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The Associates (band)
The Associates (or simply Associates) were a Scottish post-punk and pop music, pop band, formed in Dundee in 1979 by lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie, Billy MacKenzie and guitarist Alan Rankine. The band released an unauthorized cover version of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" as their debut single in 1979, which landed them a recording contract with Fiction Records. They followed with their debut studio album ''The Affectionate Punch'' in 1980 and the compilation album ''Fourth Drawer Down'' in 1981, both to critical praise. They achieved commercial success in 1982 with the UK Top 10 studio album ''Sulk'' and UK Top 20 singles "Party Fears Two" and "Club Country", during which time they were associated with the New Pop movement. Rankine left the group that year, leaving MacKenzie to record under the Associates name until 1990. They briefly reunited in 1993. MacKenzie's suicide in 1997 was the band's end; Rankine died twenty-six years later in 2023. History 1979–1982: Forma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Association
The Association is an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' charts (including "Windy (The Association song), Windy", "Cherish (The Association song), Cherish", "Never My Love" and "Along Comes Mary") and were the lead-off band at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival. Generally consisting of six to eight members, they are known for intricate vocal harmonies by the band's multiple singers. Their best-known lineup included Terry Kirkman (vocals, woodwind instruments, percussion), Russ Giguere (vocals, guitar), Jim Yester (vocals, rhythm and lead guitar), Jules Alexander (vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, bass), Brian Cole (musician), Brian Cole (vocals, bass) and Ted Bluechel Jr. (vocals, drums, percussion). This lineup recorded their first two albums, ''And Then... Along Comes the Association'' and ''Renaissance (The Association album), Renaissance'' (both 1966) b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martha Ladly
Martha Jane Ladly is a Canadian academic, designer and musician. She is a professor of design at OCAD University. Ladly also has had a long career as a musician and became famous internationally as part of rock band Martha and the Muffins. She had a solo career in the mid-1980s and then worked in design and education. Musical career A student at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Ontario, Ladly was invited to join new wave band Martha and the Muffins in 1978. She became one of two vocalists and keyboardists named Martha in the band. The other Martha was Martha Johnson, who sang lead on the majority of the group's songs, including their biggest hit, 1980's "Echo Beach". Ladly played with the band from 1978 to 1980 and sang lead vocals on the group's seventh single, her composition "Was Ezo". Ladly left the band in August 1980 having been awarded an art scholarship. She subsequently relocated to the United Kingdom, releasing two solo singles ("Finlandia" and " Light Years fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Party Fears Two
"Party Fears Two" is a song by the Scottish post-punk and pop band the Associates, written by Billy Mackenzie and Alan Rankine. It was included on their second studio album ''Sulk'' (1982) and released as both a 7-inch and 12-inch single with the preceding track on the album, "It's Better This Way" as its B-side. Release The song was originally written in 1979, around a piano riff, but both Alan Rankine and Billy Mackenzie initially rejected it. Rankine stated: "This was the tail-end of punk and it was too tuneful, too pretty. It wasn't hip at that time." In an interview with ''Smash Hits'' magazine, Billy Mackenzie explained the origin of the song title, "My wee brother was at a party watching two girls who wanted to come in. They were smashing windows and attempting to kick the door in with their stiletto heels, which he admired, so he christened them the Party Fears Two and I pinched the title from him." The lyrics begin and end with a reference to a brother but, like mos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sulk
''Sulk'' is the second studio album by the Scottish post-punk and pop band the Associates. It was released on 14 May 1982 on their own Associates imprint of Beggars Banquet Records for the UK and throughout the rest of Europe on WEA Records and in the US on 4 October by Sire Records. It stayed in the UK Albums Chart for 20 weeks, peaking at No. 10, and it was crowned the album of the year by British music magazine ''Melody Maker''. Although it was the group's breakthrough record both critically and commercially, it was to be the last studio album recorded by the original pairing of Alan Rankine and Billy Mackenzie, as Rankine departed four months after its release. Recording Signing a distribution deal with WEA Records at the end of 1981 on the strength of the demos for " Party Fears Two" and "Club Country", Associates were given a £60,000 advance by the record label. Having spent half of the advance immediately on block-booking a studio for an indefinite period of time, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fourth Drawer Down
''Fourth Drawer Down'' is a compilation album by the Scottish post-punk and new wave band the Associates, released in October 1981 by independent record label Situation Two. It compiles the A- and B-sides from the six singles the band released that year on the label. The album was re-issued in 2000 by V2 Records, containing five bonus tracks. Recording In July 1981 the Associates appeared in ''Smash Hits'' magazine with lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie announcing his plan to release ten singles over the remainder of the year. His ambition was founded on a plan to use competing label money to record new material then release previously recorded material. Many of the songs that appeared on ''Fourth Drawer Down'' had a notably darker and more experimental edge than their debut studio album '' The Affectionate Punch'' (1980), although MacKenzie's lyrics often defied literal interpretation. An early single "Tell Me Easter's on Friday" is propelled by a somber pulsing beat with a cycl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Affectionate Punch
