Delete Static Marketing List - will it also remove the contact ->marketing list associations

Hello,

I erroneously added thousands of records to a Static Marketing List.

I want to remove the new additions, and in fact am happy to delete the whole list as this will be quicker and easier than using the interface/gridview pages and selecting "remove from marketing list". Can anyone advise on deleting the whole list - is it safe, and will it also delete the contact associations  - listcontact_association (that is what I want, so they are not 'hanging around') - obviously I want to safeguard the actual contacts themselves.

CRM 2013 - On-premise.

Many thanks,

- Seamus