The Go-Betweens - poets from down under, or so bad they make me chunder? Discuss.

Not sure where to place this, but this is a superb recent interview/reminiscence, published last week.

Very good stuff. (Though there seems to be a strange editing goof at the start?)

Or maybe it's the reporter's attempt to get Didion-esque?

Poignant:

McLennan didn't drive, so, as always, Forster drove to Highgate Hill to work through new songs on their acoustic guitars on a deck at the back of the house. It was a fun, four-hour session with lots of breaks for gossip and frivolous chat. In the afternoon, Forster left to pick Louis up from school.

"Grant was on his verandah waving goodbye," says Forster. "His mailbox was at the end of this concrete driveway. I could see he had The New York Review of Books sent to him. I said, 'I didn't know you were getting this'. He said, 'Yeah, I've got tonnes of copies here. You can borrow them anytime you want. I said, 'Great, I'll do that. Thanks'."

The sky was blue, the sun was shining on the front stairs of the house. McLennan waved and Forster hopped in the Volvo and drove away smiling, wondering how many rock stars in the world subscribed to The New York Review of Books.

nice article, thanks for linking to it. anyone out there going to these retrospective shows? they sound like a good time -- wonder if there are plans to release it on CD or DVD?

I bought Tallulah in 1986, and finally "got" the Go-Betweens in 2006, so I think I can say something that might be helpful to those who don't get it but think they might like it if they got it. (If you don't get it and don't care, then why are you reading this thread?)

Several things make the Go-Betweens real rock and roll weirdos. They had the spirit of 40-year olds when they were 20, the reverse of what rock and roll attitude is supposed to be. Unlike most boho bands -- and they were bohos -- they never crack jokes. They aren't really in it for fun ("German Farmhouse," on "The Friends of Rachel Worth," is their idea of fun) and -- this is the real kicker for those of us who came up on punk -- they aren't angry, even though they sound like they could/should be.

Their real theme, expressed as much in the moderation and sustenance of the music as in the lyrics, is surviving alienation with calm and grace and without doing (too much) damage to the people around you. Ironically enough, given that children have nothing to do with it in the Go-Betweens' world, all this started to really make sense to me only after the birth of my daughter. As a graduate student and then a political organizer, I wanted something more intense, not just from my political music but from my soul music (the Go-Betweens are as far from Otis Redding as they are from the Clash). They just sounded too relaxed, like an Australian Steely Dan but without the cynicism. Now I'm delighted that they are so uncynical, that what once sounded like lack of follow-through now sounds like compassion.

My iTunes tells me I've listened to them more then any other band in the last 18 months (when I got the iPod) except Sleater-Kinney, who more directly represent my overall tastes, and who also split up during this period, leading me to mourn them. I never thought of myself as a particularly "youthful" person, but I guess I've finally gotten as old as McLellan and Forster were when they were 25.

Eric Weisbard once remarked that one's Go-Betweens love truly becomes obsessive when you hit a certain age, and he's right. "Uncynical" is a good adjective. And honesty! So many bands are revered for this, but in all their best songs the Go-Be's have that quality of having passed through the fire, transforming experience through thought and imagination. What makes them so endearing is that their instrumental chops and voices often didn't match their sophisticated songs (which, of course, takes them far, far away from Becker-Fagenland).

Erm, didn't Robert write that reminiscence about a year ago?

I too bought their records as a teenager, as they were released, but love them far more now, when approaching middle age. They are one of the very few bands for whom I thank my younger self for his taste and perception.

Go-betweens Bridge opening from last summer!
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/247460_10150267952906138_684931137_9459662_2834590_n.jpg

Check out Vickers' swinging London 'do!

ha, he's still got the look. everyone looking pretty good actually. forster should get all these dudes to play on his next solo record.

this looks like its going to be pretty frothy for a Mike Leigh film - I'm excited

from wikipedia

A naming competition for the bridge was held through the website www.NameThatBridge.com, with eleven shortlisted suggestions put to a "popular vote", attracting less than 6000 votes. The winning name was announced on 29 September 2009. The Courier Mail newspaper held an online poll on the same day, asking the question "Is the Go Between Bridge a good name for Brisbane's newest river crossing?", to which 81% of the 3,400 voters answered "No"

Only a few thousand people saw the Go-Betweens, but all of them voted on NameThatBridge.com

oh goddamnit, a bridge-naming website was my big idea! i was going to make millions!

Well from a purely name POV 'Go-betweens Bridge' isn't that great of a name. But this is Brisbane and so I can assure you those 81% have voted no because they've read the article about "an australian 80's indie band" they've never heard of. After voting no each of those 81% then said "they shoulda named it the Acca Dacca bridge!"

Robert Forster brings the songs!

Rob is the man.

A plaint of Forster’s is your only man

Ask! <3

Bobby doesn't have 24 songs (#3 and #16 are doubled up) better than Part Company though

"Clouds" is one of the prettiest songs ever. I love when they do/did it as a duo.

and a lovely lyric

Nice to see that you ranked "I’m All Right" so highly, Alfred. I've always loved that one. "Clouds" as well.

knew I met the right person for me when early on I found out three of her favorite bands were the Blue Nile, Prefab Sprout, and the Go-Betweens.

I'm interested in opinions. I've had a Go-Betweens poll in the artist poll queue for some time and feel I should poll solo/side-projects as well when the time comes. Firstly, can I assume there's likely to be sufficient interest in such material to sustain a separate side-poll?

There are actually slightly more commercially-available solo/side-project tracks (at least 200) than Go-Betweens tracks. More than enough to warrant it, in theory. I'm inclined to poll "everything else" separately, as I fear that the main attraction would crowd out solo material on a consolidated ballot.

Combining all the LPs for the album ballot seems less problematic, perhaps even ideal, if one is allowed to select up to, say, 10 albums.

Any thoughts appreciated...

"everything else" side-poll and "whatever you like" albums poll seems entirely tidy and sensible.

Okay, cheers.

Now... seems like a good time to listen to Cleopatra Wong.