Biography

Based on the extraordinary multi-octave voice of Billy McKenzie, the Associates charted a course from abrasive art-rock to a lush synth-pop that struck a chord with the early-1980s New Romantic audience. Though they made some of the most effortlessly catchy music of the era, particularly on 1982's SULK, the tension between McKenzie and the multi-instrumentalist Alan Rankine led to Rankine's departure and the band's eventual demise. Although other musicians appeared on subsequent albums, the Associates were essentially a vehicle for McKenzie until he officially went solo in the early '90s.

Top Tracks

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• 2000 Years Of Mental Torture

• A Matter Of Gender

• Amused As Always

• Baby

• Boys Keep Swinging

• Breakfast

• Club Country

• Country Boy

• Fever

• Fire To Ice

• Gloomy Sunday

• Kitchen Person

• Message Oblique Speech

• Party Fears Two

• Skipping

• Stephen, You're Really Something

• Tell Me Easter's On Friday

• The Affectionate Punch

• Thirteen Feelings

• Those First Impressions

• Waiting For The Love Boat

• White Car In Germany

• Would I... Bounce Back

Discography

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• Perhaps

  WEA

  1985