What's Happenin'
Spellbound - Vol II Iss II
© May 1995

Press

With Iva keeping his head down for the most part in 1995, there hasn't been a lot of press for the fans to collect on Icehouse. Since Berlin isn't slated to run until the end of the year, Iva told us that the press front will be pretty quiet for him until round about September. One article that did find its way into print appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on January 27th. Entitled "Murphy's Dance: A Cabaret of the Mind" and written by Miriam Cosic, this article was an interview with Graeme Murphy concerning the ballets Fornicon and Berlin. Within the article, Murphy had this to say about Iva: "…Berlin came out of suggestion of Iva's. We worked together very well on Boxes - which brought into the Opera House the newest audience that I've ever seen there. This time Iva and I want to do something more intimate, more immediate, and the Drama Theatre is a beautiful place to do that. It's about cabaret of the mind, if you like, and it's going to be quite wonderful. What we did with Boxes was like a major dance rock-and-roll concept. Iva's matured in a lot of ways, the voice has matured, and instrument is sensational. And he is musically so sound. People often don't realize he's a classically trained musician."

Very nice words about Iva coming from a man who has been voted one of Australia's "living treasures."

That's all there was this time to be put down in black and white about Iva & Icehouse.

Releases

At this time, Iva doesn't foresee the music from Berlin becoming available to the public until August or September. Even that is "subject to change." So, as always, the fans of Iva Davies and Icehouse have to be patient… it's hard, isn't it?! As soon as Iva lets us know a release is coming, we will let all of Spellbound's readers know.

In regards to Full Circle, the double CD was released in Germany only but it has been followed by a CD single. Entitled "Great Southern Land '94," this European single has a picture of Ayers Rock on the cover and is a must for serious collectors of Icehouse music.

Other interesting news to come to light concerning Icehouse music comes from New Zealand. It seems that Spin One has finally surfaced there and has made its presence known! Why it took two years to reach New Zealand is anybody's guess… also, New Zealand has been the recipient of the "Invisible People" single as well! It seems a very limited supply of the single was shipped into New Zealand from Australia and was made available soon after the Australian release date. It seems that EMI New Zealand needs a little brush-up course on promotion!!!

Live Performances

There have been no recent performances by Icehouse. As we reported in the last issue of Spellbound, Iva was involved with Ian Moss, Paul Christie, and Paul DeMarco in a repeat performance of January of 1994's bushfire benefit concert at the Palm Beach RSL. This time around the lads called themselves "Penelope, Queen of the Beaches" and got various others together for a bit of music and "Christmas recovery." Very inventive… good fun was had by all except for the band preceding "Penelope." A drag review show called "Totally Tutti Frutti" didn't seem to enjoy the fans who were calling out for Iva and the rest of the boys. Or maybe their nylons were just on too tight… our Aussie rep was there to witness this glamorous event.

Radio and Television

There have been no radio broadcasts to report. Ads have been running for Berlin on the telly in Australia that mention Iva but do not show him. There will be an interview with Iva on a show called "Today, Tonight." He will be interviewed in April and the show could air sometime in May to correspond with the premiere of Fornicon. Again, Iva will be fairly quiet on the media front until about September when things for Berlin start hotting up!

Extra

The Rock and Roll Legends exhibit we reported on in the last issue is about to get rolling. It will open on May 29th in the Melbourne area at the Doncaster Westfield Shopping Centre and then will tour Oz, Appearing at Westfield Shopping Centres throughout the land. Fans can look for a black vest Iva wore in the Flowers days, as well as original hand-written lyrics for "Electric Blue," old backstage passes, and other items of interest. As we go to press Iva is planning to attend the grand opening in Melbourne and we're hoping some of the local fans can get down there to greet Iva.

The Boys

Simon Lloyd...

Stephen Morgan has been busy playing around Melbourne in a band called White Shooga. The band play funk/dance music and Steve says they are out on the town about four nights a week. He has also been doing some work in the studio - nothing serious, so he says - and is still teaching bass guitar on occasion. Steve is also an avid supporter of the Essendon football team and attends games when time allows. On June 2nd, Steve and Caroline will celebrate their first wedding anniversary and are thinking of getting away to a local spa resort to mark the date in style.

