Added: 4 years ago
From: poisondoor
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  • LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT . CLASSIC POP FROM BILLY (R-I-P). THINK THIS IS THE BEST ASSOCIATES SONG .WHAT A VOICE , WHAT A TALENT, WHAT A MASTERPIECE . BRING BACK BILLY, TAKE BEIBER

  • pure music ... billy and the gang only get better

  • I love this song. & i've written to Evelyn Home & told her all about it.

  • I really wish Billy was still alive....he was too good to die so young. Beautiful, just beautiful. God bless all you fans x

  • a pop classic , that shud be rereleased and ppls download and get to no1 b4 xmas

  • The forgotten genius-class

  • just how gorgous dus billy look in this totps clip. i loved his music bk then but was too young too fully appreciate the greatness of his talent.

    Now older & wiser i have all hs back catalogue & am mesmerised by it.

    sadly i can never see him live. wot a waste. gone too soon rip mr mackenzie

  • Beautiful, beautiful Billy ....xxx

  • Trevor Horn or Stock Aiken and Waterman? Well that's the best ever! You clearly don't see that there's a lot more to Billy Mackenzie than his singing. All of which would never have been realised had he ever stooped to such shameful levels. You really should leave Mackenzie alone. He's not for people like you. Stick with Rick Astley and Jason Donovan mate. You'll never understand.

  • Wish Billy had have moved into acting, The music didnt work out after this album. Why did he not work with producers like Trevor Horn, or Stock Aitken and Waterman, they could have written him some good songs like they did for Rick Astley, Jason Donovan and other Male acts Like Dead or Alive, If I was his manager would have suggested this to him. He was a great singer.

  • @nwlman piss off Stock Aitken and Watermen lol, you simply didn't get Billy Mac did you?

  • A very gifted vocalist.

  • still a great song after all these years

  • Great to see Billy having great fun in this clip....

  • one of the most talented and under rated artists that ive ever had the good fortune to listen to.. r.i.p billy mackenzie x

  • One of my first four 7" singles, all purchased on the same day...

  • No one will ever have a voice like Billy Mackenzie RIP.

  • Its not just about the voice, its about charisma. Tony Hadley had little. Billy swam in it. Both had great voices , althought Tony Hadley used his in a very conservative way, it never sounded experimental like Billies. I think Billy took chances with his voice, Tony hadley didnt. I think it made the associates far more interesting because of Billies experimentation with his voice. It worked well and seemed effortless to say the least.

  • Everytime I hear this song now, the lyrics make me think of Ryan Giggs....

  • although i appreciate Tony Hadley as a very strong, and smooth sounding vocalist, there has yet to be another "Billy"....incomparable really, Tony has a great voice, but Billy.......well he twas just pefect!!!!!..even in my living room at 4.08am........

  • ah, the memories come flooding back

  • right on

  • Billys vocal range was a lot wider than Tony Hadley, I would say Billys octave vocal range was in comparison with Stevie Wonder

  • I thought this was the worst band ever back in 1982 when I was 11, only now do I see their greatness. BTW, Phil Oakey also references Billy in 'Tell Me When'.

  • @jollygreenjustin I was 11 back when this came out too. I loved this, and CC and PF2 from earlier. So of course I rushed out and bought Sulk. I would really love to be able to say that I played it to death, but truth is I really didn't know what to do with it. Oh, well I was only a kid, I suppose.

  • As good as Tonly Hadly. Voice range.

  • "Cut Here" by The Cure is written about Billy Mackenzie the singer from The Associates and his suicide. R.I.P. Billy

  • @SpeakMyLanguage143 - And 'Say' by The Creatures is about Billy also. :)

  • miss you billy

  • Martha on keyboards is now teaching in Toronto at the Ontario College of Art..

