The Associates - Sulk

In the pop pantheon of 1982, The Associates stood out from the rest.

Comprising the duo of Scotsmen Billy McKenzie and Alan Rankine, they were too out-there for the New Romantics, and too sophisticated for the post-punk crowd. But possessed of a wicked sense of playfulness, they opted to not play by the rules, instead thriving on a kind of self-perpetuated chaos.

Their story is one of deliberate provocation, fleecing record labels for all the money they can get, violating copyright law to get attention, playing chocolate guitars on Top of the Pops, and making inspired music that seems to come from another dimension.

And for a brief moment, with 1982's Sulk, they became a bona fide pop success, singles like 'Party Fears Two' and 'Club Country' lighting up the charts with their inspired strangeness.

And then, just when everything was ready to go right, it began to go horribly wrong.