Paul Wheeler is still in a holding pattern when it comes to the band he has been involved with, the Shock Poets. Their album has just been finished and a release date is pending. There is no title at this time. Paul isn't just sitting on his kit, though. He has been playing gigs about Sydney with Vince Stone and is rehearsing to go on tour with the latest Top Ten wonder, Max Sharam. Max just had a hit with her single "Coma" and plans to tour Oz in June. If all goes well and the planning is right, Paul will be there drumming for Max. Fans can also look for Paul on "Hey, Hey, It's Saturday" and "McFeast" for performances with Max Sharam. The Shock Poets, however, may tour in June, as well. If so, they will be headed towards the UK. So we have decided to set Paul up on an auction black and whoever gives the highest bid can have him. Do we hear $5000 to start? Max? Iva? Gary? We've always felt that Paul's talent made him stand out from the crowd - Iva feels the same way about Paul, too - and this tug of war proves it!

Paul Gildea has been in the studio working with some "up and comers." He is also writing songs with the sax player from Kate Ceberano's band. His other activities include working in a duo with a fellow musician called Peter Miller. One of Paul's main focuses is his three and a half year old son, Oliver! Paul and Oliver had a wonderful Easter together, including an Easter egg hunt in the rain and another hunt for the Easter Bunny's tracks. Unfortunately, the rain had washed them away…

David Chapman is making quite a success out of his new studio, Zig Zag Lane. He is finding making regular money quite a novelty! He, too, has been working in his studio and labels it "just fiddling about." This "fiddling" has included the drumming talents of Paul Wheeler. David has also been involved with the Berlin project. He had a hand in doing some string arrangements. On a sad note, Judas, the dog whose name was given as the title to one of the Big Wheel songs, has recently had a tumor removed from her leg. The doctors are watching her very closely for the next six months, hoping all will be well.

Iva Davies is hard at work in the studio, putting together the music for Berlin. Work on the music continues with the help and talent of Max Lambert. There are no song titles to report at the moment because Iva's policy is to keep it quiet due to the fact that he's not sure himself what songs will find their way into Berlin! He says some of the songs he chooses get to a certain point and he discovers that he can't sing them. "The reason for that is they're not my songs. Normally, the way I work with my things, I build a backing track and then I sing them. Because I'm hearing my lines then it's fine, it all sort of works because it's built around my voice. The problem is when I try to do that with somebody else's song it's not until I get to the eleventh hour and actually sing them I go 'oh, that was a complete waste of time. I can't sing that.' So my policy at the moment is to attack lots of songs, do them quickly to get them to that point, and see where they work. If they don't work, then it's not such a major drama." Iva says the plan is to have extra material which can be released on what he terms "multi packages." The bad news is, as always, the WAIT! Iva does not foresee there being anything available for release until August or September. The storyline for the ballet has not been completed at this time. That will be mapped out by Iva, Max Lambert, and Graeme Murphy. Which members of the band will be appearing in Berlin is still up in the air. Iva says the band will definitely include himself and Max. He hopes to have an acoustic guitarist and a cellist.

Iva is also in the process of listening to several bands in the Sydney area with the idea in mind of producing them. Keith Welsh has been involved with this as well, and for the first time in a long time Iva Davies and Keith Welsh can be seen in the late night hours in little pubs, looking for the next big thing. Wouldn't it be great for them to bring along John Lloyd and Anthony Smith… maybe, one night, Flowers could bloom again…

Keith is also now the marketing mastermind behind Berlin, at least as far as Iva's involvement is concerned. It's Keith's job to make sure all the right people are exposed to Berlin. Where the Sydney Dance Company might not think to invite radio programmers to a preview rehearsal, Keith will make sure they are there. He also has some ideas up his sleeve for marketing Berlin to give it maximum exposure. Keith will be involved with Berlin for at least the next year.

Tonia is still very busy passing on her dancing talents to her students at Dynamite Studios in Sydney. Brynn is becoming quite the little young lady. A recent conversation with our Australian representative was briefly interrupted by the delighted sounds of Brynn calling out "Da da! Da da!" Grandpa and Grandma Davies have a poster of Iva from the Man Of Colours era on their wall and Brynn spotted it. She has also been drawing with her Grandmother Davies, who plans on saving all of Brynn's artwork and framing it. Her grandmother should know what farmable art is, having just sold well over $2000 worth of artwork (framed very nicely by our Aussie rep) in one weekend in Sydney!! Congratulations, Mrs. Davies!!!

Iva will continue to work on Berlin and we will try to keep everyone updated on the possible release dates and television appearances. There is a lot to look forward to coming from the talent and imagination that is Iva Davies!

…and that's what's happenin'!