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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · 2d

"'Party Fears Two' is about the disorientation you feel from the overindulgence in alcohol. It's a subject everyone can understand because people do strong things when they're drunk. I usually get over affectionate. I start kissing everyone."

📸 Billy MacKenzie by Paul Slattery

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · 28d

"I've got a really close affinity with animals. I work with them. I'm attached to them. You've got to have a communication with animals. The first time I saw a whippet it was like an electric shock because it was the closest thing to a cheetah."

📸 Billy MacKenzie by George Chin

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Aug 25

The Associates photographed in their publicist Chris Carr's office, 1981.

📸Mike Laye

#AlanRankine #BillyMacKenzie

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Aug 16

"If rock music is a slow tortoise then The Associates are an elusive butterfly. They make an electric music that might be on a point between John Barry & Erik Satie. They cannot be pinned down. They cannot be caught."

Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine photographed by Anton Corbijn

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Jul 22

"I think the best thing anybody could do is fall in love with somebody and if it works forever then great — and if it doesn't, well, just try again."

📸 Billy MacKenzie photographed by Eugene Adebari
#TheAssociates

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Jul 10

"I'm naturally very curious about things in me and around me. I'm fascinated by those moments in everyday life that so easily pass by without people attaching any significance to them. Those are the situations I write about."

📸 Billy MacKenzie photographed by Eugene Adebari

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Jul 1

Billy MacKenzie photographed by Jillian Edelstein in 1992

#TheAssociates

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Jul 1

"When people see me I want them to realise that there are no boundaries, that you don't have to be operatic or soul or country. I'm just a singer."

Billy MacKenzie of The Associates photographed by Richard Haughton

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Jun 26

"There's loads of that romantic melancholy in me. I'm insufferable to live with. I'm totally idealistic and constantly disillusioned by unrequited love."

📸 Billy MacKenzie photographed by Richard Haughton, 1984

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · May 26

The Associates photographed by Sheila Rock, 1981

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Reposted by For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine

RJJNY @rjjny.bsky.social · May 25

Bank Holiday/Memorial Day Associates/Billy Mackenzie. Barring a lottery win, I think a copy of their first release is going to remain out of reach. #weekendsingles @18caratbilly.bsky.social

Photograph of the front covers of twelve 7" vinyl single releases from 1980-1982 by the band the Associates: 1) The Affectionate Punch 2) Kites/Mona Property Girl (A side under the name 39 Lyon Street) 3) Tell Me Easter's On A Friday 4) Q Quarters 5) Kitchen Person (featuring a photo of singer Billy Mackenzie on the cover) 6) Message Oblique Speech (featuring a photo of bandmate Alan Rankine holding a cigar on the cover) 7) A 8) White Car In Germany (featuring a photo of Billy & Alan in a swimming pool by Antoine Giacomoni) 9) Party Fears Two 10) Club Country 11) 18 Carat Love Affair 12) A Matter Of Gender

Photo of the 1982 7" vinyl single Ice Cream Factory by MacKenzie Sings Orbidöig (front cover features a partly undressed Action Man doll submerged in liquid) and a clear flexidisc issued by Flexipop magazine containing a version of Even Dogs In The Wild by the Associates.

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · May 17

Today would have been Alan Rankine's 67th birthday. 💙

Happy Birthday, Alan 🌹
#TheAssociates

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Reposted by For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine

Gordon Watson @gordonwatson.bsky.social · May 14

Gets better with every new edition @18caratbilly.bsky.social

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · May 12

The Associates "Breakfast" single signed by Billy MacKenzie and Martin Rushent.

"Talk to me,
I'll stay these vagabond nights..."

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Apr 29

"Bill and I had this thing that was bigger than us. Like an invisible thread. It’s like a thing called the God particle. All this stuff that’s around us is here but you can’t see it, but that’s what it is. It's tangible."

The Associates photographed by Sheila Rock

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Apr 24

An unpublished outtake of Billy MacKenzie from the photo session for The Associates single Those First Impressions. 🌸

📸 Special thanks to Richard Haughton

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Apr 14

Alan Rankine & Billy MacKenzie backstage at the Gigant in Apeldoorn on 10 January 1981.

📸 Roy Tee
#TheAssociates

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Reposted by For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine

RJJNY @rjjny.bsky.social · Mar 29

12" from The Associates #weekendsingles @18caratbilly.bsky.social #billymackenzie #alanrankine

An image of the front covers of six 12" vinyl single releases by The Associates from the early 1980s: Q Quarters, Kitchen Person, White Car In Germany, Party Fears Two, Message Oblique Speech, Tell Me Easter's On A Friday. Three of the covers feature photographs of band members Billy Mackenzie and Alan Rankine.

An image of the back covers for six 12" vinyl single releases by The Associates from the early 1980s, showing the track listings: Q Quarters / Kissed / Q Quarters (Original), Kitchen Person / An Even Whiter Car, White Car In Germany / The Associate, Party Fears Two / Its Better This Way, Message Oblique Speech / Blue Soap, Tell Me Easter's On A Friday / Straw Towels.

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Reposted by For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine

Scottish Post-Punk @scotspostpunk.bsky.social · Mar 27

Today I will mainly be listening to the genius of Billy MacKenzie (and, of course, Alan Rankine)…

@garycrowleyonair.bsky.social
@punkandnewwave.bsky.social
@grantmcphee.bsky.social
@neilcooper.bsky.social
@creepingbent.bsky.social
@18caratbilly.bsky.social
@stevomusicman.bsky.social

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Mar 27

Remembering the one and only Billy MacKenzie on what would have been his 68th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Billy 🎂💙

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Reposted by For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine

Scottish Post-Punk @scotspostpunk.bsky.social · Mar 24

Set Time Machine to Manchester, October 1980…

@garycrowleyonair.bsky.social
@punkandnewwave.bsky.social
@18caratbilly.bsky.social
@stevomusicman.bsky.social
@carolinebinnie.bsky.social
@muzicgeezer.bsky.social @louderthanwar.bsky.social

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Mar 20

"Musically as well as lyrically, there's a feeling of clowning, fooling and madness. The group do everything they can to torture meaning. The Associates rejoice, justly, in seeing what cannot be seen everyday."

THE ASSOCIATES photographed by Tom Sheehan, 1981.
#billymackenzie #alanrankine

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For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine @18caratbilly.bsky.social · Feb 20

The Associates photographed by Kishi Yamamoto, 1980

#BillyMacKenzie #AlanRankine #MichaelDempsey #JohnMurphy

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Reposted by For Billy MacKenzie & Alan Rankine

Luke Perry @gammarayvoltaire.bsky.social · Feb 17

Love The Associates so much. I go through a Billy Mackenzie phase every so often and just end up watching as many YouTube videos and TV clips as possible. youtu.be/aJEkCDd6s-E?...

Associates - Club Country (TOTP 1982)

YouTube video by Top Of The Pops Redubbed

youtu.be

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