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Alan Rankine | |
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| Born | 17 May 1958 Bridge of Allan, Scotland |
| Died | 2 January 2023 (aged 64) |
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| Years active | 1970s–2023 |
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| Formerly of | The Associates |
Alan Rankine (17 May 1958 – 2 January 2023) was a Scottish musician and record producer best known as keyboardist and guitarist for rock band the Associates, which he co-founded with lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie in the late 1970s.
Alan Rankine was born in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire. He lived in "the posh part of Dundee" [1] until around the age of 11, followed by Glasgow and then Linlithgow. His father, Jim Rankine, was a school inspector and his mother was a secretary. [2] As a youth, he was a national-level tennis player, but as racket technology developed, he knew that he was too short (5ft 8in/1.73 m) to continue competing. After he heard the guitar sound in "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, he said, "I want that". Once Rankine stopped playing tennis, he practised the guitar up to five or six hours a day. [1]
Rankine began his career with the cabaret band Caspian, which became the Associates. [3] Together they recorded three albums: The Affectionate Punch (1980), the singles compilation Fourth Drawer Down (1981) and Sulk (1982). Rankine left the band in 1982 on the eve of what would have been the Sulk tour.
While Mackenzie continued with other associates, Rankine established himself as a producer, working with artists such as Paul Haig, Cocteau Twins, and the Pale Fountains. [3] He signed a recording contract with Belgian label Les Disques du Crépuscule in 1986 and embarked on a solo career. [3] He recorded three solo studio albums: The World Begins to Look Her Age (1986), She Loves Me Not (1987), and the fully instrumental The Big Picture Sucks (1989). [3]
Rankine later worked as a lecturer in Stow College in Glasgow until 2010, when he left to return to music production. [3] While working as a lecturer he helped students to set up their own inhouse record label Electric Honey, which went on to launch the careers of bands such as Belle and Sebastian, Snow Patrol and Biffy Clyro. [3]
Rankine died on 2 January 2023, at the age of 64. [2] [4] He died peacefully in his home after spending Christmas with his family. The cause of death was later confirmed to be heart disease. [5]
The Associates were a Scottish post-punk and pop band, formed in Dundee in 1979 by lead vocalist 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.
Winston Tong is an actor, playwright, visual artist, puppeteer, and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his vocals in Tuxedomoon and for winning an Obie award in puppetry for Bound Feet in 1978.
The Jazz Passengers are an American jazz group founded in 1987 by saxophonist Roy Nathanson and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes.
William MacArthur Mackenzie was a Scottish singer and songwriter, known for his distinctive high tenor voice. He was the co-founder and lead vocalist of post-punk and new wave band the Associates. He also had a brief solo career releasing his debut studio album, Outernational, in 1992, his only solo album released during his lifetime.
Paul Haig is a Scottish indie musician, singer and songwriter. He was originally a member of post-punk band Josef K, active between 1979 and 1982.
Michael Stephen Dempsey is an English musician and composer, who has played bass as a member of several post-punk and new wave bands, including the Cure and the Associates.
Anna Domino is an American indie rock artist based in New York and Los Angeles who released several albums for Les Disques du Crepuscule and Factory Records in the 1980s and 1990s. Domino has collaborated with musicians such as Matt Johnson of The The, Stephin Merritt in The Sixths, Blaine L. Reininger and Steven Brown of Tuxedomoon, Virginia Astley, Luc van Acker and Ultramarine. She is also one half of the duo Snakefarm.
Les Disques du Crépuscule is an independent record label founded in Belgium in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré. It also had a prominent associated sublabel, Factory Benelux. Both are now run by former employee James Nice.
Sulk is the second studio album by 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.
"Big Blue World" is the sixth solo single by Paul Haig, and the first single from his second album, The Warp of Pure Fun. It was produced by Haig and former Associates instrumentalist Alan Rankine, and released in the UK and across Europe by Les Disques Du Crepuscule.
Then Again is a collection of rarities, remixes and lost songs by former Josef K frontman Paul Haig recorded between 1982 and 1998, including previously unreleased material. Guests include Alan Rankine, Cabaret Voltaire, Mantronik, Bernard Sumner, Donald Johnson of A Certain Ratio and Finitribe.
"Heaven Help You Now" is the eighth solo single from former Josef K vocalist Paul Haig. It was released by Les Disques Du Crepuscule in September 1985.
Roy Jay Nathanson is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader, actor and teacher. He became the leader and principal composer of the Jazz Passengers, a six piece group that he founded with Curtis Fowlkes in 1987. They have toured Europe many times and played at major festivals in Finland, Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland, as well as the J.V.C. Festival in New York, the Du Maurier Festival in Canada and toured throughout the United States and Canada. The band has recorded eight albums since their debut release.
Kid Montana was a Belgian electropop band that was active from 1981 to 1987.
The Affectionate Punch is the debut studio album by Scottish post-punk and new wave band The Associates. It was released on 1 August 1980 on the Fiction label.
Fourth Drawer Down is a compilation album by 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.
Perhaps is the third studio album by Scottish post-punk and pop band the Associates, released on 8 February 1985 by WEA. It is their first album without founding member, keyboardist and guitarist Alan Rankine.
Miranda Stanton, best known for her recordings as Stanton Miranda, Miranda Dali and Thick Pigeon, is a 1980s Factory Records artist from New York City. She achieved some notice for her single "Wheels Over Indian Trails" and her later cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division. She also guested on recordings by the Durutti Column. Her first band was CKM in New York with Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, where she played drums.
"Party Fears Two" is a song by Scottish new wave 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.
Bradley Christopher Jones is an American jazz bassist who performs on both bass guitar and double-bass.
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