Category: The Associates

Alan Rankine 1958-2023

 

Today we have lost one of my favorite artists from one of my favorite bands Alan Rankine of the Scottish band The Associates has died at age 64.

Alan Rankine, one-half of the celebrated Scottish indie band the Associates, has died aged 64. The news was confirmed on Tuesday by his sons, Callum and Hamish, who wrote on Facebook that their father “died peacefully at home shortly after spending Christmas with his family”, describing him as “a beautiful, kind and loving man who will be sorely missed”.

Born in Stirlingshire in 1958, Rankine formed the Associates in 1979 with singer Billy Mackenzie, having made early recordings with him under the name Mental Torture. Rankine and Mackenzie initially broke through with a cover of David Bowie’s Boys Keep Swinging, which itself had been a hit in the UK mere weeks earlier. The attention the pair got from the cover resulted in a record deal with Fiction, and a year later they released The Affectionate Punch, their debut album. Two years later, they followed it up with Sulk, a surprise success that spent 20 weeks on the UK albums chart.

Shortly after the release of Sulk, Rankine left the Associates and began working as a producer and session musician, collaborating with influential no-wave musician Anna Domino on her albums East & West and Anna Domino, and producing Cocteau Twins’ 1983 EP Peppermint Pig. During the latter half of the 1980s, he also released three solo albums: 1986’s The World Begins to Look Her Age, 1987’s She Loves Me Not and 1989’s The Big Picture Sucks.

In his life, Rankine had an outsized influence on indie music in Scotland and beyond: the experimental, wide-reaching sound of the Associates, as well as of the acts Rankine later went on to produce, proved to be widely influential, with Björk citing Sulk as one of her formative influences. He also helped set up Electric Honey, an in-house label at Glasgow’s Stow College, which went on to release records by Belle and Sebastian and Snow Patrol, among others.

The Associates – Party Fears Two (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1982

NEW 2021 Transfer!
Meticulous NEW Restoration!

Originally posted September 10, 2015

“Party Fears Two” is a 1982 single by Scottish post-punk/new wave band The Associates, released from their second studio (and third album in total) Sulk. The song became their breakthrough Top 20 and best-known hit, peaking at #9 on the UK Singles Chart.  The song also charted on the Irish Singles Chart at #16. With its iconic honky-tonk piano line, “Party Fears Two” was a magnificent song about dealing with the perils of schizophrenia.

The band performed the song on the BBC television show Top of the Pops.

“Party Fears Two” has been covered by several artists, including The Divine Comedy, Heaven 17, King Creosote, and Dan Bryk. “Party Fears Two” was used as an instrumental section for the theme music on BBC Radio 4 satirical current affairs series Week Ending.

The b-side “It’s Better This Way” is an alternate version from both the UK and US album versions.

SIDE A:
Party Fears Two (Extended Mix) 5:34

SIDE B:
It’s Better This Way (Alternate Version) 3:39

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Associates – asc1t, Associates – ASC 1 T
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 28 Jan 1982
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Composed By – RankineMcKenzie
Producer – HedgesAssociates

NOTES:
“Party Fears Two” is an uncredited extended mix.

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp:
Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
DAC:
Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning
: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans
: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

Alan Rankine – The Sandman (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987

-DjPaulT Recommended 12″

“The Sandman” is the debut solo single by Scottish musician and record producer Alan Rankine best known as keyboardist/guitarist for the new wave band Associates, which he co-founded with Billy Mackenzie in the late 1970s.

“The Sandman” was taken from Rankine’s second studio album “She Loves Me Not”. A very underrated track “The Sandman” failed to chart and ends up as one of my recommended 12″ singles.

SIDE A:
The Sandman (Remix) 7:06
Engineer – Michel Andina

SIDE B:
Can You Believe Everything I See (Part 3) 6:19

The Sandman (7″ Version) 3:44
Engineer – Michel Andina

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Virgin ‎– VST 1003
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Written-By, Producer, Arranged By – Alan Rankine

NOTES:
Original version appears on the LP “SHE LOVES ME NOT”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck 
Phono Pre-amp:
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube:
Tung-Sol 12AX7 TubeGold Pins
Soundcard:
Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning:
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans:
Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2, ocenaudio
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

The Associates – A (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1981

a-front

“A” was the eighth single released by Scottish new wave band The Associates. The track features backing vocals by Robert Smith of The Cure. Both “A” and “Would I… Bounce Back” were remixed for the 1982 re-issue of the bands debut album The Affectionate Punch.

SIDE A:
A (Remix) 3:50
Backing Vocals – Robert Smith

SIDE B:
Would I… Bounce Back (Remix) 3:56

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Fiction Records ‎– FICSX 13
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: Oct 1981
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop
Style: New Wave, Post-Punk, Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Producer – The Associates, Mike Hedges
Written-By – Rankine*, MacKenzie*

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

b-back

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck 
Phono Pre-amp:
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube:
Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard:
ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning:
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans:
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi