The Associates (band)

Billy Mackenzie and guitarist Alan Rankine met in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1976 and formed the cabaret duo the Ascorbic Ones,[3] although Rankine claimed that this was "a fantasy band that Bill and I dreamt up to give ourselves a past".[4] In 1978, they recorded songs as Mental Torture before changing the name to the Associates.[4]

Disappointed that their early recordings were not getting picked up, Mackenzie concocted the stunt of doing a cover of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging", without copyright permission, just six weeks after Bowie's version hit the UK Top 10.[4] Released in June 1979, this debut Associates single reached No. 15 in Record Mirror's Scottish chart and gained them airplay on John Peel's Radio One show.[4] MacKenzie later said that the band recorded the Bowie song "to prove the point. It was a strange way of proving it, but it worked. People said, 'That is awful. How dare they!'"[5] The ensuing attention earned them a contract with Fiction Records, and their debut album, The Affectionate Punch, followed on 1 August 1980.[1]

A string of 1981 non-album singles on the label Situation Two were compiled as Fourth Drawer Down, released that October.[6] These releases saw the band develop an interest in experimenting with unorthodox instrumentation and recording techniques, including sounds being amplified through the tube of a vacuum cleaner on the track "Kitchen Person". Also in 1981, Rankine and Mackenzie released a version of "Kites" under the name 39 Lyon Street, with Christine Beveridge on lead vocals. The B-side, "A Girl Named Property" (a remake of "Mona Property Girl" from the "Boys Keep Swinging" single), 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 No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart.[3] Two other hits followed, "Club Country" and "18 Carat Love Affair". On 14 May 1982, the band released their most commercially successful album, Sulk. Martha Ladly, of Martha and the Muffins, contributed backing vocals and keyboards to this album.

Mackenzie performing in 1985

Rankine left the band in 1982 just before the Sulk tour. This proved disastrous for the band's career; the band was being courted by Seymour Stein of Sire Records, but without MacKenzie's willingness to tour, Stein lost interest.[7] Mackenzie continued to write and record music under the name Associates until 1990. The albums Perhaps, The Glamour Chase (which the record company refused to release, considering it not commercially viable; it was later released on a two-disc set with Perhaps) and Wild and Lonely were recorded during this period. However, recordings were sporadic and subsequent Associates records failed to reach the charts in the UK and sold far fewer than their early albums.

The Associates name was eventually put to rest, and Mackenzie released an electronica-influenced solo album Outernational in 1992 with limited success.[8]

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.[8] Between 1987 and 1992, Mackenzie 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. Mackenzie contributed to three Yello albums: One Second (1987), Flag (1988) and Baby (1991). Some tracks for The Glamour Chase and Outernational were recorded with Boris Blank at Yello's recording studio.[8]

Rankine later became a lecturer in music at Stow College in Glasgow, and worked with Belle and Sebastian on their 1996 debut album, Tigermilk.

Mackenzie committed suicide in 1997 at age 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, in 2004, reconstructed and expanded with new unreleased songs into the two albums Auchtermatic and Transmission Impossible.[9]

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 continued, reissuing almost every Associates album, including a 25th anniversary edition of The Affectionate Punch in 2005. In addition to the original albums, two compilation albums were 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 caught up with post-1990 material and included the cover of Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging". In 2002, The Glamour Chase (recorded in the years 1985–87) was finally released as a set titled The Glamour Chase & Perhaps. Finally, Wild and Lonely and Mackenzie's solo album Outernational were repackaged with bonus tracks in 2006.

The Tom Doyle book The Glamour Chase: The Maverick Life of Billy Mackenzie, first published in 1998 and reissued in 2011, documented the band's career and Mackenzie's subsequent life.[10]

• Fourth Drawer Down (1981), Situation Two
• Popera (1990), EastWest Records[22]
• The Radio 1 Sessions (1994), Nighttracks[22]
• Double Hipness (2000), V2 Records[22]
• The Glamour Chase & Perhaps (2002), Warner Strategic Marketing[22]
• The Radio One Sessions Volume One 1981-1983 (2003), Strange Fruit Records[22]
• The Radio One Sessions Vol. 2 1984-1985 (2003), Strange Fruit Records[22]
• Singles (2004), Warner Strategic Marketing[22]
• The Very Best Of (2016), Union Square Music/Metro Select[22]

• Poperetta (1991), EastWest Records[23]

• "Aggressive and Ninety Pounds" (as 'The Associates featuring Billy Mackenzie') on Mad Mix II cassette (1983), NME[27]