Nick Nicely

Nick Nicely—real name Nick Laurien—is a studio-based musician from London, UK (though born in Greenland), mainly active during the early 80s. Although often described as psychedelic, his music is not retro and has little in common with paisley revivalist bands.

Nick’s first single in 1980 was the classic D.C.T. Dreams—a trippy but catchy electro-pop single that received a lot of airplay but did not chart in the UK, although it reached number 32 in Holland. A follow-up—the more overtly psychedelic Hilly Fields (1892)—came out in January 1982, but was less successful. It did, however, provide inspiration for many psychedelic revivalist bands who lacked Nick’s forward-looking approach and might better not have bothered. A third single, On The Coast, was never released due to Nick’s unhappiness with the production, and Nick Nicely disappeared.

In 2003, a vinyl album, Psychotropia was released, featuring the A and B sides of all three singles plus studio work recorded between 1978 and 2003. An expanded edition was released on CD by Castle Music in 2004.

Re-released on Cherry Red Records: (Code: CRSEG014)
Described by the NME at the time of its 1982 release as “the best psychedelic record made since the ’60s”, ‘Hilly Fields (1892)’ is widely accepted as a cult masterpiece, influencing the likes of Robyn Hitchcock and Bevis Frond as well as inspiring Andy Partridge to come up with XTC’s retro-psych alter egos, the Dukes of Stratosphear.