The Go-Betweens have been featuring recently on our small corner of the blogosphere to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Grant McLennan.
I was only vaguely aware of them at the time when they first surfaced in the early 80's. It was only reading and listening to them on other blogs who held them in great affection that brought them to the forefront of my attention.
As you do I thought a Best Of was the place to start and acquired Bellavista Terrace: Best of the Go-Betweens.
A Best of as opposed to a Greatest Hits, because as Robert Foster pointed out in the sleevenotes they didn't have any.
Between that and Grant's early passing there is clearly no justice in this world.
The Go-Betweens - Was There Anything I Could Do?
The Go-Betweens - Cattle and Cane
The 'Cattle and Cane' single on Rough Trade in 1983 was my entrance point to The Go-Betweens. It still sounds utterly wonderful to these ears.
ReplyDeleteI first discovered them around '88. More great songs than you can shake a cane at.
ReplyDeleteSwiss Adam
Nothing wrong with starting at Bellavista Terrace. Terrific from beginning to end. Once you start buying the studio albums it will be difficult to stop. Since we're all talking about where we came in, for me it was Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express in '86.
ReplyDeleteI picked up "I Need Two Heads" on Postcard in a box of singles in a junk shop in Berwick on Tweed in 1983. I bought it on the basis of the Postcard label. It was my introduction to The Go-Betweens. What a wonderful band they proved to be over the years. It is hard to believe it is 10 years since Grant passed away.
ReplyDeleteI concur. A truly wonderful band. I like it all. Someone loaned me a copy of a GoB tribute. Sometimes those work and other times covers of great songs can't capture the magic that happens when that song is created. The GoB trip was flat and just made me wanna hear the real thing. Which I did.
ReplyDeleteAs for Grant himself you can't go far wrong with his Watershed album and I challenge you to hear his track Haven't I Been A Fool http://tinyurl.com/ztq5zcn and find a better track anywhere in the history of recorded sound - OK that's a bit hyperbolic but you get my drift
ReplyDeleteI've another comment to add on Grant though it pains me to do so. With friends, I saw him in the early 90s at a criminally under promoted gig at Sheffield Leadmill. Well, there must've been about 30 in the audience. He could barely conceal his disappointment and we felt for him likewise. Amongst my mates since, any poorly attended gig evokes memories of Grant's gig. On such occasions you hate humanity.
ReplyDelete