The Associates: Have the years been kind?

Always been a really big fan of of the B-side, You Were Young. It's as good as anything on The Affectionate Punch.

Agree about A Matter of Gender. Another AP highlight. There isn't a weak song on there really.

Hello.

In May 1982 the French TV presenter Alain Maneval came to London to film The Associates for his show Megahertz. The band performed ‘Party Fears Two’ and ‘Club Country’ at the Kensington Roof Gardens, London. The show was broadcast and the tapes disappeared into a French film archive. They are now available for the first time in 34 years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww2AYxrPqkk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i38fCDsrKIg

Nice!

<3 Billy

Just wonderful. I could spend ages watching Billy performances like that. What a man!

20 years since Billy died today. Definitely going to be playing some of his/their stuff loud today.

Me too. Not that I need any excuse to listen to this band!

Will line 'Sulk' up next. Twenty years!

I'm on a bit of Nude Spoons right now.

The closing massed choir vocal on "Party Fears Two" is one of the most spine tingling moments in music ever

Indeed. The song is already incredible but that last minute takes it up to another level. My favourite song of all time.

Speaking of spine tingling moments, I got a nice surprise when I went into one of my local record shops on Friday and found they'd reissued Beyond The Sun on vinyl. I had no idea it was coming out again. I was so happy to see his handsome face on the new releases stand. It was only $14 too which is an absolute bargain. I played it yesterday and it still sounded so great. The last minute of Nocturne VII rivals that last part of Party Fears Two for the most moving end to a song ever.

Incredible song kitchen person, never heard it. He's truly a singular talent

4th Drawer Down is all good though innit? Or is that an alternative version or rerecording.

'Arrogance Gave Him Up' into 'No' is such a bizarre track ordering decision if you think about it, opening the album with this peppy instrumental and then directly into possibly the darkest song on the LP, but it really works. Everything on Sulk sounds so well recorded and sparkly while the playing - particularly the drumming - is often idiosyncratic, with those always unique vocals taking it over the top. It's a great musical brew. Great band. The drums on 'Bap De La Bap' remains one of those "how the hell did they think of that?" moments.

Per the Doyle bio of Billy, "Arrogance" acts as a curtain raiser for the album -- you're getting a full show, compere and all.

Does anyone on this site dislike this band

Incredible song kitchen person, never heard it. He's truly a singular talent

― Unchanging Window (Ross)

Glad you enjoyed it. Beyond The Sun is a gorgeous record.

xxp yeah "arrogance" and the "Nothinginsomethingparticular" are the intro/exit themes

i can't imagine where else i'd put "no", might kill the momentum to have it in the midst of the other tracks that are so much faster

"If you weren't into Led Zeppelin and... what's that other horrible band? Genesis!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAqYmTH6REE

Billy's voice on 'No' is just pure ear candy.

21 years ago today.

Don't think I'd mentioned it here before -- could be wrong -- but I'll be presenting on Billy at the Pop Con this year. Here's a quick description:

http://nedraggett.tumblr.com/post/168682900002/so-my-proposal-for-the-2018-pop-conference-has

The clip above set me off on a minor YouTube crawl and a documentary in which his dad suggests he should have been a vet not a pop-star. I have to confess to having had a chuckle.

That must be _The Glamour Chase_ doc -- essential viewing, still.

Yup.

So here's my presentation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oR4vXvcSUQ

Really looking forward to this.

So there's a reissue of Perhaps due late January on Cherry Red -- an expansion of what ended up as that somewhat barebones two-fer CD release with The Glamour Chase, but this time strictly Perhaps-era material itself. Nothing unreleased, but pretty much every last variant and B-side and the like finally in one place:

--

Disc One: Perhaps + Bonus Tracks
1. Those First Impressions
2. Waiting For The Loveboat
3. Perhaps (Dave Allen Remix)
4. Schampout
5. Helicopter Helicopter
6. Breakfast
7. Thirteen Feelings
8. The Stranger In Your Voice
9. The Best Of You
(Billy Mackenzie & Dave Allan Remix)
10. Don’t Give Me That I Told You So Look
11. Perhaps (Instrumental) (Bonus Track) *
12. Breakfast Alone (Instrumental) (Bonus Track) *
13. Thirteen Feelings (Instrumental) (Bonus Track) *
14. The Stranger In Your Voice (Instrumental) (Bonus Track) *

Disc Two: Bonus Tracks
1. Those First Impressions (Extended Version) *
2. Waiting For The Loveboat (Single Version)
3. Waiting For The Loveboat (Extended Version) *
4. Waiting For The Loveboat (Slight Return)
5. Perhaps Perhaps *
6. Schampout (Edit) *
7. Breakfast (Single Version)
8. Breakfast (Edit)
9. Kites
10. Take Me To The Girl (Single Version)
11. Take Me To The Girl (12” Mix) *
12. Take Me To The Girl (Instrumental) *
13. The Girl That Took Me *

(Asterisk means first time on CD.)

What's missing if we're talking this time frame is the Ronnie Scott gig, which at least is readily floating around on YouTube etc., but it would be nice to finally get a formal release of that (audio and video of course).

