Bit of a strange one today.
The late Alan Rankine, who passed away on 2 January 2023, was probably best known as being a founder member of Associates. He quit in 1982, not too long after the release of their third album, Sulk, quickly moving into production during which he worked with, among others, Paul Haig, Cocteau Twins and The Pale Fountains.
He returned to performing in 1986, eventually recording three solo albums before moving on in a new direction by joining Stow College in Glasgow as a lecturer on a music business course, where he was instrumental in providing a very firm launchpad for the career of Belle & Sebastian.
His solo material was a bit on the patchy side, and that’s me being kind. This is the single which also lent its name to his debut album:-
mp3: Alan Rankine – The World Begins To Look Her Age
It’s one in which the kitchen sink has been thrown at, production wise, but all it seems to do is highlight that his own vocal is quite one-dimensional and limited. I don’t think he was ever cut out to be a frontman. He was probably more comfortable doing the more experimental stuff that was on the b-side:-
mp3: Alan Rankine – Can You Believe Everything I See? (Part 2)
This single, like much of his solo material came out on Virgin Records. It didn’t chart.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
def patchy solo – but the sandman is a sinister bit of pop and I like the last bullet
friend of rachel worth
Patchy fits, it must be said. Mr. Rankine was one of the sidemen who could nearly do it all, but he would have been the first to admit that he was no frontman.
Good to see Alan Rankine here though I would also have to agree about the peaks and troughs of his solo material (or at least, what I’ve heard of it).
When I posted a Dubhed selection following his death in January, I slightly sidestepped this potential issue by mixing up the hour with his production work for Belle & Sebastian, Cocteau Twins, Anna Domino, etc. and intentionally including only one Associates song. As FORW mentions, The Sandman is a lovely bit of sinister pop and made the cut.
https://dubhed.blogspot.com/2023/01/can-you-believe-everything-i-see.html
Not just because he’s also commented above, but I also acknowledged Post Punk Monk’s superlative piece on Alan, which was one of the first things I read after the news and, as tributes go, was the definitive response for me.
Thanks, JC!
Khayem