  • martha from 'martha and the muffins' on the keyboards !!!..legendry band ...i ADORED THEM

  • So sad to hear about Billys brother....so sad best wishes to the family.. luv to u Billy xxx

  • CLASSIC STUFF FROM A MASTER!! & SCOTTISH ASWELL

    BILLY MacKenzie YOU WERE AMAZING

  • Billy is and was a legend. God love you man xx

  • You can see that Ricky Gervais was going for the same look and sound with his voice back in 82.

  • This song brings me such incredible joy. I am sad to only be a recent Associates convert; but, you know, thank God I eventually caught the light! Arch, sexy, swanky, brilliant: Thank you, Darling Mr. Mackenzine. I swoon in your presence.

  • I'd love a bit of that choclate guitar

  • THIS GUY IS BRILLIANT NUFF SAID SHAME HES GONE

  • Anyone who attempts to quetion Billy's divine status really needs professional help.He was far too talented for today's grubby,cheap and nasty X Factor/Everywhere's Got Talent if we can syndicate the TV rights world.Thankfully!

  • This song is genious, he gives it something new as i believe its a cover? his voice always impresses me with its range and passion. i am not gay but he does look cool it that suit!

  • @peterandaluz

    Not, it's an original Associates song, not a cover. There was an earlier version of it which is very different in style to this, but it is Billy's and Alan's composition.

  • thanks for letting me know, still a genious song i love it and Martha Ladly looks great too in the video

  • Billy and Martha....an 18 carat shag affair ???

  • @DGM75 If so Lucky Martha!

  • love the bass rift on this song.

  • thank you for posting., brilliance

  • There's a photo on the "singles" CD booklet with Billy & his whippet ! Classic .

  • What a sad loss Billy is. So young, with so much to give.

  • Bloody good band, and Billy was one of the best singers around.

  • @raindog951 I love Billy's on stage joking around with Martha.

  • @sirtinycreep Yes! It looks like they had a great relationship in the band. It makes me very sad, but happy that they had a good time while it lasted.

  • miss you bill

  • Thanks for posting this - grew up with the wonderful Mr. McKenzie - Bolly 558 spot on!! I'm with you!

  • Great bass rift on this song.

  • love Rankine feeding his chocolate guitar to the audience!

  • A great band from a time and a decade that holds a lot of good memories

  • Great voice and song

  • met him once in edinburgh he had a drink with us great guy

  • billy..the superstar that never was. . .

  • Yookneekih you be sure and Tell Ian Rankine what a genius he is !

  • @strobestatic He's pretty talented alright but nothing compared with his namesake Alan!

    

  • so awesome.

    all schools should make pupils listen to sulk

  • Martha Ladly

  • cowell should be put to death the high trousered fuckwit knows fuck all about music

  • 'Sulk' was the best of them, and they were great.

  • Everything they did in 1982 was pure platinum - Billy McKenzie the showman , THE voice and some top-notch tunes and clever lyrics ...... an immense talent sadly missed

  • Simon Cowell and co should be parachuted straight in to the Helmand Province. They would bore the Taliban in to full surrender. Plus the noise from the stage would terrify them in to giving up their arms....

  • God, I wish I knew the tab/chord sequence for this--I've searched the net but to no avail. I dont know why, but I can't find Associates tabs/chords full stop--ANYWHERE!!!!!. Anybody got any ideas??

  • Alan Rankine, the guitarist, teaches my course at college, so i could ask him?

    x

  • I worked out BREAKFAST.

  • her on the keyboard ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,yes I would

    bought this as a 12inch version in the eighties gonna play it now

  • She is the keyboard player out of Martha and the Muffins check out "echo beach"

  • @duncanrs Maybe, but the important question is would she?

  • Great bass rift on this track.

  • COWELL: Well,What Do You Thnk Louie?

    WALSH:Don't Exactly Know,Simon-It's...It's..It's a bit beyond my scope!How bout you Si?

    COWELL:You Know,Tell you what it is young man(patronize,patronize)Your..­........(wait for it,wait for it)....really quite good!!! Now then!! (I am speaking!) If you can take a bit of advice from someone in the know (Namely-Me)...Lose the Hi-Pitched voice n' your on the way to the final(WOW!)!

