Forgotten Music:
Billy Mackenzie
I first heard Billy Mackenzie on, the legendary DJ ,John Peel's radio show at the end of the '70s. His band The Associates were a strangely attractive hybrid of punk, John Barry and Bowie's 'Station To Station'. There was a buzz about this Scottish duo,Alan Rankin was the other half . They were very cinematic, both musically and lyrically and The Voice was good.Very good.
Then there were the scattershot of singles including Q Quarters, White Car In Germany, Club Country until they found mainstream success with Party Fears 2. They had hits.They gave great and funny TV performances and made enough money for Billy to put his pet greyhounds up for the night in The Savoy.
The Associates were a cracking band but it was almost all about Billy and The Voice. Billy inevitably went solo and recorded covers such as You Only Live Twice, Wild Is The Wind, Free. And his own material too like Breakfast, Baby and The Rhythm Divine, which he wrote with Swiss electronica band Yello and was invariably recorded by Shirley Bassey, who was one of the few people who could do it justice.
In January 1997, not even forty, and not long after the death of his mother, Billy Mackenzie killed himself.
A Billy Mackenzie Tribute site is here
You can listen to Wild Is The Wind here
Listen to Breakfast here.
Billy & Yello's version of The Rythm Divine is here
9 comments:
He did a storming version of Bowie's The Secret Life of Arabia on a BEF album..
Never heard of old Bill. The piano is a nice counterpoint to The Voice.
Just checked him out. Never heard of him before. The music is not my cup of tea, but he has a great voice. Thanks for teaching me something. Never really dug any of that 80's music genre. Tragedy about his death. Like Evan mentioned, the piano was really cool in some of the songs.
Your mention of John Barry caught my interest. After being introduced to Barry's score for Somewhere in Time I've grown to also love his scores for films like Frances, Walkabout, Born Free, and An Indecent Proposal. The mixture of styles you've referenced and including Barry's name in that mixture has certainly piqued my curiousity. I'll have to check this guy out.
I always thought the song 'Breakfast' would make a great opening theme to a film. The piano motif is a beaut. John Barry is one of the best soundtrack composers. The Ipcress File & The Knack are pretty tasty as well as the ones Perplexio mentions.And the Bonds, of course.
Simply the best.
Mic
Readers might be interested in this 4 part documentary about Billy Mack. We need more pop stars who are dedicated to their whippets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-LhDW9LzU
Here's another very good 15 minute clip which I think shows a number of things. Firstly, what a charming and cheeky chappie Billy seemed to be in person. Also, three great tracks which demonstrate the diversity of Mackenzie and The Associates. Breakfast in particular I think is an amazing track that compliments Billy's amazing vocal talents and it's not as well known maybe as a few of the singles (even though Party Fears Two, Club Country and 18 Carat Love Affair are not as well known as they probably should be either).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPyvAiAm9yk&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-3-HM
Paul- Thanks for the support man! You can now download the PDF version. Left an explanation after your comment on my blog. Very cool of you man.
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