| Fourth Drawer Down | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | October 1981 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 1:04:26 (reissue) | |||
| Label | Situation Two | |||
| Producer | ||||
| The Associates chronology | ||||
| ||||
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.
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. [4] His ambition was founded on a plan to use competing label money to record new material then release previously recorded material. [5] 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 Sunday" is propelled by a somber pulsing beat with a cycling mournful guitar line. The song "Q Quarters" — called "desolately beautiful" by Smash Hits [6] — ends with the striking lines: "Washing down bodies / Seems to me a dead-end chore / Floors me completely / Beauty drips from every pore". Washing down bodies was a job that Billy MacKenzie said his grandmother did during World War II. [7] The song "Kitchen Person" features a rhythm taken from an electric typewriter and MacKenzie singing down the tube of a vacuum cleaner (an effort that earned them Single of the Week in Melody Maker). [5]
The album title had a literal origin: the fourth drawer down in a chest in the band's flat at the time contained their supply of "over the counter herbal relaxant tablets that when taken by the handful... would acts as a sleeping aid as well as producing a pleasant bedtime buzz." [5] The cover photograph was taken in the swimming pool of the recording studio they used in Oxfordshire. [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| Mojo |  [9] |
| Q | [10] |
| Record Collector | [11] |
| Smash Hits | 7/10 [12] |
| Uncut | 8/10 [3] |
Fourth Drawer Down has been well received by music critics, with reviewers commenting on the band's increased experimentalism. NME journalist Richard Cook wrote that the Associates "brutalise form with a purpose," continuing: "In trying to dismantle the accepted notions of organised playing and reconstructing with uncaring regard for accessibility – all these tracks are cluttered, confused and strewn with near-random noise – The Associates reassert their humanity in electric music." [13]
In a 2016 review, Alastair McKay of Uncut called Fourth Drawer Down "an extraordinary document on which the sense of mystery deepens, and the commitment to sonic experiment becomes more pronounced." [3] Trouser Press noted an overall sense of "determined experimentation" on the album, despite finding it "lessened by the exclusion of certain B-sides in favor of later tracks which reveal Mackenzie's growing preference for pose over accomplishment." [14]
All tracks are written by Billy Mackenzie and Alan Rankine, except where noted
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "White Car in Germany" | 5:28 |
| 2. | "A Girl Named Property" | 4:56 |
| 3. | "Kitchen Person" | 4:53 |
| 4. | "Q Quarters" | 4:55 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Tell Me Easter's on Friday" | 4:29 | |
| 6. | "The Associate" | 5:00 | |
| 7. | "Message Oblique Speech" | 5:35 | |
| 8. | "An Even Whiter Car" | 4:45 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 9. | "Fearless (It Takes a Full Moon)" | 3:37 |
| 10. | "Point Si" | 5:15 |
| 11. | "Straw Towels" | 5:16 |
| 12. | "Kissed" | 6:11 |
| 13. | "Blue Soap" | 3:52 |
Credits are adapted from the Fourth Drawer Down liner notes. [15]
The Associates
Production and artwork
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.
The Dreaming is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush, released on 13 September 1982 by EMI Records. Recorded over two years, the album was produced entirely by Bush and is often characterised as her most uncommercial and experimental release. The Dreaming peaked at No. 3 on the UK album chart and has been certified Silver by the BPI, but initially sold less than its predecessors and was met with mixed critical reception. Five singles from the album were released, including the UK No. 11 "Sat in Your Lap" and the title track.
Gentlemen Take Polaroids is the fourth studio album by the English band Japan, released in November 1980 by Virgin Records.
Obscure Alternatives is the second studio album by English new wave band Japan, released in October 1978 by record label Hansa.
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.
Joy is the fourth studio album by Scottish punk rock and new wave band Skids. It was their first album after the departure of signature guitarist Stuart Adamson who went on to found Big Country. It represented a change of direction from rock towards folk music—amplifying the traditional Scottish element already hinted at in previous releases. This would be their last album until the release of Burning Cities over 36 years later.
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, best known as the bassist for The Cure and The Associates.
B.E.F. was a band/production company formed by former Human League members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh which became largely eclipsed by its best-known project, Heaven 17.
Hypnotised is a 1980 album released by the Undertones. The album, the second of four released by the band, was recorded at Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands in December 1979, and at Eden Studios in London in January 1980, with the majority of the songs to appear on the album being written between March and December 1979. In addition, although the primary lyrical concern of the songs upon this album focused upon teenage angst, boisterousness, and heartbreak, several of the songs upon Hypnotised are notably both lyrically and musically more sophisticated than material released upon The Undertones.
Alan Rankine 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.
"Cut Here" is a song by English rock band The Cure, released as a single in October 2001 from their best-of compilation Greatest Hits released the same year.
Wilder is the second album by neo-psychedelic Liverpool band the Teardrop Explodes, and the final completed album released by the group.
From the Lions Mouth [sic] is the second studio album by English post-punk band The Sound, released in November 1981 on record label Korova. Following the release of their previous album Jeopardy, keyboardist Belinda "Bi" Marshall left the group and was replaced by Colvin "Max" Mayers. For their new album, The Sound worked with producer Hugh Jones, as well as co-producing the album themselves. The album's sound was more polished than previous efforts.
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.
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.
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.
A–Z is the debut studio album by Colin Newman, lead singer of post-punk band Wire. It was released in October 1980, through record label Beggars Banquet. "A-Z was planned as the fourth Wire album, but EMI [Wire's label] cancelled studio time in the wake of failed negotiations with the band."
Wild and Lonely is the fourth studio album by Scottish act the Associates. The album was released on 24 March 1990 by AVL/Virgin subsidiary Circa Records, a label MacKenzie had signed to after WEA/Warner rejected the fourth Associates album The Glamour Chase. Wild and Lonely was produced by Australian record producer Julian Mendelsohn, it peaked at No. 71 on the UK Albums Chart. Three singles were released from the album: "Fever", "Fire to Ice" and "Just Can't Say Goodbye", all of which failed to chart in the UK Top 40, peaking at numbers 81, 92 and 79 respectively.
"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.
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