The Associates were a know as a Scottish Post Punk and New Wave band of the early 1980s. They were well known for the operatic voice and theatrical antics of the bands singer Billy Mackenzine. MacKenzie and guitarist Alan Rankine met in Dundee in 1976 and formed the cabaret duo The Ascorbic Ones. By the end of 1979 they had changed their name to The Associates.
The band had a couple of early single releases that genarated interest especially their debut single, a cover of David Bowies ‘Boys Keep Swinging’ which was released before Bowies version. The band's breakthrough came in 1982 with the release of the single "Party Fears Two." An unusual song but one that benefited greatly with the high singing style used. The single release was buoyed along by the popularity of synthpop at the time, helping the song make it to number 9 on the UK singles chart. Two other hits soon followed, "18 Carat Love Affair", and "Club Country". That year the band released what is widely regarded as their masterpiece album Sulk, an album which exacted comparisons with Brian Wilsons’s production style. To this day Sulk is impossible to describe genre wise. It was largely conceived in an amphetamine induced frenzy, reflected in its watery and dense production style which is held to be remarkably different from almost any other record from the era. Billy Mackenzine had been suffering clinical depresion for years but shortly before his reputed comback he committed suicide in 1997 aged 39 following the death of his mother.
I dont think there was a video made for the Party Fears Two single. The one that mostly gets played is the performance that the band did on B A Robertson chat show which I think was from the states. I had this but can not find it again. Instead you can see a live performance of the song from Dutch TV.
You can follow the link and download the followingDutch TV PerformanceLive TV PerformanceDemo Version Album VersionEnjoy
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2ccb7d0cd98a6267aaca48175a79d1c388628854b01186895be6ba49b5870170
The Associates released their third single entitled 'A' in 1981.
'Breakfast' was the 15th single and was taken from the Associates' 1985 album 'Perhaps'.
The 13th single releasaed by The Associates was entitled 'Those First Impressions'.
In 1982 the Associates released their critical aclaimed album Sulk. Sulk is by far The Associates best album. It shows the band molding itself from a post-punk band into a band that fuses post-punk influences and synth-pop influences into something beautiful. The album features some extremely upbeat songs, and also some extremely gloomy songs. However, this album is difficult to define and pigenhole but still holds up well today. The following link will take you to the album that includes some additional tracks as it was re-released in 2000. Enjoy.
The Associates were a know as a Scottish Post Punk and New Wave band of the early 1980s. They were well known for the operatic voice and theatrical antics of the bands singer Billy Mackenzine. MacKenzie and guitarist Alan Rankine met in Dundee in 1976 and formed the cabaret duo The Ascorbic Ones. By the end of 1979 they had changed their name to The Associates.
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