Icehouse are a rock band from Sydney,formed in 1977 as Flowers. Initially known in Australia for their pub-rock style,the band later achieved mainstream success playing new-wave and synthpop music and attained Top 10 singles chart success locally and in both Europe and the U.S. The mainstay of both Flowers and Icehouse has been Iva Davies supplying additional musicians as required. The name "Icehouse",adopted in 1981,comes from an old,cold flat Davies lived in and the strange building across the road populated by itinerant people.
Primitive Man,the second studio album by Australian rock band Icehouse,was released on September 20th,1982. In January 1982,Icehouse founder Iva Davies started recording Primitive Man essentially as a solo project. It was co-produced with Keith Forsey,who later worked with Simple Minds and Billy Idol. Forsey supplied additional percussion;Davies supplied vocals,lead guitar,keyboards,bass guitar and programmed the Linn drum machine. Released as an Icehouse album,Primitive Man reached number 3 on the National album charts and provided their international breakthrough single,"Hey Little Girl",which peaked at number 7 in Australia,number 2 in Switzerland,number 5 in Germany,the top 20 in UK,Sweden and Netherlands,and number 31 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. Another single "Great Southern Land" made the Australian top 5;it was later featured in the 1988 Yahoo Serious film Young Einstein,and remains their most popular song according to listeners of Triple M in 2007. To promote Primitive Man on tour,Davies re-assembled Icehouse with Michael Hoste (keyboards) and John Lloyd (drums),and new members:Bob Kretschmer,Guy Pratt and Andy Qunta.
"Electric Blue" is a song by the Australian rock / synthpop band Icehouse. It was co-written by Iva Davies of Icehouse and John Oates of the U.S. band Hall &Oates. Oates became involved with Davies after contacting him to state he was a fan. The resulting collaboration produced this song and Oates has stated that if Davies had not released the song under the Icehouse name then it would have been a Hall and Oates track.
Icehouse is the debut album released by Australian rock/synthpop band Flowers,later known as Icehouse,on the independent label Regular Records in October 1980. The title and the artist are sometimes incorrectly swapped,because the band changed their name from Flowers to Icehouse after this album was released. Containing the Top 20 Australian hits "Can't Help Myself","We Can Get Together" and "Walls";the album made heavy use of synthesisers,which would continue to be used throughout the band's career. Founder Iva Davies wrote all the tracks including four co-written with keyboardist Michael Hoste,however Hoste was replaced during recording sessions by Anthony Smith.
"Great Southern Land" is a song by Australian rock band Icehouse. It was released on August 30th,1982,as the lead single from their second studio album Primitive Man. It peaked at No. 5 on the Australian Singles Chart,it was later featured in the 1988 Yahoo Serious film Young Einstein,and remains their most popular song according to listeners of Triple M in 2007.
Deckchairs Overboard were an Australian pop music band based in Sydney which formed in 1982 and disbanded in 1985. The early line-up featured Ken Campbell on vocals,guitar,and drums;John Clifforth on vocals,guitar,and keyboards;Paul Hester on drums;and Cathy McQuade on bass guitar and vocals. Most of the group's initial members had been in the Melbourne group The Cheks (1980–1982) with the exception of McQuade,who had been a member of The Ears.
Sidewalk is the third studio album by Australian rock band Icehouse. It was originally released in June 1984,on the labels Chrysalis,Regular,and reached No. 8 on the National albums chart. Founding member Iva Davies used the Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer on this more sombre and reflective album. This is the first album bassist Guy Pratt worked on as a member of the band. Pratt would later become a session musician,and go on to work with artists such as Pink Floyd,Roxy Music,David Bowie,Madonna and Michael Jackson.
Measure for Measure is the fourth studio album by Australian rock/synth-pop band Icehouse,released on 21 April 1986 in Australia by Regular Records and in the United States by Chrysalis Records. It was one of the first three albums to be recorded entirely digitally.
Great Southern Land is the first compilation album by Australian rock/synthpop band Icehouse,released by Chrysalis Records / Regular Records in October 1989. It peaked at No. 2 on the Australian albums charts,and contained two new singles "Touch the Fire",which peaked at No. 13 on the singles chart,and "Jimmy Dean",which peaked at No. 47. Several different versions of this album exist;the Regular Records release for Australian / New Zealand markets was as a 16 track double vinyl LP,twin music cassette or CD;Chrysalis Records US versions were as 10 track LP / music cassette or 11 track CD release with a different track order;Chrysalis Records UK versions had 12 tracks;and a video version of 15 tracks was released in VHS PAL format.