  • that was fucking good.

  • Ha ha - love it! :-D Funnily enough I was imagining just this scenario the other day with Billy. Thank fuck X factor wasn't around back then. Simon Cowell is killing music - and should be illegal!

  • Yes, they were an excellent band. An interesting sidenote is how they would fare on todays X-Factor, what with Billy's voice and the like. They would probably be demolished by the judges, which goes to prove how shit these talent shows really are...

  • Everyone,especially Billy look to be GENUINELY having a GREAT time. I'm so NOT gay, but I can see he was a very good lookin'guy!!!! What a shame for him.Top Tune.!!!!!

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  • billy was a great looking guy, who was so talented, he had a unique voice which separated him from the rest. The Associates should have the same recognition in my opinion as the smiths or simple minds for example they where that good, they where an excellent band

  • That woman was really beautiful apart from Billy and this awesome music she's one of the main reasons i love The Associates.

  • So sad he is gone, great talent. Great looks and those dimples...

  • He reminds me of James Dean,what a handsome man Billy was,

  • alan rankine is one of my lecturers at college too : D

  • Was wondering what he was doing. Have done a search for him on here but not much going. Billy was an equal to Alan. It takes two to tango that well. The arrangements are so rich for 'pop' music.

  • Billy and the Associates were the 80,s they should get more recognition not only for these great songs and tunes but also for the real lyrics. They put some of todays band in the shade by a long way. 18 carat Gold.

  • I was thinking exactly that it annoys me that Billy McKenzie and the Associates are ignored they are still unique and different.

    From a young fan.

  • @MikesDanceVids They put ALL of todays bands in the shade and virtually all of their contemporaries as well. To my mind one of the greatest and most unusual sounding of bands. How many bands are capable of writing songs of the quality of "Skipping" or "No"? These songs keep on improving with age.

  • It's hard for me to watch this video, because i was so in love with him and his voice ...that when he died, it broke my heart..

  • I supported the associates at the Copacabana, Fort William, Billy was soo lovely, kissed me on the cheek and told me i was gorgeous- I didn't wash my face next day :)

  • this was my fav song by them.remember them singing it on totp like it was yesterday, i must have been 18 when this was out , had my youth during this era it was the best time to be young and single

  • RIP Billy. You were one of a kind.

  • FRO = Fuck right off. Billy Mackenzie is a legend in every sense of the world.. two songs you've HEARD... you people make me sick.

  • @liamrossabby And that's one too many!

  • @liamrossabby

    Wow, you're well hard. Chucking insults from the anonymity of your PC, at someone who can't answer back. I'm impressed.

  • Gorgeous! Out of this world beautiful music, such beautiful people, such poise, such a voice,......

  • @tommyperkins Your right Tommy , lyrically he was phenomenal and vocally he was out of this world

  • the party fears 2 was apt ,i was in nightclub in dundee when his brother stuck tumbler in guys face ,apart from that he gave me my first dog a whippet .lived till it was 19 .rip

  • legend-creativiity- a Scottish trait...

  • since when has creativity been defined to the Scots???

  • it was meant in a 'toungue in cheek way', but on second thoughts, - why not? :)

  • haha I know your joking but bare in mind the keyboard player is Canadian and the bassist is English. Having said that a lot of good music has come from Scotland and a lot of not so good music. But a lot of Scots musicians seem to have a "workmen-like" ethic towards there music except the Cocteau Twins etc.

  • Lime, you mentioned that during this time of the Asscociates, the keyboardist was a Canadian. What is his name and is he still playing or what groups has he played in in the past decade? I live in Toronto, which is the center of the music industry here. Even Elton John is building a huge home just north of Toronto. Saw the pics in the paper 2 weeks ago, huge.