''The Affectionate Punch'' is the debut studio album by the Scottish post-punk and new wave band the Associates. It was released on 1 August 1980 on the Fiction label. The song title "Even Dogs in the Wild" became the title of a novel by Scottish mystery writer Ian Rankin, and the song figured briefly in the story. Release ''The Affectionate Punch'' was released on 1 August 1980. Michael Dempsey and John Murphy featured in promotional shots and the accompanying tour but did not perform on the record. Alan Rankine recalls that the whole album was recorded with only himself, Billy Mackenzie and a session drummer: "it was great fun. We just never stopped and the ideas just came and came and came." "The Affectionate Punch" and "A" were released as singles to little commercial success. The cover of the album features Alan Rankine (in the starting position) and Billy MacKenzie (standing) on the running track of Wormwood Scrubs Prison in the White City district of West London. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Musical ensemble, bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All-Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar, and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as compact discs (CDs) replaced LP record, LPs and cassette (format), cassettes as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it, he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recording Contract
A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and promote. Artists under contract are normally only allowed to record for that label exclusively; guest appearances on other artists' records will carry a notice "By courtesy of (the name of the label)", and that label in question may receive a percentage of sales through publishing. Copyrights, payment and royalties Labels typically own the copyright in the records their artists make, and also the master copies of those records. An exception is when a label makes a distribution deal with an artist; in this case, the artist, their manager, or another party may own the copyright (and masters), while the record is licensed exclusively to the label for a set period of time. Promotion is a key factor in the success of a record, and is largel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boys Keep Swinging
"Boys Keep Swinging" is a song by English musician David Bowie, released on 27 April 1979 by RCA Records in the United Kingdom as the lead single from his 1979 album '' Lodger''. It was written by Bowie and Brian Eno and recorded in Montreux and New York City in September 1978 and March 1979. The recording utilised techniques from Eno's Oblique Strategies cards, which resulted in the musicians swapping instruments. Adrian Belew contributed a guitar solo, which he played receiving little guidance and was composited from multiple takes. The song was also built on the same chord sequence as the album track "Fantastic Voyage". Musically, "Boys Keep Swinging" contains elements of glam rock, funk and new wave, while lyrically, the song deals with the concept of gender identity, featuring various gender-bending lyrics. Bowie himself stated that the song was full of irony. Bowie filmed a promotional video for "Boys Keep Swinging" alongside an appearance on ''The Kenny Everett Video Sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft have had a great impact on popular music. Bowie studied art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. He released a string of unsuccessful singles with local bands and David Bowie (1967 album), a self-titled solo album (1967) before achieving his first top-five entry on the UK singles chart with "Space Oddity" (1969). After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the alter ego Ziggy Stardust (character), Ziggy Stardust. The success of the single "Starman (song), Starman" and its album ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Star ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cover Version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released around the same time as the original in order to compete with it. Now, it refers to any subsequent version performed after the original. History The term "cover" goes back decades when cover version originally described a rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released (original) version. Examples of records covered include Paul Williams' 1949 hit tune " The Hucklebuck" and Hank Williams' 1952 song " Jambalaya". Both crossed over to the popular hit parade and had numerous hit versions. Before the mid-20th century, the notion of an original version of a popular tune would have seemed slightly odd – the production of musical entertainment was seen as a live event, even if it was reproduced at home via a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pop Music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), , pp. 95–105. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. ''Rock music, Rock'' and ''pop'' music remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which ''pop'' became associated with music that was more commercial, wikt:ephemeral, ephemeral, and accessible. Identifying factors of pop music usually include repeated choruses and Hook (music), hooks, short to medium-length songs written in a basic format (often the verse–chorus form, verse–chorus structure), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much of pop music also borrows elements from other styles such as rock, hip hop, urban contemporary, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
