The Go-Betweens - what's it all about?

I think it's great...like you, I find the out of tuneness on some of the tracks endearing and an interesting contrast to the more conventional tracks on it.

If you've listened to GBV, Sebadoh, Flying Nun etc it's not hard to wrap to wrap your head around.

I do get "In the Stone" stuck in my head once a week.

i like "the chance" a lot

Don’t think I noticed this before:

https://www.facebook.com/othermusicdoc/videos/the-go-betweens-bachelor-kisses-live-at-other-music-6799/1505476926304698/

Also, where did Spring Hill Fair go in the streaming world?

xp - i saw them right around this time in NYC (not sure why i didn't go to this in-store) and it's still one of the best shows I've ever seen.

Did Robert Vickers join for a few numbers?

I saw them in NYC too but my feeling is that it was a year or so earlier.

good band imo

First time I’ve heard you say that

j/k

Vickers played with them for “head full of steam” — maybe something else? It was at the Fez, definitely summer of 99.

Sounds about right.

I seem to remember some amusing banter of Robert’s referring to “another string in his bow,” can’t remember who or what he was talking about, maybe it was “my bow.” Song selection was really good, couldn’t tell you what it was though.

That video link says something about a Mercury Lounge show.

The one I saw, was it the Fez? It was downstairs, but feels like maybe it was at Acme.

Also, where did Spring Hill Fair go in the streaming world?

It's the only Go-Betweens record on hoopla, under Rhino/Warner Brothers.

Founds some reviews but they are only of the show at The Mercury Lounge.

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/11/movies/pop-review-challenges-and-magic-in-a-reunion-of-a-duo.html

http://www.robertchristgau.com/u/cd/music/scgobet-99.php

Okay, The Fez was Saturday, June 26th, 1999. Will Rigby joined them for a few times too, it seems.

The musicians that just came to watch were all at the earlier Mercury Lounge show.

If it hasn’t been mentioned already, Tracey Thorn has a book about about her friendship with Go-Betweens drummer Lindsey Morris. Guardian review here.

^ Thanks for reminding me. Finally reserved a local library's copy!

I hope it's not hyperbole to claim there isn't another memoir like it.

You're talking about the Tracey Thorn memoir, and not the Robert Forster one again?

The Thorn memoir.

Cool. Looks good,. Thanks, everybody.

I've finally got around to reading "Grant and I", and this was just too much:

"A sideways glance at our competition, those spotted near us at the starting line sharing a broad set of influences and of similar talent and age, had Echo and the Bunnymen on Warners, The Smiths on Rough Trade, REM with IRS, and U2 on Island -- all were locked into long-term deals, guaranteeing successive recording and promotional budgets."

Now, I love me some Go-Betweens, and obviously you need a pretty big ego to believe you should be a rock star, but is he actually telling me that with a bigger promotional budget he could've been Bono? Of that list, the Bunnymen are the only ones I'd consider "of similar talent".

Great read though, and I respect the way he tells the story of Grant's unraveling without mentioning heroin.

Or (iirc) his own dabbling, for that matter!

I think it's reasonable enough of Robert to assume that with a bit more industry support, the Go-Betweens could have been much bigger than they were. It's easy enough to imagine an alternate 80s where Bye Bye Pride and Streets of Your Town were huge hits...

I was under the impression they had spotty distribution in the U.S. (Spring Hill Fair wasn't even released here even though Sire was the distributor, though to be fair it's arguably the least of their LP's.) I don't think they would've been platinum sellers, but had they gotten better and consistent promotion and distribution with one reliable major during the early-to-mid '80s, I think they could've had more substantial success, maybe even gold albums which was pretty great for an indie or "college rock" band.

Bono is more successful therefore he is more talented? I see.

Anyway, pretty sure at the time Robert Forster thought he was more talented than Bono and has mellowed with age.

I actually like U2 quite a bit, but I generally prefer the Go-Betweens - to me, they were a greater, more consistent and more interesting band.

(consistent in quality that is, not musical character, though I guess that applies as well since they haven't had a reinvention as radical as Achtung Baby)

Bono is more successful therefore he is more talented? I see.

― Renaissance of the Celtic Trumpet (Tom D.)

Well, i was trying to make the opposite point actually.

Even if you like the Go-Betweens more than U2 (i do), REM (i don't), and the Smiths (tie), it's hard to argue that they have as much star potential of any of those groups. I'd put them more in the same tier with Sloan or Teenage Fanclub -- great songwriting, but also nondescript in a way that puts a natural cap on the record sales.

Don’t think they would ever have been selling out the arenas but do think they could have had a more brilliant career with a little more assistance from the suits.

Their career thrived on failure -- that's the story. They needed cultdom to release such tense, uneven albums.

Had they been more successful, they might've sucked.

Love Robert's voice but it just isn't something you can imagine helping them get to REM level

Oh yeah, forgot about that, Alfred OTM.

I was just listening to 16LL and thinking that “quiet heart” could’ve been a “with or without you” style hit. They kind of sabotage it with the harmonica solo though (which I love, but …)

The harmonica solo is so unexpected and so right.

To be clear: the story of the Go-Betweens' failure is so woven into their mythos that to speculate on What Might Have Been seems futile to me! Forster's songs and voice were too pinched for college radio just like McLennan's were too dopey. They were always off by a couple degrees; few songs by either songwriter are unmarred by a lyric that doesn't quite work or a mixing choice that undercuts their melodies.

There’s no success like failure iirc

they also made insanely bad videos (which, also, I love but ...)

Hmm, those videos are kind of bad now that you mention it. But “Streets of Your Town” video is okay maybe.

Thread of wondering why Spring Hill Fair is gone from streaming.

I stream only Apple Music, but I've never seen SHF on there.

Spring Hill Fair is on UK Spotify, but the first two albums are not.

LOL forgot about the videos. I like the one for "Cattle and Cane." Clearly a cheap, no-budget video - IIRC it's just the three of them in a barn? - but a great understated song deserves a simple, understated video, not something that'll overwhelm or replace the music in one's mind.

Agree re: "Quiet Heart" too, and I think it may have been inspired by "With or Without You"? That whole album has a lot of songs that would've sounded nice on the radio - "Clouds" sounds like something that would've been a big hit in the early-to-mid '90s. There's an older Go-Betweens documentary (not the one from 2017, I think this one may have been done while Grant was alive) where Robert talks about how demoralizing it was when 16LL didn't change anything - i.e. we went through hell making that record, toured around the world, pretty much exhausted ourselves...and wound up back in Australia where we're supposed to do it all AGAIN. I think it sold only a couple hundred thousand copies in America even though it was distributed by Capitol, but for an acclaimed and well-established band of that time, that does kind of suck. I don't think massive success would've been great for them, but it brings to mind John Cassavetes - he started mortgaging his house when he began making his own films, and even though he made a string of masterpieces, by the end of his life he still owed just as much if not more to the bank. He didn't expect to become Spielberg or anything but it would've been nice not to have that level of financial pressure day-in and day-out.