Alan Rankine — the Scottish musician and record producer known best as one-half of post-punk duo the Associates — has died. Multiple outlets report news of Rankine's passing was shared by his sons in a Facebook post that is no longer public, though a cause of death was not revealed. He was 64.
Born in Stirlingshire, Rankine (pictured right) co-founded what would become the Associates with lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie in the late 1970s. The duo made their debut in 1979 with a cover of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" — a version reportedly cut without copyright permission, just six weeks after Bowie's recording charted in the UK, according to Tom Doyle's biography The Glamour Chase: The Maverick Life of Billy MacKenzie.
This cover was recently revisited on the Associates' Covers release which arrived as a Record Store Day exclusive last spring. Upon its release, it caught the year of Fiction Records, who released the Associates' debut LP, 1980's The Affectionate Punch. On the LP, Robert Smith of the Cure sings backing vocals for both the title track and "Even Dogs in the Wild" — the latter of which would later become the title of a novel by Scottish mystery writer Ian Rankin.
Singles compilation Fourth Drawer Down would follow in 1981, leading to the arrival of sophomore album Sulk in 1982. The latter release — featuring vocal and instrumental contributions from Martha Ladly of Canadian new wavers Martha and the Muffins — was widely acclaimed upon release. In spite of the success, it would mark Rankine's last with the group.
Post-Associates, Rankine would move behind the boards as a producer, working with artists including the Pale Fountains, Paul Haig and Cocteau Twins that decade. For the celebrated Scottish dream pop outfit, Rankine produced 1983 EP Peppermint Pig — standing as the only release on which Cocteau Twins sought an outside producer.
The artist also released three solo studio albums in a four-year period to close the 1980s: 1986's The World Begins to Look Her Age, 1987's She Loves Me Not and 1989's The Big Picture Sucks.
Rankine would later teach at Stow College in Glasgow. where he would help launch Electric Honey. The in-house label — offering the school's music business students the experience of record company operations and stimulating the local music scene — found its first success in releasing Belle and Sebastian's 1996 LP Tigermilk, and would go on to release early material from the likes of Snow Patrol (then Polar Bear) and Biffy Clyro.
Led by Mackenzie, the Associates would disband after releasing Wild and Lonely in 1990, though he would reunite with them in 1993 with new material in mind. Mackenzie would pass away in 1997, leaving their reunion demos to be included on the Associates' 2000 compilation Double Hipness.
Born in Stirlingshire, Rankine (pictured right) co-founded what would become the Associates with lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie in the late 1970s. The duo made their debut in 1979 with a cover of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" — a version reportedly cut without copyright permission, just six weeks after Bowie's recording charted in the UK, according to Tom Doyle's biography The Glamour Chase: The Maverick Life of Billy MacKenzie.
This cover was recently revisited on the Associates' Covers release which arrived as a Record Store Day exclusive last spring. Upon its release, it caught the year of Fiction Records, who released the Associates' debut LP, 1980's The Affectionate Punch. On the LP, Robert Smith of the Cure sings backing vocals for both the title track and "Even Dogs in the Wild" — the latter of which would later become the title of a novel by Scottish mystery writer Ian Rankin.
Singles compilation Fourth Drawer Down would follow in 1981, leading to the arrival of sophomore album Sulk in 1982. The latter release — featuring vocal and instrumental contributions from Martha Ladly of Canadian new wavers Martha and the Muffins — was widely acclaimed upon release. In spite of the success, it would mark Rankine's last with the group.
Post-Associates, Rankine would move behind the boards as a producer, working with artists including the Pale Fountains, Paul Haig and Cocteau Twins that decade. For the celebrated Scottish dream pop outfit, Rankine produced 1983 EP Peppermint Pig — standing as the only release on which Cocteau Twins sought an outside producer.
The artist also released three solo studio albums in a four-year period to close the 1980s: 1986's The World Begins to Look Her Age, 1987's She Loves Me Not and 1989's The Big Picture Sucks.
Rankine would later teach at Stow College in Glasgow. where he would help launch Electric Honey. The in-house label — offering the school's music business students the experience of record company operations and stimulating the local music scene — found its first success in releasing Belle and Sebastian's 1996 LP Tigermilk, and would go on to release early material from the likes of Snow Patrol (then Polar Bear) and Biffy Clyro.
Led by Mackenzie, the Associates would disband after releasing Wild and Lonely in 1990, though he would reunite with them in 1993 with new material in mind. Mackenzie would pass away in 1997, leaving their reunion demos to be included on the Associates' 2000 compilation Double Hipness.