Draining the POLL for you - ILM artist poll #98 - The Go-Betweens

thanks for running the poll!

my ballot, which really should've had to reach me on it:

Finding you
Going blind
The Statue
Spirit of a vampyre
Bye bye pride
Hope then strife
The wrong road
The Clarke sisters
Boundary rider
You can’t say no forever
Someone else’s wife
Streets of your town
As long as that
Darlinghurst nights
Spring rain
Born to a family
That way
Was there anything I could do
Love goes on!
I just get caught out
The House jack Kerouac brought
You tell me
German farmhouse
Twin layers of lightning
This Night’s for you
Cattle and cane

Oceans apart
tallullah
16 lovers lane
Danger in the past
Liberty belle and the black diamond express

Grant's solo career has at last clicked for me in a big way in the last month or so. But I can't get away from thinking this

https://img.discogs.com/39EAhdwLjXmnAtAzWCSLjBg7ni0=/fit-in/541x474/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2250743-1272378366.jpeg.jpg

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PN_vlrY18Jg/WapOKUGRAjI/AAAAAAABow4/x_UUqs7HeC4yAOnxOYu1MpSvGuyIrdnlwCLcBGAs/s1600/Jim%2BDiamond%2B-%2BI%2BShould%2BHave%2BKnown%2BBetter.jpg

I am not surprised by the winner but I think they have about fifty songs which I prefer. Here are my three ballots.

Songs (unranked):
Apology Accepted
Bachelor Kisses
Caroline & I
The City of Lights
The Clock
Crystal Shacks
Dive for Your Memory
Finding You
Heart and Home
He Lives My Life
Here Comes a City
Love Goes on!
Magic in Here
Make Her Day
Mrs Morgan
Quiet Heart
Something for Myself
The Statue
This Night’s for You
Streets of Your Town
Surfing Magazines
Too Much of One Thing
Was There Anything I Could Do?
Woman Across the Way
Your Turn, My Turn

Solo etc. (unranked):
Crazy Jane on the Day of Judgement (Forster)
Demon Days (Forster)
Did She Overtake You (Forster)
Fingers (McLennan)
Haven’t Been a Fool (McLennan)
Let Your Light in, Babe (Forster)
Lighting Fires (McLennan)
No Fame (Forster)
No Peace in the Palace (McLennan)
Turn on the Rain (Forster)

Albums (ranked):
Bright Yellow, Bright Orange
16 Lovers Lane
The Friends of Rachel Worth
Oceans Apart
Send Me a Lullabye

Concerning revisions by now I would put Before Hollywood in the album ballot.

One thing that didn't make my albums list, because it doesn't really fit, is the bonus disc that came with That Striped Sunlight Sound. It's McLennan and Forster with acoustic guitars going through:

Lee Remick
Cattle And Cane
Part Company
Bachelor Kisses
Head Full Of Steam
Bye Bye Pride
Dive For Your Memory
German Farmhouse
Too Much Of One Thing
Here Comes A City
Finding You

and telling stories. It's well worth watching if you're a fan - more essential than the main live disc at the Tivoli.

songs

Twin Layers of Lightning
Streets of Your Town
Spring Rain
Quiet Heart
I'm All Right
Cattle and Cane
Bye Bye Pride
Boundary Rider
Head Full of Steam
The House That Jack Kerouac Built
Bachelor Kisses
Love Goes On
Part Company
No Reason to Cry
He Lives My Life
Was There Anything I Could Do?
This Girl, Black Girl
You've Never Lived
The Wrong Road
The Sound of Rain
Born to a Family
As Long As That
Careless
Old Mexico
Five Words
The Clock
Apology Accepted
That Way
The Statue
Magic in Here

albums

Liberty Belle & the Black Diamond Express
16 Lovers Lane
Oceans Apart
Spring Hill Fair
Tallulah
Before Hollywood
The Friends of Rachel Worth
Horsebreaker Star
Songs to Play
Send Me A Lullaby

Perhaps we could have a quick round up of Go-Bs soundalikes. Someone mentioned "The Sun a Small Star" by The Servants upthread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2R-dV6uwYk

and I'm going to throw in "When Daddy Blows His Top" by Frontier Scouts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDYhjZGI7Cs

Going to have to seek more Frontier Scouts methinks!

