I'm upset about this. Just as I was upset about Terry Hall. It's all getting rather close to home now. Prominent figures from what I will always consider to be the Golden Age of Pop, my time 1979-82, are heading for the exit and Keith Richard is still alive. Not that I bear any ill will towards Keith Richard. But it doesn't make sense somehow.
The Associates had one particularly Golden Year. 1982. Their stuff was always pretty good. Before Sulk, and afterwards when Rankine left Billy Mackenzie to his own devices. But 1982 was the year when they showed the world what could be with done with talent, invention and bravery. Fantastically creative and leftfield Pop could be made and hit the charts without a shred of compromise or dilution.
The Associates had three big hit singles and were on Top of the Pops numerous times that year, with each performance more extraordinary than the last. Mackenzie and Rankine were two of the most incredibly good looking Pop stars there have ever been and they had tunes and atmosphere a-plenty to go with it.
There were other members of the band. Michael Dempsey, once of The Cure. One of the Marthas from The Muffins. But Associates were essentially about Mackenzie and Rankine. I get the impression that Rankine was largely responsible for the arrangements, Mackenzie for the astonishing vocals and lyrics. I might be wrong.
Sulk was released in May '82 I was cramming, and frankly only half-heartedly for my O Levels. I bought it soon afterwards. But not before attending one of my first teenage parties at one of my best friends Ben Watson's house on Richmond Hill. Ben is no longer with us which tinges my memories of that night with much sadness. He was one of the good guys.
A mutual friend, Garth Dixon, who wonderfully is, brought his single copy of Party Fears Two to the party and played it. It sounded other worldly playing across the room of teenagers, behaving as teenagers do. The memory and the song has an incredible quality still for me, calling me back to my youth.
For me Party Fears Two is the moment when Associates became more than a great band and ascended to the gods. It's one of the most utterly gloriously strange Top Ten singles there's ever been. Sure, there were obvious precedents for them and this. Sparks most immediately, and they obviously adored Bowie. But even Bowie never sung quite like this, and the tune and lyrics were things to die for.
Associates were divisive. Everybody watched Top of the Pops and I remember our lovely Latin teacher Mrs. Richardson saying, 'What was that?' on a Friday morning to a group of us before school, and not in a complimentary way. Mackenzie's voice is a litmus test but I fell straight for it and so did many of the people I've met since. It's always a pleasure to meet an Associates fan and discuss just how remarkable they were.
The band had two more wonderful hits in the months after this. Club Country, reputedly about a mental home in their home town Dundee. Kids were fascinated with mental homes. Then 18 Carat Love Affair which they'd rewritten from Arrogance Gave Him Up the instrumental opening track of Sulk.
Sulk was the icing on the cake. Housed in a fabulous sleeve with Mackenzie and Rankine reclining splendidly in a gloriously lurid and colourful hothouse, with looks on their faces that were not smug exactly but fully knowing of what they'd just done. It was a record apart.
Rankine was gone soon after 18 Carat Love Affair and despite Mackenzie's incredible talent Associates were never quite the same. He needed Rankine. Billy died in the Nineties, a truly tragic suicide because he couldn't cope with the loss of his mother. He'll be remembered though. As will Rankine. All of their records are worth hearing. Garth still swears by Affectionate Punch. For me it's Sulk. Listen to them both if you haven't heard them. They're an experience not quite like any other, whether you happen to like them or not.
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