NIK: ICU on CD?

[Doug Pearson]

Very nice to have the list back!

The funny thing about this thread is that the first time I ever
communicated with Steve Pond was to ask him about the possibility of
reissuing ICU, right around the time he decided to do the MP3 CD-R of the
complete back catalog.

One thing he mentioned is that nobody seems to know where the master tapes
for ANY of the albums are (I believe he mentioned that the 'Passout' CD was
mastered from a cassette copy of the original master).  Which is why *all*
the currently-available stuff (Steve's MP3's, Trev's CD-R's) comes from a
vinyl source.  Which sucks, since early-80s British vinyl pressings were
AWFUL!  Those Flicknife LP's were good for all of about 3 plays ...

On Thu, 18 Apr 2002 00:05:13 +0100, Jonathan Jarrett
<jjarrett at CHIARK.GREENEND.ORG.UK> wrote:
>On Fri, Feb 15, 2002 at 11:41:13AM +0000, Chris Gibbs typed out:
>
>> All  of ICU's back catalogue (except the album without Nik) is availabe
>> abosoutly free from http://doremi.co.uk/icu  !!!
>> Anyone selling ICU cdr's for big money is having a laugth, and loosing
>> friends.
>
>        Even if, and this is quite important I think, it's Trev
>Thoms? Only I believe he is the source of these CDRs. It's a pity he can't
>get them out on a decent label but he must be closer to breaking even this
>way.

Uh, yeah, since it's Trev doing this, IMO he should be supported and not
condemned.  It's HIS music to do with what he wants (since Nik and Fred and
Dino obviously don't seem to mind), and he deserves (and probably needs) to
make some money off it if he wants.  (But I still wish they were master
tape reissues!)

>        Something that occurred to me a little while back, actually,
>though I haven't yet done anything about it, was some kind of effort to
>get the ICU back catalogue back into print. My summation of the situation
>is probably off here but it seems to me:
>
>_Pass Out_ was on Riddle, wich I assume is defunct as a company
>now, but its CD version came out on Oldhitz, who still exist as a shop but
>no longer seem to have a label...

Actually, the CD came out on Oldhitz as a subsidiary of Overground, a very
cool label that reissued a bunch of post-punk/indie stuff (Soft Boys,
Vaselines, etc.) in the early 90's, then seemed to vanish for about 8
years.  Interestingly enough, Overground is now back, as ... (what
else?) ... one of the multitude of labels Manufactured-and-Distributed by
Voiceprint!  (Electric Eels and Mirrors reissues on Overground/Voiceprint
are HIGHLY recommended, even though the Mirrors CD doesn't include their
version of "Ejection" :^( .)

>... It is crying out
>for a re-edition with at least `So Try As Id' on it and if possible
>`Paradise Beach'--though in an ideal world that should probably be on a
>reissue of _Ersatz_... and gods only know who could be persuaded to take
>that on!

Yeup, those should be bonus tracks somewhere.  And I could see a reissue
of 'Ersatz' appealing to the kind of people who like listening to the
Shaggs, Gary Wilson, Kids of Whitney High, Wesley Willis, etc.

>_Maximum Effect_ is available, though heaven only knows what the legality
>of it is :-) Again, a real CD with bonus tracks would be nice, and Trev
>doesn't seem to have the masters as the CDR is made from vinyl unless I'm
>mistaken. But we can get it, so it's not as urgent as the others.

The outtakes/demos collection, 'Maxout', would be perfect as bonus tracks
for a 'Maximum Effect' reissue.  Especially since that's the only place to
get songs like "Dogrot Animal/Short Sharp Shock" and "Nazi Motorcycle Slut".

>Let me leave _Punkadelic_ for a minute...
>
>_New Anatomy_ was on Demi Monde, and lots of Demi Monde stuff *has* gone
>to CD on recent years ...

This is in-print on Demi Monde, according to their website.  I've seen the
CD in stores, but it's the only ICU album I don't own (mostly because it
isn't very good compared to the others).

>Let me also leave _Presidents Tapes_ for a minute...
>
>`Blood and Bone' was on Jettisoundz, which was a video label primarily and
>as best as I can discover was merged in 1992 with a company called
>Visionary Communications
>(source: <http://screenedge.com/archive/jettisoundz/jetstory.htm>). These
>are the people who were behind the _Night of the Hawks_ Hawkwind vinyl,

... er, the 'Night of the Hawks' vinyl was on Flicknife; Jettisoundz did
the video (as well as the Stonehenge '84 and Black Sword videos, IIRC).
And here's probably a good place to mention that the versions of "Little
Black Egg" on vinyl and video are very different from one another (the
former is almost a dub version ... without all the echoes).

>        So, _Punkadelia_ and _Presidents Tapes_, both on Flickknife.
>Flickknife is a dead duck but most of its holdings seem to be available on
>Anagram, which is part of Cherry Red which is still going as far as I
>know. They have inserts in the CDs they issue saying if you want a classic
>punk title on CD you should tell them and they'll look into it. Why they
>haven't done this with records they presumably own I don't quite
>understand, but if they don't think ICU's worth the investment, it seems
>to me quite possible that they haven't heard that ICU is up and running
>again, and indeed has a new album in the process of recording (any news on
>that Mr Pond?) Perhaps someone from the band should tell them as
>much... Failing that at least we could suggest it to them, in numbers
>:-) The contact address, which I glean from <http://www.cherryred.co.uk>,
>seems to be <tim.madgwick at btconnect.com>. They look to me to be far the
>most likely for a reissue, and by happy coincidence the albums are both
>rather good too.

THAT sounds like a reasonable likelihood, and an excellent idea.  The two
albums would easily fit together on a CD (although 'Presidents
Tapes'+'Blood and Bone' or 'Punkadelic'+'Maximum Effect' combos would be
more aesthetically/historically consistent).  And Cherry Red has generally
been pretty good about releasing cool/obscure stuff ... they just might be
up for ICU.

>        But, the man from the band, Steve Pond: does *any* of this make
>sense or have the situation right? Would applying gentle suggestion to
>Cherry Red be in any way a helpful thing to do?

I, too, would be curious to know mr. Pond's opinion here ...

    -Doug
     jasret at mindspring.com