William Rankin (born 25 April 1959) is a Scottish guitarist and singer active in the 1980s and 1990s. Best known for his work with

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

(1980–83 and 1990–94), he also had a successful solo career, including a US hit single "Baby Come Back". Rankin was part of multimedia group "Team Rock" prior to it going into administration in 2016.

Biography

Rankin was born in

Lennoxtown Lennoxtown (, ) is a town in the East Dunbartonshire council area and the historic county of Stirlingshire, Scotland. The Campsie Fells are located to Lennoxtown's north. The town had a population of 4,094 at the 2011 UK census. History The ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

and educated at Kirkintilloch High School. Classically trained, he played cello at school and was granted a Scottish Region Music Scholarship in 1971, but preferred rock music to classical as he said in an interview, 'I was probably earning more than my cello teacher and learning more than he could ever teach me just by being in a rock band.' His first band Phase played the Scottish pub circuit when he was only 15 years old and, in 1978, he joined Zal Cleminson's Zal Band, featuring members of

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1972. Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar, bassist Chris Glen, keyboard player Hugh McKenna (28 November 1949 – 18 December 2019) an ...

. He joined

in 1980, replacing a departing Zal Cleminson, and appeared on their albums '' Snaz'' (1981), '' 2XS'' (1982) and '' Sound Elixir'' (1983) before leaving the band. Rankin issued a solo album ''Growin' up Too Fast'' in 1984, and had a

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

that reached #52 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

with "Baby Come Back", taken from the album. A follow-up album called ''Crankin'' was released in Japan only in 1985, but with little success. He rejoined Nazareth in 1990, this time replacing original guitarist Manny Charlton, and recorded '' No Jive'' (1991) and '' Move Me'' (1994) before leaving the band again in 1994. As well as guitar, he also provided backing vocals and occasionally played keyboards. After leaving Nazareth, he played at the

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

Memorial Concert, issued on CD in 1997. He also appears on a number of Nazareth retrospective and compilation albums, including ''Rock Ballads'' (1998), '' Back to the Trenches'' (2001), ''Live in Texas '81'' (2004), ''The River Sessions'' (2004) and ''Hair of the Dog – Live'' (2007). His latest solo album ''Shake'' was released in 1999. Rankin worked as a truck driver with the supermarket chain ASDA before getting a job as a presenter. Rankin was the breakfast presenter with 96.3 Rock Radio, Scotland's first classic rock station before the station was subject to a corporate acquisition, changing its name to Real Radio XS in the process. Rankin was not part of the reshuffle plans and parted company with the station in July 2012. Billy Rankin was part of "Team Rock Radio" and broadcast "The School of Rock" show, Saturday and Sunday mornings 9 am-midday (a streaming digital service).

Discography

Solo singles

*"I Wanna Spend My Life with You"/"Jump Out the Window" (CBS 1979) Unreleased but mastered to vinyl *"Can't Stop Now"/"Jump Out the Window" (CBS 1979) *"Baby Come Back"/"Part of the Scenery" (A&M/Sony CBS 1983): Peaked at number 52 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

in May 1984. *"Baby Come Back"/"Part of the Scenery"/"Baby's Got a Gun" 12-inch picture sleeve (A&M/Sony CBS 1983) *"Call Me Automatic"- DJ Double sided single (A&M/Sony CBS 1983) *"Come Out on Top"/b-side unknown (CBS/Sony Japan 1984)

Solo albums

*''Growin' Up Too Fast'' (A & M Records 1983) *''Crankin (A & M Records 1985) *''Shake'' (1999)

With Nazareth

*''

'Snaz ''Snaz'' is a double live album by the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, released in September 1981. The title is rendered on the album artwork in all-capital letters, and when the gatefold-sleeve is opened, the title appears as "IT'SNAZ", but ...

'' (1981) *'' 2XS'' (1982) *'' Sound Elixir'' (1983) *'' No Jive'' (1991) *'' Move Me'' (1994)

With Others

*''Mick Ronson Memorial'' CD (1997) as a member of The Spiders from Mars with Joe Elliott, Trevor Bolder, Bill Nelson & Woody Woodmansey. *''A Tribute to Frankie Miller'' / "Drunken Nights in the City" track (2002) *Runrig ''Mara'' (Chrysalis 1995) Backing vocals. *"We're the Boys from East-end Park"/"Dunfermline, Dunfermline" (with Dan McCafferty, Gregor Able & team) for Dunfermline Athletic *"Championi"/"Rangers Are Top" (with Brian Young) for Glasgow Rangers *"Hamden Nights" (with Jay Crawford) for Scotland's National Team. Rankin has also written ''Billy Rankin's School of Rock'' based on his stories and experiences over his career. Available online only.

References

External links

Billy Rankin at Wordpress.com

Blue Yonder item on the album ''Shake''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rankin, Billy 1959 births Living people Scottish rock guitarists Scottish heavy metal guitarists Scottish male guitarists British lead guitarists Nazareth (band) members Musicians from Kirkintilloch