Along with a myriad of bookshops in Wigtown there is a vintage and retro curiosity shop called the Wigtown Emporium
As well as all the knick knacks they sell second hand CDs and Vinyl. It is a wee bit overpriced but when the owner said he would be willing to give me a discount I picked out a couple of records.One was The Affectionate Punch by the Associates. If you don't recognise the cover above that is because it is the 1982 remix and reissue on their new label Warner Brothers. It retained the old tracks, albeit in a different order, but was given some 80's production with some new synths and some re-recorded vocals by Billy Mackenzie. Both Billy and Alan Rankine expressed dissatisfaction with the results and you can maybe see why. It is of its time but one that I would argue is still worth having.
It joins Fourth Door Down and Sulk on the shelves.
What a great Wigtown find! This version of "A Matter Of Gender" was squeezed out the toothpaste tube and released as a single just a few months after the Alan/ Billy version of Associates had crashed and burned on Edinburgh's George Street. The Edinburgh Festival run of gigs were cancelled and the UK tour called off.
ReplyDeleteEarlier in 1982 they had spent a bit of time (while their Sulk hits were clogging up the 1982 charts) revisiting TAP in the studio and trying to work some of the sharp edges off the original sound. I love the new instrumentation Alan wove into the songs on the remixed album. There were also some additional kind of "Sulk"-ish effects flown in which justified the purchasing of TAP album all over again back then. Billy really had lost interest by this point though, and there were only three new vocals on this version of TAP (Paper House, Deeply Concerned & Even Dogs In The Wild). It provides more grist for the mill though! I'm glad they did this wee side project which slid out on Fiction (FIXD 5) in November 1982 once Billy and Alan's Associates were no more. Enjoy what we have!
Ah Mr Sid Law,
ReplyDeleteWe have been expecting you.
Always good to get a comment which is longer than my post!
Sid has covered it all (as you'd expect!!). Despite not being loved as much as the original version, this is still worth owning.
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