The Go-Betweens

The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout its existence. Drummer Lindy Morrison joined the band in 1980, and its lineup would later expand to include bass guitarist Robert Vickers and multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown. Vickers was replaced by John Willsteed in 1987, and the quintet lineup remained in place until the band split two years later. Forster and McLennan reformed the band in 2000 with a new lineup that did not include any previous personnel aside from them. McLennan died on 6 May 2006 of a heart attack and the Go-Betweens disbanded again. In 2010, a toll bridge in their native Brisbane was renamed the Go Between Bridge after them.

In 1988, "Streets of Your Town", the first single from 16 Lovers Lane, entered the Top 100 on both the Kent Music Report chart in Australia and the UK Singles Chart in the United Kingdom. The follow-up single "Was There Anything I Could Do?" was a No. 16 hit on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the United States. In May 2001, "Cattle and Cane", from 1983's Before Hollywood, was selected by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time. In 2008, 16 Lovers Lane was highlighted on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) TV's The Great Australian Albums series.

Career

1977–1982: early years

Robert Forster and Grant McLennan met at the University of Queensland, where both were taking a theatre arts course. Forster provided vocals and guitar, while McLennan provided vocals, bass, and guitar; the pair shared songwriting duties. Together, they formed the Go-Betweens in December 1977 in Brisbane, Queensland. The name of the band reflects L. P. Hartley's classic novel The Go-Between. Forster and McLennan pursued solo careers. Brown and Morrison formed Cleopatra Wong in 1991.

All official albums released in the 1980s have titles with a double L word, except 16 Lovers Lane, which has two words beginning with an L. For their first few albums, this was simply a coincidence; by the end of the decade, for their own amusement the band deliberately kept to a self-imposed 'tradition' of album titles that featured a double L.

2000–2006: reformation

Forster and McLennan pursued solo careers throughout the 1990s, and McLennan also collaborated with Steve Kilbey of The Church in the studio project band Jack Frost.

Forster and McLennan were inspired to work together again after they were invited by fans at French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles to perform at the magazine's 10th anniversary on 23 May 1996 in Paris. For this performance the band comprised Forster, McLennan, Adele Pickvance on bass guitar and Glenn Thompson on drums.

In 2000, Forster, McLennan and Pickvance went to Jackpot! studio in Portland, Oregon, with members of Sleater-Kinney, and recorded the album The Friends of Rachel Worth (the first album to ignore their "double L" titling tradition).

In 2001 Thompson rejoined the band for the Australian Big Day Out Festival. This line up of Forster, McLennan, Pickvance and Thompson went on to record Bright Yellow Bright Orange and in October 2005, the Go-Betweens finally achieved mainstream recognition, with the album Oceans Apart (produced by Mark Wallis and Dave Ruffy) winning the ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album. Grant McLennan died on 6 May 2006 of a heart attack, and Robert Forster subsequently announced that the Go-Betweens were no more.

Legacy

thumb|Opened in 2010, the [[Go Between Bridge in Brisbane is named after the band.]]

The focal point of the Go-Betweens was the song writing skills of Forster and McLennan, described by The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau as "the greatest songwriting partnership working today." Each developed a distinctive but complementary style: Forster's songs were angular and angst-ridden, making much use of irony and unusual lyrical imagery, while McLennan's were generally softer and more sensitive, his lyrics often based on character study and reported speech. They never secured an Australian or UK Top 50 chart single—a fact which mystified their supporters in the press, to the point where this "scandalous" lack of popular success became a cliché when writing about the band. However, there were a few very minor chart successes for the band, starting with "Spring Rain", which snuck into the lower rungs of the Australian charts in 1986 and became the band's first ever Top 100 chart hit. The following year, "Right Here" similarly rode low on the UK Top 100 Charts. Then in 1988, "Streets of Your Town", the first single from 1988's 16 Lovers Lane, reached the Top 100 in both Australia and UK.

In May 2001 "Cattle and Cane", written by McLennan and Forster,

Many Australian bands and artists associated with the dolewave genre cite the Go-Betweens as a major influence, including Dick Diver and singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett.

