The Associates were a Scottish post-punk and New Wave band of the early 1980s.They were known for the operatic voice and theatrical antics of singer Billy MacKenzie, who committed suicide in 1997.
Mackenzie and guitarist Alan Rankine met in Dundee in 1976 and formed the cabaret duo The Ascorbic Ones. In 1979 they recorded songs under the name of Mental Torture before finally changing their name 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 number 9 on the UK Singles Chart.Two other hits soon followed, “Club Country” and “18 Carat Love Affair”. That year the band released their most commercially successful album, Sulk. Martha Ladly, of Martha and the Muffins, contributed backing vocals and keyboards to this album.
Rankine left the band in 1982 and the band’s fourth album “Perhaps” released in 1985 would effectively be a Billy MacKenzie solo album.
The first single released from “Perhaps” would be “Waiting For The Love Boat” produced by Martin Rushent, the 12″ single would also include an extended version of album track “Schampout”
Waiting For The Loveboat (Extended Version) 8:23
Schampout (Extended Version) 6:08
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