Six Reasons To Be Thankful

Be Thankful For What You've Got was released as a single in July 1984 by Glasgow soulsters Sunset Gun. 

Featuring the immensely talented Deirdre 'Dee' Rutkowski and Louise Rutkowski and multi-instrumentalist Ross Campbell, and produced by Alan Rankine, it's a bit of a head scratcher why this wasn't a hit.

Fast forward to February 1992 and Massive Attack managed to take the song to #27 in the UK as the lead of their self-titled EP. The week before their chart peak, Massive Attack performed the song on Tonight With Jonathan Ross... well, a version of Massive Attack, at least. 

Whilst vocalist Tony Bryan is up front at the mike, and those in the know will spot guests Luis Jardim and Steve Nieve in the ensemble, there's no sign of 3D, Mushroom or Daddy G.

A couple of 21st Century covers that are new to me, firstly from Sade, performed at the Nakano Sunplaza in Tokyo in May 1986, bootlegged at the time and officially released thirty years later.

In March 2024, Daryl Hall's long running series Live From Daryl’s House welcomed Rumer and the pair duetted on Be Thankful For What You've Got. There are some nice moments of harmony, but personally I would have been happy for Daryl to stick to guitar on this one and let Rumer carry the vocal.

I've never heard of Orgōne before and I only discovered whilst looking for a clip of Massive Attack performing Be Thankful for What You Got. An unintended slight as they've released at least fifteen albums in the last quarter of a century.

Their nine-minute live in the studio take was recorded in Los Angeles a few weeks before the USA went into lockdown due to the COVID pandemic. 

To finish, what else but the original version, written and recorded by William DeVaughn?

The single got to #31 in July 1974, with a new, more uptempo version peaking at #44 in October 1980. Proof that even William himself couldn't top his first go and to emphasise that point, I've gone for the full seven-minute album version from 1974, for which we should all be thankful.

 

Can You Believe Everything I See?

Celebrating Alan Rankine, 17th May 1958 to 3rd January 2023.

 

Another loss, another shock. I can't find the words* but I was struck by Alan Rankine from the first moment I saw Associates in the pages of Smash Hits and on TV with Top Of The Pops. I mean, Billy MacKenzie looked fabulous and had a voice unlike any I'd ever heard before, but I found Alan equally compelling. Those cheekbones, the black hair and widow's peak, that piercing stare. And the music was just astonishing. My starting point was Sulk, though I was drawn back to The Affectionate Punch and the Fourth Drawer Down compilation to discover more brilliance.

 

Whilst the combination of Alan and Billy was something unique and arguably neither could quite recreate that magic apart, Alan released three albums in the 1980s each containing some gems whilst also producing great music for other artists throughout the same decade, returning to the controls for Belle & Sebastian's debut album Tigermilk in 1996 (drummer Richard Colburn was on a Music Business course at Stow College in Glasgow, taught by Rankine).

 

There will be lots of tributes out there that attempt to capture how much Alan Rankine contributed, as a musician, a producer, a teacher and a passionate advocate for the wonder of making music. Ironically, during the tail end of lockdown I discovered some wonderful interviews with Alan by Grant McPhee, giving the backstory to the recording of the Associates' album. I've included a link to Grant's YouTube page, you won't be disappointed. I also want to give a nod to Post Punk Monk's tribute to Alan, one of the earliest to appear in the blogosphere but an excellent overview of the man and his music.

This is inevitably another hastily cobbled together selection. Thinking that there will be lots of focus elsewhere on Alan's work with Billy MacKenzie as Associates, I've tried to take a slightly broader view, taking in Alan's production and solo material. It's a dozen songs in a smidge over one hour, but I think it just about does Alan justice.

Rest easy, Alan.

 

1) Can You Believe Everything I See? (Part 3): Alan Rankine (1987)

2) Be Thankful For What You've Got (Single Version) (Cover of William DeVaughn): Sunset Gun (1984)

3) We Rule The School: Belle & Sebastian (1996)

4) The Sandman (Remix): Alan Rankine (1987)

5) Glory To The Take And The Killing: Alan Rankine (1989)

6) Mona Property Girl (Single Version): Associates (1979)

7) Hazel (Single Version): Cocteau Twins (1983)

8) Something Good (Extended Version): Paul Haig (1989)

9) Summer (Single Version): Anna Domino (1986)

10) Skipping (Album Version): Associates (1982)

11) Can You Believe Everything I See? (Parts 1 & 2): Alan Rankine (1987)

12) Love In Adversity: Alan Rankine (1986)

 

1979: Boys Keep Swinging EP: 6

1982: Sulk: 10

1983: Peppermint Pig EP: 7

1984: Be Thankful For What You've Got EP: 2

1986: Summer EP: 9 

1986: The World Begins To Look Her Age: 12 

1987: The Sandman EP: 1, 4

1987: The World Begins To Look Her Age EP: 11

1989: Something Good EP: 8

1989: The Big Picture Sucks: 5

1996: Tigermilk: 3

 

Can You Believe Everything I See? (1:00:02) (Box) (Mega)

* I appreciate the irony of saying that "I can't find the words" and then rambling on for several paragraphs...!