The first of three Ice labels from the 1970s. This one was run by David Kent-Watson's 'Indigo Studios' in Manchester; its name was derived from Indigo Commercial Enterprises. Indigo had previously put records out on the 'Indigo' label (q.v.) and it also had a label called 'Indigo Sound', which seems to have been for custom recordings as opposed to commercial ones. 'Music Week' of the 26th of December 1977 reported that there was a legal dispute between this Ice and those of Eddy Grant and Anchor Records with regard to the use of the 'Ice' name. According to the report David Kent-Watson was taking legal advice and was looking for a major label to handle his 'Ice'. Sadly, that development appears not to have taken place; despite an inconclusive legal verdict this Ice and the Anchor one disappeared, leaving the field clear for that of Eddy Grant - see the other two 'Ice' pages on this site. The Therapy single pictured above , Strawberries And Sweet Desire' b/w 'Grandfather Clock' (ICE-2), came out in June 1976 via distributors H.R. Taylor and is a summery Folk-Rock sort of thing, vaguely reminiscent of Steeleye Span. Therapy (Dave Shannon and Fiona Simpson) were a popular duo in Folk clubs; they released several albums privately before gaining 'mainstream' outlets through DJM and Logo. My thanks to David Kent-Watson, who has been kind enough to solve the mystery of the first Ice single by revealing that it was a white-label promo-only single by Mel Dean, 'Country Joe And Mickey Finn' b/w 'Down On The Farm'. It was eventually licensed to DJM and issued as DJS-636 (2/76).
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.