Words In Motion
Spellbound - Vol II Iss III
© September 1995

From Sean F., Seven Hills, NSW, Australia -
I'm hopeful that someone out there may know the answers to the following questions:
Was there a video clip of Weird Al Yankovic sending up a number of popular songs, including "Crazy," in 1988?
Why do the credits to Razorback list a "Hey Little Girl" video segment when it is not in the film?
Did Flowers ever perform as a backing band for Geoff Duff in the late 70's?
Get Iva to write an article about classical music - what he likes, what would be a good introduction into classical music for those of us interested.
Spellbound -
Yes, there was a Weird Al parody of "Crazy" around that time. Weird Al Yankovic had a short-lived spot on MTV as a guest video disc jockey. On his show, he played videos and inserted bits of his brand of comedy in between. For "Crazy," he showed the first minute of the video (showing Iva in the radio station and driving the Jeep), and did a voice-over of what he thought was going through Iva's head at the time.
Neville Davies' answer -
The video segment of "Hey Little Girl" probably occurs in one of the shots where a TV is playing in the background of the set, but bear in mind that film editing could have eliminated such a brief shot somewhere along the line.
Spellbound -
We assume from this that even if the video clip does not appear in the film, legally the credit must still be shown.
Neville Davies' answer -
Yes, for one brief tour by Geoff Duff during the late '70s, Flowers was engaged as the backing for him. As an interesting sequel to this was that years later during the emergence of the Man Of Colours album, Geoff Duff performed as a support act for at least one of the Icehouse concerts.
Iva's answer -
It would take some time to write such an article on classical music but it is worth reminding me later… to start with something beautiful try to get a listen to Samuel Barber's "Adagio" for string quartet, Robert Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia of a Theme by Thomas Tallis," the "Adagietto" from Gustav Mahler's 5th Symphony, and the Prelude from Richard Wagner's Opera "Tristan and Isolde"… very beautiful music.

From Macy M., Honolulu, HI, USA -
Iva's anecdotes were a definite must to read - and I enjoyed them all thoroughly. I must say, I find it so difficult to believe that the lyrics for "Stay Close Tonight" were actually written over a bowl of spaghetti?! Must have been "some spaghetti!" Iva is an amazing talent. His lyrics paint the most beautiful pictures my mind has ever seen. "Stay Close Tonight" is just one example. I love that song, and every word that is a part of it. What exactly was Iva thinking of when he wrote it?
Neville Davies' answer -
Sometimes the lyrics of a song are based on a quite definite story. A good example of this would be "Charlie's Sky" from the Code Blue album, where the basic story is a very real one. However, not all poems are narrative poems and the same applies to song lyrics. "Stay Close Tonight" is really just another love song and these are usually composed from a fund of knowledge gained by the writer from various sources, from reading, listening, imagining, and some personal experiencing. If he concocts a story on which to base a song it is usually rather vague and quite hypothetical. On the other hand, if there is a definite story behind any of his love songs, he just mightn't reveal it!

From Thomas L., Viersen, Germany -
What was the greatest concert that Icehouse ever played?
Neville Davies' answer -
There is no easy answer to this one. It probably depends on your idea of greatness: size of audience, audience response, acclaim by the critics, quality of performance, etc. Probably, the biggest live audience Icehouse has played before was the fifty thousand at the Milton Keys Oval in England on 3rd July, 1983, but that was as a support act on David Bowie's Serious Moonlight Tour. However, for the Night Of Colours concert at Elder Park, Adelaide, in 1988, Icehouse drew a crowd of more than forty thousand in their own right. Probably the viewing audiences for some of the televised concerts could be even larger than either of these. Any of the other criteria would be matters of individual personal judgment; however, the following list includes some of the more notable ones which should be good contenders for a Top 20 chart.

Wanda Beach, Sydney, open air concert. January 1981.
Dunedin, New Zealand. 9th December 1982.
Dortmund, Germany. May 1984.
The Ritz, New York. 14th August 1986.
Madison Square Garden, New York. October 1987.
Melbourne Music Show. 13th February 1988.
Night Of Colours concert, Adelaide. 4th March 1988.
World Expo '88, Brisbane. 29th July 1988.
Sydney Entertainment Centre. 10th March 1989.
MTV/Channel 9 studio concert. 9th November 1990.
AusMusic '90, Sydney Entertainment Centre. 24th November 1990.
Caroline Bay Soundshell, Timaru, New Zealand. 19th February 1991.

From Rana S., Kirkland, WA, USA -
Have you seen this before? I found it in the Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: 1955 to Present -
ICEHOUSE - Australian rock quartet led by singer/guitarist Iva Davies. First known as Flowers. "Icehouse" is Australian slang for an insane asylum.
I don't know 'bout you, but this sure is news to me. I'm just curious if this so-called slang was pre- or post-Icehouse? Iva must appreciate it. Oh well, I hope you have a good chuckle!
Neville Davies' answer -
Not as far as anyone in the band Icehouse is aware, but then they don't claim to be the ultimate authority on Australian slang. We know of "nuthouse" and "rathouse" being used as synonyms for insane asylums, but "icehouse" - no, not really. The song "Icehouse" was inspired by two old and rather forbidding mansions in the Sydney suburb of Lindfield. One of these was being used at the time as a rehabilitation centre for drug affected and mental illness patients. This has been stated in some press articles on Icehouse of the early '80s and this information could possibly have been misinterpreted into the Billboard statement.