to nothing back in the day it was a bit of a surprise that 2010 saw a reunion with a series of gigs, tours and eventually a high-profile slot at the Indietracks Festival in 2012. The following year saw Cherry Red Records release a Hold On Inside, a 2xCD retrospective of their entire back catalogue.

It was the Sarah single that was included on CD86 :-

mp3 : 14 Iced Bears – Come Get Me

It’s a catchy enough bit of music whose chorus will lodge itself into your brain but I’m not convinced that it is a ‘classic’ but that is a matter of personal taste. Here’s the two b-sides to the single:-

mp3 : 14 Iced Bears – Sure To See
mp3 : 14 Iced Bears – Unhappy Days

Enjoy

** links to songs now active….see additional posting on Tuesday 21 July!!