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

Mime, I'm saying that the song is against 'wild oats', that it [or a character in it] seems to be advocating saving ones romantic / sexual attention for the Real Thing. The world of men don't mean a thing if all they give you's a diamond ring, after all...

Side 1 ends with the OK 'Streets of Your Town'.

Turn it over, and what begins? The relatively lush acoustics of the good 'Love is a Sign'! One of their best by far!

So is the overall mandolin winding.

I can hear the attempt elsewhere, but am not so keen on it as in that song.

The 78-90 compilation sleevenotes mention that Robert met a couple who said it sounded like a Blood On The Tracks outtake, I think.

But it reminds me of how there's too much TALKING on G-Bs tracks. A real giveaway.

A good moment: when he says (I mean: sings), voice straining a little, that stuff re. 'If you'd just write / But you don't write' (or whatever it is exactly).

If that were delivered in the usual talk-not-sing G-Bs way, it would not work as it does.

They talk sometimes.

Their singing is quite close to talking. That's their main weakness, I guess.

Jack Frost, Grant from the G-Bs and Steve Kilbey from the Church, released a couple of albums and an EP a while back. I remember liking it, but would have to dust off the vinyl to be sure.

And then there was Cleopatra Wong who released an EP called Egg. They being Amanda and Lindy from the G-Bs

Trying to prise the two GBs CDs that I *won* on ebay from the prize nitwit who was selling them is proving v.difficult. What is wrong with people?

It is sad about that tape. Yes, it was the ... tape recorder thing that done it.

It is the one that you like.

Summer rain, out of the window.

I have always loved the rain in June.

The GoBees are like, us innit? I mean they cut to what it was all about being an Australian teen esp in the 70s and 80s I think. I dont know a huge amount of their stuff but they have a very very specific place in my memory not worth going into, theres bootleg tapes and summers driving down Beach road involved. Yeah. Good good shit.

Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express
Disc One: The original album
Disc Two: The bonus tracks
The Life At Hand (b-side)
Don't Let Him Come Back (b-side)
Apology Accepted (radio session)
I Work In A Health Spa (radio session)
Bow Down (demo)
Casanova's Last Words (demo)
Head Full Of Steam (single remix)
Little Joe (b-side)
The Wrong Road (demo) (b-side)
Reunion Dinner (demo)
I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door (live)
Spring Rain (video clip)
Head Full Of Steam (video clip)

Tallulah
Disc One: The original album
Disc Two: The bonus tracks
Time In The Desert (b-side)
I Just Get Caught Out (demo)
Don't Call Me Gone (b-side)
Right Here (demo)
If I Was A Rich Man (live)
The House Jack Kerouac Built (radio session)
When People Are Dead (b-side)
The Clarke Sisters (demo)
A Little Romance (demo)
Bye Bye Pride (radio session)
Doo Wop In 'A' (Bam Boom) (b-side)
Right Here (video clip)
Bye Bye Pride (video clip)

16 Lovers Lane
Disc One: The original album
Disc Two: The bonus tracks
Love Goes On! (single remix)
Wait Until June (b-side)
Mexican Postcard (b-side)
Rock And Roll Friend (b-side)
Casanova's Last Words (b-side)
You Won't Find It Again (demo)
Running The Risk Of Losing You (live)
Apples In Bed (demo)
Head Over Heels (demo)
You're A Big Girl Now (live)
Was There Anything I Could Do? (video clip)
Streets Of Your Town (video clip)

I've been listening to Spring Hill Fair extensively for the first time in around 15 years and it's better than I remembered. Is SHF well-like amonst GB's fans? I seem to remember that it was seen as a disappointment at the time...or am i wrong? Bachelor Kisses is rather magnificent, if a little polished. Five Words unfortunately sums up all that is bad about them - a self conscious cleverness and a sort of lumbering repetition rather than a flow. Best track on the first half of the recd is You've Never Lived, which must be RF's best work - some genuine power here, for once the music and the words pull in the same direction and the guitar break is unexpectedly fierce. Slow Slow Music is on verge of something quite special, but never quite gets there and Draining The Pool and Man O'Sand are..... good.

The real surprises are in the bonus tracks - Emperor's Courtesan, Rare Breed, Newton Told Me, Just Right For Him, Attraction and Sweet Tasting Hours are all fantastic and would have great on the album proper. On Emperor's Courtesan GM actually lets rip with a short vocal bridge that, by virtue of a simple melody and a straight backbeat, lifts the song sky high. Just Right For Him and Attraction have a more convincing Talking Heads-ish syncopation than they've done elsewhere - Lindy using the hi-hat more fluidly - and while melodically spare they're straight to the point enough to hit home. Good stuff. On Sweet Tasting Hours Lindy's voice is a good thing and should be used more often.

I haven't spent as much time with Before Hollywood, mainly because I know it better - it was the GBs album that I kept the longest when I had them originally. I reckon they really benefit from Bernie Clarke's organ throughout - filling in the holes and pushing the songs around. He sounds great on As Long As That and That Way in particular. These are both excellent songs.

I've got the Send Me A Lullabye 2CD edition on the way to me. I always liked this one the best - on stuff like Ride they really let the melodies go and on e.g Arrow from a Bow - they chop it back to a nice percussive off-beatiness. Both work. I think they've tried to combine the two extremes later on and ended up somewhere awkward and unsatisfactory in the middle e.g The Old Way Out.

I think I'll get Tallulah when the next wave of reissues comes out (Anyone know when that is?) From what I remember this had a few great songs on it (Bye Bye Pride, Tell Me, I Just Get Caught Out) and a few failed experiments. I know that Liberty Belle is the one that everyones goes for, but I want to hear the flaws too.

Doc, I like your post. But it's an oddly mized bag, the way you start with heavy criticism then dispense lots of praise.

I don't think of their LPs as LPs, with titles etc. I mean, I don't own them that way.

Good point re. lack of harmonies: maybe that makes a big difference.

Downloading music cds onto my new computer, I've been listening to old (and new stuff). I think the first album I put on was Before Hollywood, and it still sounds pretty great. I'd forgotten how much I loved 'Ask'.

For a limited time, the Barbican show from last week is posted here:
http://www.sharingthegroove.org/msgboard/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78043

(You need to install Bit Torrent and convert from FLAC.)

Update from Robert Vickers himself:

"the expanded Liberty Belle, Talullah and 16LL will be released on Jetset in the US Nov 5th"