  • Well it is a she and her name is or was Martha Ladley and she was previously in Martha and the Muffins who did "Echo Beach". She was married to British producer Stephen Street. Apperently she is back in Canada working as a designer and she looked damn hot, especially in this video

  • Lime, thanks for the info. I did a google on Martha Ladly and she is now a professor of design at the Ontario College of Art in downtown Toronto. She worked with Peter Gabriel for a long time. She has more letters behind her name than i can count.LOL. This woman is something else. WOW. By the way, i live in Toronto and i will give her a call and buy her a beer or coffee just to let her know how much i appreciate her talent and to thank her. That 18 Caratt Love Affair she was on still is great.

  • Cool, good luck with the meeting. I bet she still looks hot. That's right she is a graphic designer. Good luck

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  • port isaac 1982 just been dumped n shes broken me heart(again)

  • cmax, i thought scotland was in britain, has it been moved? let it go youll be happier! you are no different to me and im from mars

  • One of the best songs ever written. Always looked forward to seeing The Associates on TOTP. Billy was a true star. Much missed.

  • R.I.P Billy. True Scottish music legend

  • Effortlessly cool. Very adult, very sexy, huge fun. Love love love the lyric, the music, the band. Their best single. One of the best ever, of any time, in my view. Billy Mac - unbelievable singer. Try singing along! Alan Rankin: fantastic musician, composer, arranger. Whatever happened to pop music??

  • have the old 12" single and nothing to play it on, so happy to find this ...... can't believe this has never been covered...but then who could sing it like Billy?

  • I really can't think of another group from before or since that matches the unique sound of the Associates.

  • didnt realy do a bad song, sadly missed :o(

  • A genuinely tragic loss. Awesome singer!

  • Lovely song, beautifully played...great to see Billy looking so happy...

  • Wonderful !!!

  • I'll second that, tremendously underrated. There's been no one can sing like him.

  • Criminally underrated.

  • how did he die???

  • He committed suicide.

  • he overdosed after the death of his mother. there is a wikipedia page on him

  • still one of the best British voices and he was'nt shy about experimental tracks

    I'm not gong to say anything about singers today, it will just make me sound old and bitter

  • british? i think not!

  • he's scottish.

  • Scottish legend. R.I.P Billy

  • Amazingly talented Guy who came to a very sad and tragic end. Great Voice dont know if he ever found his Niche though????

  • I MISS YOU BILL

  • summercos,are you a distant relation of Stanley Unwin?

  • Billy you were total class mate :)

  • I think its fabulous that you young peole like this music - I bought Sulk on one of those round black things when it came out as a teenager, loved it then & love it now, I was deemed as weird then & now hardly anyone I know has heard of them & apparently I'm still weird!!!

  • You're not weird. They're amazing.

  • Call it weird if you want, but I listen to a lot of music and always keep coming back to Billy's stuff after 30 years - how weird is that? Brilliant.

  • summercos you dork, this is utterly sublime early 80s pop.

  • Yer a tosser summercos; narrow-minded and bumptious. Go away and educate yourself. And sort yer grammar out as well, ya dobber.

  • I find this vid very funny. Billy was a legend. R.I.P Mate

  • Summercos has nothing better to do than slag off Billy Mackenzie. Sad chap.

  • Anybody have the video for Fever. It was on you tube about 2 years ago but was removed for some unknown reason. Good song good video. Appreciate any help.

  • The Associates are brilliant! Sulk is one of my favourite albums. Its so strange and amazing.

  • @Muribelle Have you seen Billy's Ronnie Scotts performance of "No", with Howard Hughes on piano? Considering that for the most part this version is just voice and piano, you might expect it to be somewhat less disquieting; you'd be wrong! Being able to hear the piano so clearly, you realise what a strange melody it truly is and some of the chords seem.......well, discordant! Surely one of the weirdest "pop" songs ever recorded.

  • RIP Billy.You were absolutely fucking amazing and totally original.You are very sadly missed... :-(

  • What a voice - 18 carat gold!!!

