Wednesday, 11 August 2010

39 Lyon Street Kites 12"


The 39 Lyon Street Kites 12". 



Released in 1981, it features Christine Beveridge on a whispery lead vocal with Billy taking the back seat until the choruses. The Associates were allowed to release singles on other labels as long as Billy didn't sing lead vocals on the A-side. Recorded in the midst of the Situation 2 stream of singles, Kites is an atmospheric musical delight. The twelve inch version has a rolling piano intro which slides effortlessly into an utterly groovy version of Simon Dupree And The Big Sound's biggest hit.


It was released on RSO Records in a one single deal. The B-side A Girl Named Property is credited to The Associates and is the same version released on Fourth Drawer Down.


39 Lyon Street is behind the blue car (centre picture).

Billy explained some of the background to this record in a Smash Hits interview in May 1981 "Around 1976 a lot of us (including Alan Rankine, the other founder member of The Associates) were living in a flat at 39 Lyon Street in Dundee. We used to hold parties almost every night and the kind of music we used to play was sophisticated club-style music. Some of us even used to sell 1920's clothing. Christine was one of the people who lived there. When me and Rankine played the cabaret circuit we used to play the 'Kites' number. The next thing to be released by 39 Lyon Street will be a quasi-Neil Sedaka song called '18 Carat Love Affair'."



Of course things changed and we never got another 39 Lyon Street song nor did we get the projected Orbidoig album John Peel informed us that MacKenzie was producing back in October 1982.


Enjoy what we have





Sid Law








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4 comments:

  1. Richgatkow21 August 2010 at 22:18

    Thanks so much for this! Always one of my favorite Associates-related tracks. The ending is different from the 7" version as well, it doesn't fade and is much longer.

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  2. Mitch18 October 2010 at 20:16

    I forget if I thanks you properly for this - very glad to have it!

    One other question: On The Associates _The Radio One Sessions, Vol. 2_, the last 3 tracks are supposed to be live at the Phil Kennedy Show but are, in fact, the studio versions. You wouldn't happen to have a source for the live versions?

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  3. Sid Law29 November 2010 at 08:39

    There were no live tracks from the Phil Kennedy Show. Billy appeared as a live guest on the show and played three tracks from the new Perhaps album. I havent heard a tape of his on air interview/chat, however there are a number of scottish radio interviews available on Youtube.
    Paul Lester's (Associate editor at Uncut) description of these "live" tracks on the sleevenotes for the Radion One Session Vol 2 CD demonstrate that either he hadn't listened to the CD or he hadn't even heard the original Perhaps tracks. Or both.

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  4. cozy t29 August 2012 at 06:13

    thanks for posting this brilliant version
    of the song - I have been looking for this
    for quite some time and finally I have it

    do you perchance have the 'boys keep swinging'
    double hip version from august 1979
    as I do not have that
    cheers once again

    ReplyDelete