Party Fears Two
IT remains one of the great Top Of The Pops appearances. On February 25, 1982, The Associates made their first serious assault on the national consciousness, performing the transgressive pop of “Party Fears Two” to a teatime audience. The spectacle of Billy Mackenzie – resplendent in belted raincoat and beret as he negotiates the thrilling peaks and plains of the determinedly Delphic lyric – still excites four decades later.
Based on a glistening piano line written before The Associates even existed, “Party Fears Two” evolved into the first song recorded for the band’s classic third album, Sulk, becoming their sole Top 10 hit and signature song. Its blend of pop smarts, elegantly unexpected hooks, swooping vocals and disquieting lyrics render it a glorious puzzle defying easy explanation.
A deceptively unguarded examination of outsiderdom, Mackenzie claimed it was inspired by two girls trying to crash a party his younger brother was attending by smashing in the windows with their stilettos. Alan Rankine, Mackenzie’s partner in The Associates and the song’s co-writer, divines a deeper meaning. “I think it’s more nebulous than a specific event,” says Rankine. “It might have been based on that, but Bill and I were always just fucking outsiders. We never fitted. We felt like imposters. We felt like we’d got in with forged papers. Even when we did get into parties, we were bored shitless, but we had to prove
