Associates (duo)

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Associates
Origin Scotland
Genres Post-Punk
New Wave
Years active 1980–1990, 1993 (Reunion)
Labels Fiction (1980-1981), WEA (1982-1988), Circa Records (1989-present)

The Associates were a Scottish post-punk and new wave band of the early 1980s. They were well known for the operatic voice and theatrical antics of singer Billy Mackenzie who committed suicide in 1997.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] 1979–1982: Associates mk. 1

Mackenzie and guitarist Alan Rankine met in Dundee in 1976 and formed the cabaret duo The Ascorbic Ones. In 1979 they recorded songs under the name of Mental Torture before finally changing their name to The Associates. They then recorded their debut single, a cover of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging". Their version attracted a good deal of attention, not least from David Bowie, as it was released in June 1979 just six weeks after Bowie's version had hit the UK top ten in April. A string of highly regarded singles were released and two albums The Affectionate Punch (which inspired bands such as U2[citation needed]) and Fourth Drawer Down. In 1981 Rankine and MacKenzie also released a version of "Kites" under the name "39 Lyon Street" with Christine Beverage on lead vocals, the b-side track "A Girl Named Property" was credited to The Associates. The band's breakthrough came in 1982 with the release of the single "Party Fears Two". Buoyed along by the popularity of synthpop at the time, the song reached number 9 on the UK singles chart. Two other hits soon followed, "Club Country" and "18 Carat Love Affair". That year the band released their most commercially successful album, Sulk, an album which exacted comparisons with Brian Wilson's production style.[citation needed]

[edit] 1983–1990: Associates mk. 2 and commercial decline

Rankine left the band in 1982 just before the Sulk tour. This proved disastrous in terms of the band's career, in particular as the band were being actively courted by Seymour Stein who thought they could become massive stars in the USA. Mackenzie recorded continued to write and record music under the Associates name until 1990. The albums Perhaps, The Glamour Chase (which the record company refused to release, considering it not commercially viable) and Wild and Lonely were made during this period. However, without the guiding hand of Rankine, recordings were sporadic and subsequent Associates records failed to reach the charts in the UK and sold far fewer than their early albums.

[edit] 1991–present: split and aftermath

The Associates name was put to rest and Mackenzie released the electronica-influenced solo album Outernational in 1992 with limited success. In 1993 Mackenzie and Rankine began working on new material together: news of an Associates revival generated hype and speculation of a tour and the demos recorded by the two were promising. However Mackenzie was not fully committed to the reunion and especially touring with it so Associates split for a final time. Mackenzie went back to his solo work, signing a deal with Nude Records and finding a new collaborative partner in Steve Aungle. Between 1987 and 1992 Billy worked with Swiss avant-garde outfit Yello. MacKenzie wrote the lyrics of the song "The Rhythm Divine" performed by Shirley Bassey on the album One Second, with MacKenzie singing backing vocals. Billy contributed to 3 Yello albums One Second (1987) Flag (1988) and Baby (1991) lending backing vocals to many album tracks and single releases as well as lead vocals to the songs "Moon On Ice", "The Rhythm Divine", "Capri Calling" and "Call It Love (Trego Snare Version II)". Some tracks for The Glamour Chase and Outernational were recorded with Boris Blank at Yello's studio. MacKenzie committed suicide in 1997 aged 39, shortly after the death of his mother. He had been suffering from clinical depression. He was contemplating a comeback at the time with material co-written with Aungle. The albums Beyond the Sun (1997) and Eurocentric (2000) were released posthumously and re-constructed (and expanded with new unreleased songs) in 2004 into two albums: Auchtermatic and Transmission Impossible. A couple of songs subsequently recorded by friends of Mackenzie reflect the sadness and the feeling of missed opportunities caused by his death: The Cure's 2001 single "Cut Here", and The Creatures' "Say" (1999).

Rankine is now a lecturer in music at Stow College in Glasgow, and worked with Belle & Sebastian on their debut album, Tigermilk in 1996. The book "The Glamour Chase" by Tom Doyle documents the band's career and MacKenzie's subsequent life.

Before Mackenzie's death almost all Associates records had been deleted. Former band member Michael Dempsey and the Mackenzie estate began a reissue programme to make sure the band's legacy continues. Almost every Associates album has been re-issued so far, including a 25-Anniversary edition of The Affectionate Punch in 2005.

In addition to the original albums, two compilations have been released: Double Hipness (2000), a collection of early tracks with the 1993 reunion demos and Singles (2004), an extended version of Popera - The singles collection which catches up with post-1990 material and includes the cover of Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging". In 2002, The Glamour Chase (recorded in the years 1985-87) was eventually released. Finally, Wild & Lonely and Mackenzie's solo album Outernational were repackaged with bonus tracks in 2006.