I think I suggested in the other thread that the Servants sounded like ever earlier GBs as time went on. Didn't realise there was an official video for this excellent example. I understand one of those there people is Luke Haines!?

I know Trembling Blue Stars (the Field Mice chap) named Her Handwriting after "Part Company", though I don't recall an obvious resemblance.

there's also, uh, the goon sax

I was once told Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever sounded like the Go-Betweens but better. The first part proved sort of true, the latter not.

I don't hear many similarities myself: the rhythms, uh, roll too powerfully for a Go-Be's album, and they run out of tunes quickly.

otm re: RBCF.

Re: The Frontier Scouts: They were from Brisbane—there's a compilation. Grant and Lindy play on two tracks (it was a 7" single if I remember correctly), and Robert wrote the liner notes.

Correction—I see they formed in Sydney.

Oh yeah! I've been meaning to pay proper attention to that comp. Thanks.

Re RBCF, it's never been clear to me that they resemble the GBs much more than they resemble... I don't know... The Feelies or The Clean.

Big shout out to the other person who voted for I Had A New York Girlfriend. Forster described the collection of cover versions as "the one mistake of my recording career", but it's a great album to relax to with a glass of wine in your hand. He interprets other people's songs with the same degree of empathy with which he writes about them as a journalist, and the band (including Mick Harvey, Warren Ellis, Clare Moore, Conway Savage & 'Evil' Graham Lee) are strong too.

Here's a chunk of Dave Graney's weekly community radio show from late last month (recorded during a supporter drive) - about half an hour in, he prompts Clare Moore for amusing memories from the recording of the album.

Box set vol 2 up for pre-order - missed the first one but couldnt resist this one
https://www.dominomusic.com/releases/the-go-betweens/g-stands-for-go-betweens-the-go-betweens-anthology-volume-two/box-set

aka the tinypic thread

Ooh at the Go-betweens versions of songs that ended up on Danger In The Past.

Tinypic announced they were shutting down about the time I posted the final image. I considered requesting short term edit privileges or whatever, but I don't imagine that's actually a thing.

Kinda frustrating how they don't mention what versions of songs appear on the bonus discs, unless I'm missing it somewhere?

Also, all the Botany sessions are just Grant and Robert Acoustic aren't they?

Going to see Forster tomorrow in BK!

Fun fact: Lindy Morrison is suddenly a regular fixture in prime time TV ad breaks in Aus now. (Associated interview snippet HERE too.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68CnsqpQO38

woah

Looking forward to the day Stephen Pastel advertises Ralgex or incontinence pads on UK TV.

LOL

Truck, Train, Chiropractor

Bravo.

Imagine not just writing, but delivering lines as good as these:

In la Brisa de la Palma
A teenage Rasputin
Takes the sting from a gin

a) what even is the Brisa de la Palma? Brisbane, presumably? Not to mention squeezing 9 syllables into what are generally 5 or 6-syllable lines for the rest of the song.
b) a teenage Rasputin! Just put that in there.
c) the assonance of 'sting from a gin' and the insouciance of the delivery. One of those lines you wonder if it went through multiple iterations of 'sip from' or 'sling from' but you really hope arrived fully formed.

"When a woman learns to walk she's not dependent anymore"
A line from a letter May 24

A white moon appears
Like a hole in the sky
The mangroves go quiet

XXP: The 1978-1990 sleeve notes talk about an oppressively hot, tropical, Cairns (Qld) setting. The 'Shields St' elsewhere in the song is almost certainly the one in the middle of said town. There's an intriguing claim on ye olde GB messageboard that there was a Cairns establishment called Las Palmas or similar. Maybe he constructed 'Palm Breeze' from that starting point? (Spanish names are not exactly abundant otherwise in Aus, so maybe?!)

http://go-betweens.org.uk/chatroom/messages/6/51.html?1479982384