Members

Robert Forster – lead vocals, guitar (1977–1989; 2000–2006)
Grant McLennan – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica (1977–1989; 2000–2006), bass (1977–1983)
Bruce Anthon – drums (1978, 1979–1980)
Dennis Cantwell – drums (1978)
Lissa Ross – drums (1978)
Tim Mustapha – drums (1978–1979)
Peter Milton Walsh – guitar, backing vocals (1978–1979)
Malcolm Kelly – piano, organ (1979)
Steven Daly – drums (1980)
Claire McKenna – drums (1980)
Dave Tyrer – guitar (1980)
Lindy Morrison – drums, backing vocals (1980–1989)
Robert Vickers – bass (1983–1987)
Amanda Brown – violin, oboe, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1986–1989)
John Willsteed – bass, guitar (1987–1989)
Michael Armiger – bass (1989)
Adele Pickvance – bass, backing vocals (2000–2006)
Matthias Strzoda – drums (2000)
Janet Weiss – drums, backing vocals (2000)
Glenn Thompson – drums, backing vocals, keyboards (2001–2006)

;Timeline

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Discography

Albums

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications

! scope="col" rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:20em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:20em;"| Album details

! colspan="5" |Peak chart positions

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|AUS

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|IRE

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"|GER

! scope="row"| Send Me a Lullaby

Released: November 1981
Label: Missing Link (ING005)

|—

| 28 || — || — || —

! scope="row"| Before Hollywood

Released: May 1983
Label: Rough Trade (ROUGH 54)
Format: LP

|—

| 2 || — || — || —

! scope="row"| Spring Hill Fair

Released: September 1984
Label: Sire (25179-1)
Format: LP

|—

| — || — || — || —

! scope="row"|Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express

Released: March 1986
Label: Beggars Banquet (BEGA 72)
Format: LP, CD

|62

| — || — || — || —

! scope="row"|Tallulah

Released: June 1987
Label: Beggars Banquet (BEGA 81)
Format: LP, CD

|71

| — || 91 || — || —

! scope="row"|16 Lovers Lane

Released: August 1988
Label: Mushroom (L38950)
Format: LP, CD

|48

| — || 81 || — || —

! scope="row"|The Friends of Rachel Worth

Released: September 2000
Label: W. Minc (WMINCD018)
Format: CD, LP

|61

| — || — || — || —

! scope="row"|Bright Yellow Bright Orange

Released: 24 February 2003
Label: Trifekta (HORSE024-2)
Format: CD

| 126

| — || — || — || —

! scope="row"|Oceans Apart

Released: 3 May 2005
Label: LO-MAX (4743702)
Format: CD

|54

| — || 85 || 34 || 60

| colspan="7" style="text-align:center; font-size:8pt;" | "—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not issued in that region.

Charting compilations

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of albums, with Australian chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;" | Album details

! colspan="2" scope="col" | Peak chart positions

! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | AUS

! scope="row" | 1978-1990

Released: December 1990
Format: CD, LP, CS
Label: Beggars Banquet

| align="center" | 103

! scope="row" | Bellavista Terrace: Best of The Go-Betweens

Released: April 1999
Format: CD
Label: Beggars Banquet

| align="center" | 58

|—

! scope="row" | 78 'til 79: The Lost Album

Released: April 1999
Format: CD
Label: Beggars Banquet

|—

|16

! scope="row" | Quiet Heart: Best of The Go-Betweens

Released: September 2012
Format: 2×CD, 2×LP
Label: EMI

| align="center" | 51

|—

Live albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of live albums

! scope="col" style="width:20em;"| Title

! scope="col" style="width:16em;"| Album details

! scope="row"|Live on Snap with Deirdre O'Donoghue

Released: 1999
Label: Beggars Banquet (BBL 2020)
Formats: CD

! scope="row"|Live in London

Released: 9 May 2005
Label: Tag 5 (TAG009)
Formats: 12" vinyl

! scope="row"|That Striped Sunlight Sound

Released: 2006
Label: Capitol (0946 3 47939 9 5 )
Formats: CD, DVD

! scope="row"|Fountains of Youth (Live at the Town and Country Club)

Released: 2020
Label: Beggars Banquet (BBQ-2163)
Formats: 12" vinyl

Extended plays

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ List of extended plays

! scope="col" style="width:20em;"| Title

! scope="col" style="width:16em;"| EP details

! scope="row"|The Able Label Singles

Released: 1986
Label: Situation Two (SIT 44 T)
Formats: 12" vinyl

! scope="row"|The Peel Sessions

Released: 1989
Label: Strange Fruit (SFPS 074)
Formats: 12" vinyl

! scope="row"|Worlds Apart

Released: 7 November 2005
Label: LO-MAX (LO-MAX 022V)
Formats: 7" vinyl