The Icicle Works

The Icicle Works

The Icicle Works are a British alternative rock group from Liverpool, formed in 1980 by Ian McNabb, Chris Layhe and Chris Sharrock. The original trio is associated with Liverpool’s early 1980s neo-psychedelia scene, alongside acts such as Echo & the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes. The band takes its name from the 1960 short story The Day The Icicle Works Closed by Frederik Pohl.

Formation and original line-up

McNabb forms the group as singer, songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist, while Sharrock plays drums and Layhe plays bass and percussion. McNabb and Sharrock have already played together intermittently since McNabb is nine years old, and Layhe joins after recruitment through a classified advertisement. By the end of 1981, the band records a six-song cassette released independently.

Early releases and breakthrough

The Icicle Works release the independent single Nirvana in 1982. The following year they sign to Beggars Banquet, which issues Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream) on its Situation Two label. Later in 1983 they score their biggest UK hit with Love Is a Wonderful Colour. Their debut album, also called The Icicle Works, follows in 1984 and reaches number 24 on the UK charts, while also entering the US top 40. A retitled and slightly remixed version of Whisper to a Scream also reaches the US top 40 and the Canadian top twenty.

Later 1980s albums and line-up changes

The band’s second album, The Small Price of a Bicycle, appears in 1985 and does not produce hit singles. If You Want to Defeat Your Enemy Sing His Song follows in 1987, and Blind in 1988; both are released in the UK and North America and generate minor hits. Over time the group’s sound shifts from an early new wave style towards a more direct rock approach influenced by Neil Young, The Doors and the Ramones. McNabb writes most of the material and, by 1988, also produces the records.

Sharrock leaves after Blind and later plays with The La’s, World Party, Oasis, Beady Eye, The Lightning Seeds, Robbie Williams, Del Amitri and Eurythmics. Layhe also departs, and Beggars Banquet drops the group. Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr, briefly plays drums as McNabb continues with a changing line-up. This later formation includes Roy Corkill on bass, Paul Burgess on drums, Dave Baldwin on keyboards and Mark Revell on backing vocals, and releases Permanent Damage in 1990 on Epic/Sony. The album does not chart, and the band then breaks up.

Reformations and later activity

After the original band ends, Ian McNabb begins a solo career in 1991 with the single Great Dreams of Heaven. A compilation, The Best of The Icicle Works, appears in 1992, followed two years later by a live recording of a 1987 concert. McNabb revives The Icicle Works name in 2006 for concerts and an album, with no original members other than himself, and reforms the band again in 2011 for a tour marking the group’s 30th anniversary.