Ice Man

A-Side: Ice Man
B-Side: Whisper Her Name (Maria Laine)

Record label: Decca F 12749
Producer: Deke Arlon & Ian Green

Released: 01/03/68

Ice weren’t around very long and their two singles are impossibly rare, so too was any vintage music press acknowledgment. So who were they? Ice came literally out of nowhere. Many people have assumed they were session guys but the band did in fact exist!

Formed while at Sussex university the group consisted of Glyn James (vocals), Steve Turner (guitar), Lynton Naiff (organ), John Carter (bass) and Grant Serpell (drums).

Quickly securing a contract with Decca in 1967, they took their Procol Harum inspired Hammond organ sound and created “Anniversary (Of Love)” / “So Many Times” (Decca F 12680) released during October 1967, followed by the equally groovy pop psychedelia “Ice Man” / “Whisper Her Name (Maria Laine)”.

Released in March 1968, “Ice Man” deserved so much better than the indifference it seemingly endured although the song was afforded the luxury of a promotional clip on the London and South East TV station, Rediffusion, most probably on Mike Mansfield’s New Release show.

In a five month period during 1967/68, Ice recorded several sessions for the BBC, and were joined on one occasion by Linda Hoyle, a strident Julie Driscoll soundalike. By 1969, with Hoyle now a fully-fledged member, Ice had changed their name to Affinity and shifted musical direction towards the jazzier end of the progressive spectrum.

People promised me great things from Ice with “Ice Man,” which has some nice things going on but is just a good ordinary record for all that. (Disc & Music Echo, 02/03/68)

Where to find Ice

Since the 1980s Ice have appeared on numerous psychedelic compilations with their songs featured on Bam Caruso’s ‘Rubble’ and ‘The British Psychedlic Trip’ LP on See For Miles. More recently the single “Ice Man” and “Whisper Her Name (Maria Laine)” was officially re-issued by Acme Records as part of their ‘Great British Psychedelic Box’ Volume 1.

Perhaps the best place to discover the recordings of Ice are on a couple of CD retrospectives. Back in 2005 Angel Air Records released ‘Ice Man’, a compilation representing the total recorded output, including those BBC recordings mentioned above.

In 2025 Florida based re-issue label Think Like A Key, more or less duplicated the Angel Air release with updated liner notes.