Perhaps (album)

Perhaps
Studio album by The Associates
Released 9 February 1985
Label WEA
Producer
The Associates chronology
Sulk
(1982)Sulk1982		 Perhaps
(1985)		 Wild and Lonely
(1990)Wild and Lonely1990

Perhaps is the third studio album by Scottish post-punk/new wave band The Associates, released on 9 February 1985 by record label WEA. It is the first album without founding multi-instrumentalist Alan Rankine.

Background

With the departure of Alan Rankine and Michael Dempsey, The Associates were effectively a Billy Mackenzie solo project for this album. MacKenzie started work with Steve Reid, a guitarist from Dundee and Howard Hughes, an accomplished keyboard player in late 1982 after the departure of Rankine and came up with an album's worth of material.

Recording

The recording sessions were chaotic, and the resulting album was deemed unreleasable by Warner Music Group, who demanded further work be carried out on the project. The master tapes for this version went missing over the Christmas period in 1982 (allegedly hidden by Mackenzie due to his own dissatisfaction with the record). The album was restarted from scratch and was finally finished after a further two years in early 1985, featuring four different producers and at a total final cost of approximately £250,000 to complete, an uncommonly major expense, even for a major label record, at that time.

Release

Perhaps was released on 9 February 1985. The album was a commercial failure, making number 23 in the UK charts but only selling around 40,000 copies, putting Billy in significant debt to Warner Music Group.

For years Perhaps was only available on vinyl and cassette. However, due to the reissue program of Associates material after Billy Mackenzie's death, it was re-released along with the unreleased The Glamour Chase album in a double CD package in 2002. The bonus instrumentals included on the original cassette release were not included.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Smash Hits8/10[2]

Trouser Press wrote "To write it off with a snide 'perhaps not' would be a cheap shot, but more than generous", calling it "undanceable dance music with a few ho-hum twists. The lyrics include strange, gratuitous, incomprehensible non sequiturs; the music is at best uninvolving, even if you listen for sheer sound and ignore the pose."[3]

Track listing

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Those First Impressions" 
2."Waiting for the Loveboat" 
3."Perhaps" 
4."Schampout" 
5."Helicopter Helicopter" 
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Breakfast" 
2."Thirteen Feelings" 
3."The Stranger in Your Voice" 
4."The Best of You" 
5."Don't Give Me That 'I Told You So' Look" 

Cassette issues included instrumental versions of Perhaps, Thirteen Feelings, The Stranger In Your Voice and Breakfast (titled Breakfast Alone)

Personnel

  • Billy Mackenzie – vocals
  • Steve Reid – guitar
  • Howard Hughes – keyboards
  • Roberto Soave – bass guitar on "Thirteen Feelings", "The Stranger in Your Voice" and "The Best of You"
  • Steve Goulding – drums on "Schampout" and "Helicopter Helicopter"
  • Jim Russell – percussion on "Schampout"
  • Ian Mcintosh – guitar on "Those First Impressions"
  • Eddi Reader – vocals on "The Best of You"
  • Lynton Naiff - string arrangements on "Breakfast" and "Thirteen Feelings"
Technical

References

  1. ↑ "Perhaps – The Associates | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Green, Jim; Aswad, Jem. "TrouserPress.com :: Associates". Trouser Press. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
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