Billy MacKenzie

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• From Melody Maker - News (Feb. 1, 1997):

"Billy Mackenzie, the hugely influential singer who began his career with The Associates, was found dead in a garden shed outside his father's home in Auchterhouse, near Dundee, on January 22. He was 39."

... "Morrissey, a friend and fan of Mackenzie for some years, said: 'He was such a lovely person, and I feel very, very sad.'"

• Post from blueboy:

Morrissey gets a teasing mention in Tom Doyle's book; 'The Glamour Chase - The Maverick Life Of Billy MacKenzie': (this extract is from pages 191 - 192):

"By May, six tracks of new MacKenzie/Rankine material had been completed. Retrospectively, the most musically startling and lyrically intriguing of these is undoubtedly the insistent glam rock of 'Steven, You're Still Really Something'. In the early 80s Billy had forged a fleeting friendship with Morrissey, which had allegedly ended with MacKenzie stealing a Jane Stein novel and a favourite shirt from the singer's Manchester flat. The music industry rumours that the two had enjoyed a brief affair were fuelled by the release of the Smiths' sixth single, 'William, It Was Really Nothing', in September 1984. If then, 'Steven, You're Still Really Something' is more than likely MacKenzie's response song, it is nothing if not likely affectionate, with even the vaguely threatening 'outing' line 'If I'm going down, I'll do you down with me' sweetened by the coupling 'And I loved the way you sent your poetry'.

Billy's song in question has not been officially released but since his suicide in 1997 there has been renewed interest in both his solo work and that of The Associates. This summer will see the re-release of much of his work including CDs of previously unreleased material and this may include the above mentioned song. Anyone who is interested in Billy can find out more information at this excellent fan run site: http://www.billymackenzie.com

External links

• Billy MacKenzie Wikipedia page
• Billy MacKenzie Tribute Site

Discogs Information

Profile

Billy MacKenzie (27 March 1957 - 22 January 1997) was born in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom. He joined forces with fellow musician Alan Rankine as Associates in the late 1970's and released their first 7" - a cover of David Bowie's Boys Keep Swinging. The pair then released a string of critically acclaimed albums and singles under the Associates name. After Billy and Alan split in 1982 the group continued. Now called The Associates, various line-ups (always with Billy on vocals and writing most of the material) continued to release records until 1991 when the group folded. Billy also released a few singles through the 1980's, variously as MacKenzie Sings Orbidoig, Holger Hiller Featuring Billy MacKenzie and BEF Featuring Billy MacKenzie. He also contributed vocal duties to a number of other artists such as Skids and Yello. His first proper solo excursions under his own name were in 1992 with the album Outernational and a clutch of solo singles. Billy continued recording and releasing material with Yello, Peach, Barry Adamson, Apollo Four Forty, Loom and Siobhan Fahey amongst others. Shortly after finishing work on what would have been his comeback album for Nude Records, MacKenzie took his own life in 1997, at Auchterhouse in the Sidlaw Hills by Dundee, Scotland. He was 39 years old.

External Links

• https://www.discogs.com/artist/24222-Billy-MacKenzie
• http://billymackenzie.com/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mackenzie
• https://steveaungle.wordpress.com/billy-mackenzie/

Wikipedia Information

William MacArthur MacKenzie (27 March 1957 – 22 January 1997) was a Scottish singer and songwriter, known for his distinctive high tenor voice. He was the co-founder and lead vocalist of post-punk and new wave band the Associates. He also had a brief solo career releasing his debut studio album, Outernational, in 1992, his only solo album released during his lifetime.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mackenzie