Icehouse - Primitive Man

A while back while rummaging through the discount bins over at Krazy Bobs I found not one, or two, or three but five albums by Icehouse. This was awesome. Bob had been seeding the bins as I found a lot of records that came home with me that day.

Back in the day I had Man of Colours on CD, and I really liked it. The opening one two punch of "Electric Blue" and "Crazy" was so good it almost overshadowed the rest of the album. I was also one of a handful of people who went to the theatre to see "Young Einstein" featuring Yahoo Serious. This was a stinker of a movie my girlfriend, and now wife, has still to forgive me for making her see. The only redeeming part of "Young Einstein" was hearing "Great Southern Land" by Icehouse, and Mental as Anything's version of "Rock and Roll Music" they were both so good. Although if I'm keeping score (she does) it's actually better than "No Holds Barred" Hulk Hogan's first real foray into mainstream movies. To ad insult to that experience we saw at the drive-in theatre and it remains a sore spot and still comes up whenever I suggest something to watch.

Icehouse was Iva Davies band, and on Primitive Man (renamed Love in Motion in some markets) he was chief cook and bottle washer. Iva would enlist Keith Forsey to co-produce the album. I have to remind myself this was 1982 as already the blue print for cool modern rock was in place, and Icehouse was one of the best. There was something in Australia back then that produced some awesome bands.

Everything on Primitive Man was so good, and the LinnDrum must have taken ages to program. I have to admit I always liked the sound. They weren't around that long, but they made an impact. Probably the most famous example was Mike Campbell's programming on "Boys of Summer" that was huge for Don Henley.

The sequencing on the Canadian release was different from the original release and I'm never quite sure what label executives are thinking when they tinker with things. Still if you don't know any different whatever you hear first is definitive. 

Side one features the best songs for me, "Street Cafe" with the atmospheric oboe solo and "Hey Little Girl" are so good, but to me the centrepiece is "Great Southern Land" that closes out the first half. The second side while not as memorable is really good, and I have no desire to skip any of the songs.

It's still hard to reconcile the passage of time when listening to Primitive Man. It's over forty years now and there's still something earnest and compelling to the songs. The songs still sound so good to my ears and who knows maybe it speaks to me on a deeper level because it reminds me of times gone by and evokes the memories of good times. Times when things weren't complicated by the complexities of life ... maybe it just hearkens to a more primitive time ...