So anyway, here's my review of said reissue:

https://thequietus.com/articles/27807-associates-perhaps-review-reissue

Great review, Ned.

I picked up the new reissue and one of the things that struck me was how long the core album is - nearly an hour for ten songs! Previously only had it on vinyl and hadn’t realised.

It’s a good record, but sometimes I think the story of ‘Perhaps’ is maybe the most interesting thing about it.

Yeah, agreed; there's tracks I'll always love but the backstory really says it all. If the album were more famous I think the making of it would be more known, but it's almost like Billy was just not-quite-famous enough for that backstory to truly get attention; at least we have the Doyle book and these liner notes. I've got a slew of tracks from the sessions floating around, including the original take on "The Best of You" with Gina X, which is miles better than Eddi Reader's.

I read about the seemingly farcical Perhaps in The Glamour Chase book about 15 years before hearing the album, full expecting it to be something of a car crash yet it is hands down the album I love the most

I'd have to agree, Paul. Read 'The Glamour Chase' around the time of that 'Perhaps/Glamour Chase' double but never bought it (skint student), assumed both would be very patchy. Only finally heard 'Perhaps' a few years ago and was surprised that it actually holds together pretty well. Reading the story of its fractured and protracted creation before hearing it maybe puts a bit too much baggage on it.

On the other hand I remember The Glamour Chase (album) as being a horribly dated and bland Curiosity Killed The Cat/Brother Beyond-esque affair. Might have to reinvestigate to see if that was a harsh analysis

I've always felt the Perhaps songs found on "The Radio One Sessions" (Helicopter Helicopter, Theme From Perhaps, Perhaps (Schizophrenic Version), Don't Give Me That I Told You So Look, Breakfast, Take Me To The Girl) are the best versions.

Yeah I think there's a good album in the Perhaps material, I just don't think Perhaps itself is that album. Also if Billy had just gone solo in name earlier I think it would stand out a little more in immediate comparison to Sulk, but I understand why he held onto it for a long while.

As for the version of Glamour Chase that eventually surfaced, it does have an advantage by adding on the Yello collaboration "Snowball" as well as "Take Me To the Girl" and "Heaven's Blue," none of which were on the original promo tape that circulated, but yeah a good chunk of it just doesn't work -- and to a degree that afflicts Wild and Lonely as well. It's just kinda weird to me to a degree because all the work with Yello pretty readily showed *how* he could have taken a pop-friendly version of their work as a throughline during the late 80s (especially since they all had a hit as songwriters with "The Rhythm Divine" for Shirley Bassey), and the album still also has "Country Boy," which is easily one of his most inspired collaborations and is truly strange and unique, yet still recorded some dreck. Maybe he just figured it would keep WEA happy.

Helicopter Helicopter and Schampout are the songs I'd happily lose on Perhaps. I still love the album despite those flaws. When I first got the album, I was obsessed with the second half and would often just play that side of my vinyl copy. I'm still in awe of that ridiculous string arrangement on The Stranger In Your Voice and Breakfast should have been a number one single.

I mostly agree on the assessment of The Glamour Chase. Despite Billy obviously playing it safe on those last few Associates albums, I love that he still did things like Country Boy. As you say Ned, it's a truly bizarre choice that seems like a rare flash of inspiration from Billy at that point. Empires Of Your Heart is the standout on there. I still think it's one of Billy's most stunning moments.

Funnily enough, I just played Outernational the other day probably for the first time in 10 years. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Definitely a step up from Wild & Lonely -- an album I try not to think about too much. Baby should have been a hit.

If Adele recorded Baby it would probably end up being her biggest and most inescapable hit

Sharing a tweet of mine to share a screenshot:

Learned today that Cherry Red's getting out a reissue/recompilation of Billy Mackenzie's later solo material in the offing. Works for me! pic.twitter.com/HzOS9bE1lF

— Ned Raggett (@NedRaggett) December 29, 2021

Awesome, I’ve wanted to hear those in full for a while.

And here's the preorder link for it

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/billy-mackenzie-satellite-life-satellite-life-recordings-1995-1996-3cd

Woah, that looks fantastic! I've wanted to hear McArthur’s Son ever since I read The Glamour Chase 20 plus years ago. He makes it sound great.

sund4r being very extremely wrong abt the associates has an upside: i have been listening to them all day

my theory which is mine: they slid a little out of institutional memory bcz they didn't generate much good writing (morley's is mostly the fizz of his high enthusiasm and plus no great music writer is patchier anyway lol) and they didn't generate much good writing bcz they're very hard to write about -- and *that's a mark of how good they are*

i don't think musicality is ineffable but i do think it's highly evasive and that we often write abt anything but (even when it looks like we're doing striahgt-up musicology) and musicians that slip this leash are worth paying attention to precisely bcz of the challenge they present

thread that garnered few non-baffled responses lol:
Can a music matter if its fans don't especially want to read about it?

i'll have a drink and then not phone my brother up

bap de la bap!

The first two records are a good example of how baffling experiencing them in real time must have been. Can’t think of a stylistic evolution quite like going from The Affectionate Punch to the Fourth Drawer Down singles to Sulk in only two years. And they are all magnificent!

I love Perhaps but McKenzie and Rankine were a real team.