  • I used to have a haircut like his, almost all gone now tho. :O( If you're young and have hair-Experiment with it,grow it, dye it, gel it, it won't be there (or in as good condition) forever (well, 'til yer about 40)

  • Amazing! Im 20 and I saw this on TOTP2 the other night and now I'm totally hooked on Associates!

  • I had a similar experience when I was 15 (I recently turned 22). I was hooked when I saw the video for "Breakfast" and bought the "Sulk" album from HMV. No one else like them/Billy. This might be their finest moment.

  • oh wow that's cool....i remember hearing party fears two by the associates a while back and then i saw this on totp2 and i rushed out to buy the cd...but this sounds better on youtube than on the cd strangely :)

  • A legend in his only too short lifetime

  • What an outstanding tune! Looking forward to playing this to my next Valentine...

    RIP Billy.

  • Jesus don't they put to shame most of the dull as dishwater guitar bands around at the moment. Yes I do mean The Kooks, Pigeon Detectives, Killers, The Enemy etc, etc, etc. This is what music should be about, not a career move - having fun and making seriously brilliant music at the same time.

  • fuckin brilliant better than all the shite thats been in the charts for the last 10 years xxx excuse my french.

  • the most underrated group from the 80s was lucky enough to see them perform live twice amazing

  • oh Billy what a great voice

  • Great upload. Thanks for that. Heaven 17, Visage, China Crisis, Human League....aaaaah....HAPPY DAYS :)

  • absolute classic, had shivers down my spine listening to this.I met billy at a party about a year before he died he was a lovely guy and an exceptional talent

  • These guys never failed to brighten up a dull TOTPS or OGWT, or any pop show for that matter. I dont think Billy could take any more after his mums death. But if only he could have stopped and realised how much his fans thought of him.... RIP forever Billy.... Thanks for posting this classic clip.

  • Signed up to UTube just to post this response.

    Hearing this again DID make me cry!! How fantastic and unique this band was. Tragic that he's no longer with us RIP Billy.

  • Just FAB! How can you fail to love a song that has lyrics such as "I said an Avon girl had called, free smaples on display...". Miss you Bill...

  • Heath Ledger would have made a good Billy Mackenzie.

  • If they ever do a biopic about Billy Mackenzie, they should get the kid from "Charlie Bartlett" to play him.

  • such a dope band!!! thx for posting this!!!!

  • At the time this one was my least favourite, now it almost brings me to tears. I used to prefer their more sinister edge, like the amazing "Skipping" and "It's Better This Way". But how can you hear this soaring, exuberant slice of the pop sublime and see Billy in his charismatic, glowing prime and fail to be gloriously transported?

  • Couldn't agree more with that last part. I remember the first time I heard this, thinking that he's not so much singing the song, he's bloody shouting it! And you're not *meant* to do that, are you? But with Billy, somehow, it worked. :-)

    And that smile - could melt Antarctica. :-)

  • (That was in reply to timwilderspin's comment.)

  • Sorry this one left me unmoved. I was a fan of the A's in so much but not with this song. Wheres the melody for a start.

    Anyway Martha looked nice on the show . Rankin said Billy was starting to unravel as early as this stage.

    Sadder world without BM. ;(

  • Suberb.

    I have a big smile on my face now, thanks.

  • 1982 , the year everything started making sense and no sense for a 17 year old, such memories

  • Absolutely gorgeous man. And what a voice. I could look at him for ever and ever.x

    May he R.I.P. with love and always be remembered.

  • too few people were exposed to the brilliance of rankin and mackenzie, so to all who veiw, send this on as i have done RIP Billy you warmed my world

  • Billy *still* warms my world today. Thanks again for it all, wee man. RIP Billy. x

  • what a voice ! sweet dreams bill !

  • There is an instrumental version of this song called nothinginsomethingparticular on a German vinyl version of Sulk which strangely doesn't hold the sung version. Worth knowing. It lacks the exuberance and seem somehow melancholic, but still eerily contagious.