On the evidence of The Rattler, a stirring menace of a single, Scottish rock band Goodbye Mr Mackenzie could have been a huge part of the alternative boom at the end of the 80s. Record company wrangles meant that they didn’t reach out to as many people as they should have, but their solitary hit meant they did at least leave behind a legacy. The brief, jaunty intro deceives at first hearing, as a raucous guitar and Martin Metcalfe’s waspish vocal takes over on a track that is both swaggering and singalong. There are superb harmonies on the second verse and later on the crescendo via keyboardists Rona Scobie and Shirley Manson and throughout, a prominent, leading bassline. Initially an indie smash when it was first released in 1986, a deal with Capitol prompted a reissue in the spring of 1989 and thanks to plenty of airplay and an unquenchable desire from the band to perform everywhere, it snuck into the UK Top 40, peaking at No.37. The album, Good Deeds And Dirty Rags, reached the Top 30. Subsequent singles came close to repeating the feat but ultimately the band suffered through being passed from one record company to another, and by the time of their album, Five, they had set up their own label. They split in 1995, a year after Manson left to join Garbage, then reunited without Shirley in 2019.
MATTHEW RUDD IS THE HOST OF FORGOTTEN 80s ON ABSOLUTE 80s