Meltdown is a remix album by Australian rock synthpop band,Icehouse with tracks remixed by Australian electronic musicians and bands including Infusion,sonicanimation and beXta. It was released in October 2002 within Australia by dIVA Records under Warner Music Australia. The single "Lay Your Hands on Me" peaked at #85 on the Australian singles chart.
"Hey Little Girl" is a single released by Australian band Icehouse,the second single from the band's 1982 album,Primitive Man. The album and single were co-produced by band member and the track's writer,Iva Davies,and Keith Forsey. It was released in 1982 on Regular Records in 7" vinyl single and 12" vinyl single formats. UK and Europe releases by Chrysalis Records were also on 7" and 12" formats,but with different track listings. The single was then released in the US in 1983 on the same formats. On "Hey Little Girl",Iva Davies uses the Linn drum machine—the first for an Australian recording. It peaked at No. 7 on the Australian singles chart and No. 2 in Switzerland,No. 5 in Germany,Top 20 in UK,Sweden and Netherlands,and No. 31 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
Big Wheel is the seventh and final studio album by the Australian rock synthpop band,Icehouse,released on 25 October 1993 in Australia by dIVA Records –founder Iva Davies' own label –and Massive Records. It was recorded at Davies' home in Whale Beach during 1993 with Davies on vocals,guitar,bass guitar and keyboards,David Chapman on guitar,keyboards and backing vocals,and Paul Wheeler on drums,percussion and backing vocals. Big Wheel peaked at #44 and was their first studio album not to reach the Top Ten on the Australian album charts. The album was digitally remastered by Davies and Ryan Scott with five bonus tracks added for the 2002 re-release by Warner Music Australia.
Man of Colours is the fifth studio album by Australian rock/synthpop band Icehouse,released locally on 21 September 1987 on Regular Records / Chrysalis Records.
The discography of Icehouse,an Australian rock and synthpop band,includes releases under the earlier band name,Flowers,which was formed in 1977 by the mainstay Iva Davies,and was renamed Icehouse in 1981;material was also released by "Iva Davies and Icehouse". Flowers or Icehouse have released seven studio albums,one soundtrack album,as well as four remix albums and forty singles.
"Can't Help Myself" is the first single released by the Australian synthpop/rock band Flowers,later known as Icehouse. It was released in May 1980 as a 7" vinyl single on independent label,Regular Records,five months ahead of debut album Icehouse. A 10" vinyl single was released in July and had a cover depicting individual images of band members diagonally across the band's name and the single's title. It peaked at #10 on the Australian Singles Charts.
"Walls" is the third single released by the Australian rock band Flowers,later known as Icehouse. It was released in January 1981,on independent label Regular Records from their debut album,Icehouse,it peaked at #20 on the Australian Kent Music Reoport Singles Charts. It was also released in New Zealand,with a different cover,which was the last release before the band was renamed as Icehouse.
"Icehouse" is a song by the Australian rock band Flowers,later known as Icehouse. It was released as a single in Europe in 1982 by Chrysalis Records from the band's first album,Icehouse,after the band changed its name to Icehouse. In the United States,the song peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart in 1981.
"Love in Motion" is the first new material released by the Australian rock synthpop band Icehouse as a 7" vinyl single-only in October 1981 on Regular Records for the Australian market. The band had been known as Flowers until 27 June 1981 after which they changed their name to Icehouse,they had signed to Chrysalis Records and most of Flowers' material was released under the new name into Europe,UK and US markets. "Love in Motion" peaked at #10 on the Australian singles charts. The B-side,"Goodnight,Mr. Matthews" was included on the 1982 album Primitive Man with "Love in Motion" included on the Chrysalis Records US / European versions of the album,the UK 1983 version of the album was re-titled Love in Motion.
"Crazy" is a song by the Australian rock/synthpop band Icehouse,from the Man of Colours album,the single peaked at Number 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report. The song was written by band members Iva Davies,Robert Kretschmer and Andy Qunta,and produced by David Lord.
"My Obsession" is a song by Australian rock band Icehouse,which was released in 1987 as the third single from their sixth studio album Man of Colours. The song was written by Iva Davies and Robert Kretschmer,and produced by David Lord. "My Obsession" peaked at No. 12 on Australia's Kent Music Report chart and No. 88 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
