Thanks to the wonders of the world wide web, I have a more eclectic music collection than I ever could have imagined, and diversity among my music was always a goal. I still have my clear particular favorite sounds and certain genres have only slight representation, but I have stuff in my iTunes that still sort of boggles my mind whenever it shuffles up. For example, thanks to a generous soul who used to employ fair use of his possessions to share some music on a regular basis, I have a copy of a 1969 single by a band called the Amazing Pickles. The name of track could be my credo (well, one of them anyway): “I Like Ice Cream.”

I know almost nothing about the band or the song beyond the little bit shared in the original blog post about it. A Google search yields almost nothing. In fact, the last time I wrote about it, again largely conceding ignorance about its origins, shows up on the front page of searches. There’s simply not a lot of expertise out there about the Amazing Pickles.

But that dearth of information doesn’t really matter. There’s so much attention paid to histories, band dynamics and exactly where a song fits into the trajectory of a career, that the music can get lost. Sometimes it’s nice just to listen to something, silly, playful and catchy. That’s the beauty of bubblegum pop. No one cared about the interpersonal dynamic of the Archies, after all. Why should it be any different for the Amazing Pickles. All we need to know is that they once took a stand. They like ice cream. I’m sure every one of us can relate to that.

The Amazing Pickles, “I Like Ice Cream”

(Disclaimer: Having given due credit to the stranger I acquired this from in a hyperlink above, I should note that I’m sharing this, as I’m sure he did originally, with the understanding that doing so will not harm the fiscal status of the artist that recorded the song or the label that released it. Nor do I believe I have stopped anyone in their tracks who was about to rush out to their favorite local, independently-owned record store to spend hard-earned dollars on a record or CD that contains this song. If someone with due authority to request the song’s removal contacts me with such a request, I will gladly comply and strike the track from its new place on the interweb. In fact, I hope that individual or entity does contact me. I’d like to know more about the Amazing Pickles.)