Category: Goodbye Mr Mackenzie

OK….I’ve featured today’s song a couple of times previously over the years, but this will be the first occasion in which the re-released/re-recorded 12″ has ever been made available for your aural pleasures.

The original version of the song has a link to, of all bands, Wet Wet Wet. The pop/soul combo was managed by Elliot Davis who has founded an independent label, based in Glasgow called The Precious Organisation, for which he had grand plans, unless the major labels came calling – which they soon did in the shape of Phonogram.   In the end, only two other acts other than ‘The Wets’ ever released anything on Precious, one of them being Goodbye Mr Mackenzie with The Rattler being issued on 7″ and 12″ vinyl in September 1986.  It was a relative success in that it reached #13 on the Indie Singles Chart, helped by a video appearance on The Tube, the highly popular weekly music programme broadcast on Channel 4 on the early-mid 80s.

Fast-forward two years and a different major label, Capitol Records, had dangled a lucrative contract in front of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie which was duly signed. After a couple of singles hadn’t provided the hoped-for breakthrough, the decision was taken to release the re-recorded version of The Rattler was released in March 1989, going on to enjoy a six-week stint in the Top 75, peaking at #37. It proved, however, to be the only time the band ever cracked the Top 40 of the singles charts, which is something of a mystery as much of their music was tailor-made for radio consumption

mp3: Goodbye Mr Mackenzie – The Rattler (extended version)

There’s three other tracks on the 12″, two of which pay homage to the band’s roots in Edinburgh:-

mp3: Goodbye Mr Mackenzie – Here Comes Deacon Brodie
mp3: Goodbye Mr Mackenzie – Theme From Calton Hill

The former, while nothing to do with his actual real-life story, name checks an 18th Century individual, William Brodie a seemingly respectable tradesman in the city who also served on the Council, holding the position of Deacon of the Incorporation of Wrights, which locally controlled the craft of cabinetmaking. The thing was Brodie maintained a secret life as a housebreaker, abusing his position as the foremost locksmith of the city to get access to the homes of the wealthy, as well as the vaults of banks. It all went wrong in 1788 when a raid on an excise office was botched and although Brodie fled to Amsterdam, he was caught and brought back to Edinburgh where, after a high-profile trial found him guilty, he was sentenced to death by hanging, at the age of 47. My first knowledge of Deacon Brodie came via drinking in the pub which now bears his name as it was the closest to the office of my first place of employment back in 1985.

The latter is an instrumental which sounds as if it would make for a great piece of music over which film or television credits would roll. Calton Hill is a stunning city centre location upon which a number of historical monuments and buildings are situated, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s worth mentioning in passing that, for decades, Calton Hill has also had a reputation as a dangerous place at night, a location where male prostitution, drug use and underage drinking has not been uncommon. It may well have been all the latter rather than the lovely buildings which inspired the title of this particular b-side.

The other track? Possibly one of the best-known shanties of them all:-

mp3: Goodbye Mr Mackenzie – Drunken Sailor

No apologies for the pops and crackles on the four tracks today. It’s the price of using vinyl that’s over 30 years of age and has been picked up second-hand. At least they are available in a hi-res fashion.

JC

One of the comments in last week’s entry in this series indicated some bemusement as to why I had featured a song I didn’t like, especially when it had come with a lazy cut’n’paste from wiki.

Just to clear things up, I started this Saturday series as a way of giving myself a day off while keeping up the daily postings, if that makes sense.  I’m going through all the Scottish acts in the vinyl, CD and digital collections, in alphabetical order, and putting up one of their songs.  117 entries in and we still haven’t got past the letter ‘G’ indicates there’s still a fair way to go before Zoey Van Goey get their turn.  Also worth mentioning the series will go back to a Saturday once the ICA World Cup 2018 has been won.

from allmusic:-

The arty British pop band Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie may be best known for the fact that Garbage’s Shirley Manson was once a member, but there is more to the group’s story, including chart successes and record company conflicts. Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie formed in 1981 out of the ashes of the Clan, which itself was created from the lineups of Lipstick and Irrelevant. The band’s first lineup comprised singer/guitarist Martin Metcalfe, drummer Derek Kelly, bassist Jamie Waterson, and keyboardist Ewan Drysdale; Chuck Parker replaced Drysdale within a matter of months.

The band released its first single, Death of a Salesman, in 1984, and added two background vocalists, Shirley Manson (who also played keyboards) and Hilary McLean, in the next year. The Mackenzies’ 1986 single The Rattler reached number 13 in the U.K. indie charts, and the group made several TV and radio appearances in the wake of the song’s success. On the strength of their 1987 Face to Face single, which was another indie Top 20 hit, Capitol signed Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie in 1988.

The group released a string of singles over the next year (including a re-recorded version of The Rattler), all of which hovered in the mid-regions of the Top 100. Their 1989 album Good Deeds and Dirty Rags fared slightly better, charting at number 27; however, Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie and Capitol parted ways; the Mackenzies signed to Parlophone and Capitol released a B-sides and live collection, Fish Heads and Tails, at the end of the year.

In 1990, the group toured with Debbie Harry and released two singles, Love Child and Blacker Than Black, that met with indifference: Blacker Than Black topped out at number 62, while Love Child failed to chart at all. With two albums’ worth of material recorded and waiting to be released, the Mackenzies left Parlophone and signed to MCA. The newer of the two albums, Now We Are Married, was released in February of 1991, while Hammer and Tongs, which was recorded in 1989, came out the following month. Poor chart showings for the records and conflicts between the label, management, and the group resulted in MCA dropping Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie in 1992.

The following year the band changed gears, creating the side project Angelfish, which put Manson’s smoldering sensuality and vocals at the forefront. The year 1993 also saw the debut of the band’s own label, Blokshok, on which they released the live Mackenzies album Live: On the Day of Storms. Angelfish’s video for the single “Shock Me” received some airplay on MTV, where famously, guitarist Steve Marker saw it, leading to Manson being asked to join his new project Garbage. After Manson left, the rest of the Mackenzies carried on for two more albums, Five and The Glory Hole, as well as a collection of covers, Jezebel. The group played its final gig at the end of 1995.

The Rattler is their finest moment but as it has been featured previously, and more than once, on the blog, I thought I’d pull out another of their singles, from 1988 and the first released by Capitol:-

mp3 : Goodbye Mr Mackenzie – Goodbye Mr Mackenzie (12″ version)

They did a decent take on an early Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds song as one of its b-sides:-

mp3 : Goodbye Mr Mackenzie – Knockin’ On Joe

Most of the band still work together as The Filthy Tongues. But that’s a story for another day.

JC