Alan Rankine was a Scottish musician and record producer best known as keyboardist and guitarist for rock band the Associates, which he co-founded with lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie in the late 1970s.
10 Facts About Alan Rankine
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Alan Rankine lived in "the posh part of Dundee" until around the age of 11, followed by Glasgow and then Linlithgow.
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Alan Rankine's father, Jim Rankine, was a school inspector and his mother was a secretary.
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Once Rankine stopped playing tennis, he practised the guitar up to five or six hours a day.
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Alan Rankine began his career with the cabaret band Caspian, which became the Associates.
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Alan Rankine left the band in 1982 on the eve of what would have been the Sulk tour, due to Billy MacKenzie's reluctance to travel.
7.
Alan Rankine signed a recording contract with Belgian label Les Disques du Crepuscule in 1986 and embarked on a solo career.
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Billy Mackenzie 8.
Alan Rankine recorded three solo studio albums: The World Begins to Look Her Age, She Loves Me Not, and the fully instrumental The Big Picture Sucks.
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Alan Rankine later worked as a lecturer in Stow College in Glasgow until 2010, when he left to return to music production.
10.
Alan Rankine died peacefully in his home after spending Christmas with his family.