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

he can write lyrics OK; he can sing OK, at least sometimes. He just falls down on melody.

really? i don't agree with this at all. i was listening to '78-'79: the lost album a few days ago, and i was struck by how strong the hooks (I HATE THAT WORD) were in comparison with the (relatively weak) lyrics and musicianship.

-- lauren (jaguarrid...) (webmail), May 18th, 2004 4:55 PM. (laurenp) (later) (link)

it's so weird how much that early stuff differs from the remainderof the go-betweens' recordings.

i really wish i liked them more, but there are only a few songs of theirs where the music really captures me. the rest of it feels pleasant and workmanlike. "cattle and cane" is great of course.

And while Grant has some great pop songs to his credit, I more often find that the Forster songs stay with me longer. (See "Warm Nights" for more examples of unexplained love for wretched pop songs.)

It's sunny outside, the sky's cyan. Perhaps that's inapt. No matter. 'When you play with crooks'. It will always be their best, whatever else they do, whatever else they will have done.

Hands like hooks?

Yet I like the sound of this track 2 that follows 'BK'. What's it called?

That line about the travelling clock in "River Of Money" still drives me crazy though.

Yes, trundling, aimless and clumsy are some of the attributes I like about their early records. I can't explain why. "Slow Slow Music", "Eight Pictures" and "Ride" being other prime examples..

I've always thought there was something I was missing about Cattle & Cane, Lauren - you're not alone in being bemused at the adulation. I kind of appreciate it in a bloodless emotional way, and the rhythm is kind of haunting.

Part Company is pretty much perfect, my favourite song of theirs, yes. To Reach Me is maybe next in line.

Tim is right way upthread about the irrationality and pointlessness of the pinefox's angst over this particular group.

And I liked what Bags said about the Australianness. I think that, indirectly, this a big part of their appeal to me. It springing from a different landscape to the overrepresented UK and USA.

i like that one, and lee remick, and the sound of rain would be close to perfect if it didn't have such godawful lyrics.

I skipped, because I'm a Gemini, because the Irn-Bru kicked, because any number of things, straight to the heart of 'Bachelor Kisses', stuff the intro. Convinced, on listening to the first song, that they sound like a band who take a while to hit stride I thought it best to cut to the stride. (No relying on momentum for me.) This is almost better, though, yes, the tincture of NYC remains (some aspirational geography.)

I can see what the PF says about melody, though so many sensible people above have said they 'take time.' There are a hundred other things I could be doing, more worth to me I think, than listen to this song: 'you have three minutes to amaze me.'

How much is a pop song, talking about melody here, supposed to be a mnemonic for its own remembrance? (I know I've used this line before, referring to another subject. Yes, I know I stole the idea.) If the answer is: lots then I think the GB's, so far, by which I mean (I've only just started listening!) 'so near', score quite low.

O who knows?

I'm listening to vinyl, N..

Ah. Well, I didn't know, I've never heard her.

However, "Cattle & Cane" is officially The Best Song, Like, Ever. The Australianness theory probably has some merit, I'll concede.

Lee Remick is the partner to Karen.

Love Amanda's multi-instrumental contributions,her violin in Was There Anything I Could Do? for instance. And Lindy's drumming, luverly.

I wouldn't see Robert as Australia's Brian Ferry. For one, Brian Ferry has probably never worn a dress on stage. They both have a similar loucheness maybe. But I imagine Brian takes himself more seriously than does Robert.

As for Grant's solo work, I loved Watershed, particularly Haven't I Been a Fool, but the otheer albums haven't stuck.

-- cozen (coze...) (webmail), May 19th, 2004 4:07 PM. (Cozen) (later) (link)
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i know a milder variety of this feeling, more of a disappointment when someone i like doesn't like something i like (or love). sometimes my opinion of the person is even...shaded a bit. i don't feel personally offended.

Maybe one of their best.

Pointlessness I can take. All things are pointless, perhaps.

Irrationality sounds to me a red herring. My doubts about the band are founded. No-one has ever convinced me otherwise.

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.