Editing The Associates (band) (section)

===1979–1982: Formation and independent success===
[[Billy Mackenzie|Billy MacKenzie]] and guitarist [[Alan Rankine]] met in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1976 and formed the [[cabaret]] duo the Ascorbic Ones,<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">{{cite book |last=Strong |first=Martin C. |year=1998 |title=The Great Rock Discography |publisher=Times Books |isbn=0812931114}}</ref> although Rankine claimed that this was "a fantasy band that Bill and I dreamt up to give ourselves a past".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Glamour Chase: The Maverick Life of Billy MacKenzie|last=Doyle|first=Tom|publisher=Polygon|year=2011|location=Edinburgh}}</ref> In 1978, they recorded songs as Mental Torture before changing the name to the Associates.

Disappointed that their early recordings were not getting picked up, MacKenzie concocted the stunt of doing a cover of [[David Bowie]]'s "[[Boys Keep Swinging]]", without copyright permission, just six weeks after Bowie's version hit the UK Top 10.<ref name=":0" /> Released in June 1979, this debut Associates single reached No. 15 in ''[[Record Mirror]]''{{'}}s Scottish chart and gained them airplay on [[John Peel]]'s [[BBC Radio 1|Radio One]] show.<ref name=":0" /> MacKenzie later said that the band recorded the Bowie song "to prove the point. It was a strange way of proving it, but it worked. People said, 'That is ''awful''. How dare they!'"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Morley|first=Paul|date=27 September 1980|title=Boys Keep Scoring|journal=NME}}</ref> The ensuing attention earned them a contract with [[Fiction Records]], and their debut album, ''[[The Affectionate Punch]]'', followed on 1 August 1980.<ref name="all" /> By this time the duo of MacKenzie and Rankine had been joined by bassist Michael Dempsey<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0785chz|title=BBC Radio 2 - Sounds of the 80s with Gary Davies, Alan Rankine and Michael Dempsey|website=BBC|access-date=13 August 2021}}</ref> and drummer John Murphy,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.electricityclub.co.uk/the-associate-an-interview-with-michael-dempsey/|title=The Associate: An Interview with MICHAEL DEMPSEY|website=Electricityclub.co.uk|date=21 May 2016|access-date=13 August 2021}}</ref> though in most promotional material the group were still marketed as a duo.

A string of 1981 non-album singles on the label [[Situation Two]] were compiled as ''[[Fourth Drawer Down]]'', released that October.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/fourth-drawer-down-mw0000463301 |title=''Fourth Drawer Down'' – The Associates|last=Kellman |first=Andy |website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=5 January 2014}}</ref> These releases saw the band develop an interest in experimenting with unorthodox instrumentation and recording techniques, including sounds being amplified through the tube of a vacuum cleaner on the track "Kitchen Person". Also in 1981, Rankine and MacKenzie released a version of "[[Kites (song)|Kites]]" under the name 39 Lyon Street, with Christine Beveridge on lead vocals. The [[A-side and B-side|B-side]], "A Girl Named Property" (a remake of "Mona Property Girl" from the "Boys Keep Swinging" single), was credited to the Associates.