ALAN RANKINE
ThThe Associates’ musical mastermind
(1958–2023)
NOT much in Alan Rankine’s musical journey followed a conventional script. A self-taught pianist and guitar player, his first encounter with Billy Mackenzie, at an Edinburgh nightclub in 1976, resulted in the singer joining Rankine’s cabaret band, Caspian. Before long they were writing together, eventually forming The Associates. Favouring maximalist pop and decorative art-rock, the punk era was hardly conducive to their creative ambition. 1979’s unauthorised cover of Bowie’s “Boys Keep Swinging” made it onto John Peel’s playlist and landed them a deal with Fiction for the following year’s The Affectionate Punch
The stars finally aligned on 1982’s Sulk, which saw Rankine revive a gorgeous piano line from their earliest days for breathtaking lead single “Party Fears Two”. The cryptic lyric appeared to address their outsiderdom. “We never fitted,” Rankine told Uncut last year. “It’s about feeling alienated, like you don’t belong.”
was The Associates’ commercial breakthrough, but Mackenzie’s reluctance to tour and undertake promotion frustrated Rankine to the point where he quit that September. He subsequently forged a career as a producer, overseeing Cocteau Twins’ “Peppermint Pig” EP and releases by The Pale Fountains and – that sold poorly, but nevertheless showcased his exceptional gift for composition.
