I never liked The Associates, they would turn up on Top Of The Pops and I had absolutely no interest in them whatsoever, in fact, most of the time I just wanted them to shut up so we could move on to whatever was next. I was completely wrong of course and it is only recently that I have come to realise that Billy Mackenzie had a brilliant and wonderful voice. I was doing an 80’s mix (which you can find here if you are of a mind to) and as I was listening to things that I thought would be good to include, youtube automatically rolled on to it. I said this about track 14 in the mix:
14: The Associates – Waiting For The Love Boat
I never really took much notice of The Associates back in the early 80’s, having only really listened to ‘Party Fears Two’, but have listened retrospectively and I really should have paid a bit more notice. I do remember thinking at the time that it was all a little odd and not my thing but singer Billy Mackenzie did have a fabulous voice. Sadly, he committed suicide in 1997 at age 39, shortly after the death of his mother. He had been suffering from clinical depression. I chose this track because I like it, which is a damn fine reason.
I have to agree with myself on this. So I saw a used copy of the album ‘Perhaps’ for £3.50 and suddenly I owned it.
At the time this was released I wasn’t as open to different styles of music as I now am. I was very much firmly ensconced in a genre and refused to leave. I’m so glad I’m over that.
Here, for your pleasure, is a 40 minute documentary on The Associates.
And from the album the single ‘Waiting For The Love Boat’.
Running Total: £20.50