The Smiths song "William It Was Really Nothing" is often erroneously said to be a tribute from lead singer Steven Morrissey to Mackenzie. In 1993 Mackenzie recorded "Stephen, You're Really Something," later released on the 2000 compilation Double Hipness, which is often cited as confirmation of the rumour. However, statements from Morrissey himself, the misspelling of the first name, and the fact that Mackenzie did not actually pen the song seem to dispel any such rumours.

Artists who have covered "Party Fears Two" include The Divine Comedy and Dan Bryk.

An instrumental section of "Party Fears Two" was used as the theme music for the long-running BBC Radio 4 satirical current affairs series Week Ending.

The instrumental piano passage from the "Nocturne VII" track (which appeared on the posthumous "Beyond The Sun" CD) was used in the BBC series "Masterchef" in November 2009.

An edited version of "Club Country" appears in the second series finale of the BBC drama Ashes to Ashes, set in 1982.

A 4.40 edited version of "Club Country" also appears on the V2 CD issue of Sulk,, which despite having seven extra tracks failed to include the original 5.32 version of "Club Country" from the original 1982 album release.

[edit] Band members

Note: There are many other instrumentalists who augmented Associates through their tenure but not all are known especially on earlier demos etc.

  • Billy Mackenzie - vocals
  • Alan Rankine - guitars, keyboards and other instruments (1977-1982, 1993 for reunion)
  • Michael Dempsey (formerly of The Cure) - bass guitar (1980-1982)
  • John Murphy (later of SPK and Death In June) - drums (1980-81)
  • Steve Goulding (formerly of Graham Parker & the Rumour and later of the Mekons) - drums (1982-1983)
  • Howard Hughes was a longtime friend of Billy Mackenzie and played keyboards live and on his later albums Perhaps, The Glamour Chase and Wild and Lonely.
  • Steve Reid was a longtime friend of Billy Mackenzie and played guitar on Perhaps.
  • Roberto Soave - bass (1983-1985)
  • Moritz Von Oswald - drums (1985 onwards), percussion on "Wild and Lonely": also composed some songs on Outernational.
  • Anne Dudley of Art of Noise - strings on Wild and Lonely.
  • Martha Ladly (previously of Martha and the Muffins) - keyboards and vocals on Sulk.
  • Robert Smith (lead singer of The Cure) - backing vocals on "The Affectionate Punch".
  • Jim Russell - drums (1984)
  • Ian McIntosh - guitars, live and radio sessions after Rankine left, (1982-1985)
  • Martin Lowe - live guitars, (1982)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums and compilations

  • The Affectionate Punch (Fiction, 1980)
  • Fourth Drawer Down (Situation Two, 1981)
  • Sulk (WEA, 1982)
  • The Affectionate Punch (Remixed) (Fiction, 1982)
  • Perhaps (WEA, 1985)
  • The Glamour Chase (WEA, 1988) - but unreleased until 2003
  • Wild and Lonely (circa 1990)
  • Popera (WEA East West, 1990)
  • The Radio 1 Sessions (Nighttracks, 1994)
  • Double Hipness (V2, 2000)
  • Radio 1 Sessions Volume 1;1981-83 (Strange Fruit, 2003)
  • Radio 1 Sessions Volume 2;1984-85 (Strange Fruit, 2003)
  • Singles (Warners, 2004)

[edit] Singles

  • "Boys Keep Swinging" (Double Hip, 1979)
  • "The Affectionate Punch" (Fiction, 1980)
  • "A" (Fiction, 1981)
  • "Q Quarters" (Situation Two, 1981)
  • "Tell Me Easter's on Friday" (Situation Two, 1981)
  • "Kites" [as 39 Lyon Street] (1981)
  • "Kitchen Person" (Situation Two, 1981)
  • "Message Oblique Speech" (Situation Two, 1981)
  • "White Car in Germany" (Situation Two, 1981)
  • "Party Fears Two" (WEA, 1982) UK #9
  • "Club Country" (WEA, 1982) UK #13
  • "18 Carat Love Affair/Love Hangover" (WEA, 1982) UK #21
  • "A Matter Of Gender" (Fiction, 1982)(Affectionate Punch Remix Version)

" "Those First Impressions" (1984) UK #43

  • "Waiting for the Love Boat" (1984) UK #53
  • "Breakfast" (1984) UK #49
  • "Take Me to the Girl" (1985) UK #95
  • "Heart of Glass" (1988) UK #56
  • "Country Boy" (WEA, 1989 - withdrawn)
  • "Fever" (1990) UK #81
  • "Fire to Ice" (1990) UK #92
  • "Just Can't Say Goodbye" (1990) UK #79

[edit] Unreleased tracks (as Strange News)

  • "Sinking Deeper"
  • "The Hungry Look"

[edit] Collaborations

[edit] External links

[edit] References

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