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WATCH: The Go-Betweens Perform “Streets of Your Town”
In 1977, in Brisbane, Australia, songwriters Robert Forster and Grant McLennan — two Queensland University students enamored with the U.S. punk scene — met and formed The Go-Betweens.
Over the course of ten years, the band released a succession of memorable albums, culminating in their final LP for the 80’s era, 16 Lover’s Lane (released in 1988 by Beggars Banquet Records).
Their music has been described as something “Lou Reed could have written if he had fallen for Brian Wilson, not David Bowie.” (The Guardian)
The band called it quits shortly after 16 Lover’s Lane, and would remain apart until 2000, when Forster and McLennan reformed the group. Their 2005 release, Oceans Apart, duly won the ARIA award for “Best Adult Contemporary Album,” and garnered a five-star rating from Mojo Magazine.
On May 6, 2006, Grant McLennan died from a heart attack, which effectively ended The Go-Betweens. Robert Forster continues to record and perform to critical acclaim as a solo artist.
The single, “Streets of Your Town,” from 1988’s 16 Lover’s Lane, is perhaps one of the band’s most recognized songs. It became their biggest chart hit to date in both the UK and Australia, mixing upbeat guitar rhythms with lyrics that shift between ‘dreamy’ to lights-out-dark.
Filmed on the streets of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, here is the video for “Streets of Your Town.”
ENJOY:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bqAWH5JWWI[/youtube]
The following are links for those interested in downloading the final two releases of The Go-Betweens (Oceans Apart, and their live CD/DVD release That Striped Sunlight Sound), as well as Robert Forster’s 2008 release, The Evangelist, all at YepRoc Records.
2 Lost Gems From Manchester’s Factory Records: Cath Carroll’s ‘Moves Like You’ and Northside’s ‘Moody Places’
When I was living in London in 1991, Select Magazine released a Factory Records sampler cassette ( FAC 305C ) that would eventually go on to melt in my car. I cherished this sampler, because it introduced me to some fabulous tracks by two largely unknown Manchester artists that I otherwise might never have discovered: Cath Carroll’s ‘Moves Like You’ and Northside’s ‘Moody Places’.
I did ultimately find Cath Carroll’s CD as a pricey import (back in the States), but that Northside track was not included on the group’s only LP release at the time, Chicken Rhythms. Over the years, I managed to forget about the song, its title, etc. (Note to our younger readers: the internet was barely in existence in the early 90s, and it would take more than a decade before decent search engines evolved.)
Well, twenty years now after its release — not sure what exactly made me think of that long lost sampler — I vaguely recalled the track, and thought to investigate on Google.
What I found: In 2005, Northside re-released its Chicken Rhthyms LP — currently unavailable in the US, even as a download — but this time with bonus tracks, including the long lost song, ‘Moody Places’.
Here is that song, streamed from the group’s MySpace page:
Find more Northside albums at Myspace Music
And for those who have never heard of the former-Factory Recording artist, Cath Carroll, here’s the video of her fabulous 1991 single ‘Moves Like You’:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS3NtSabfno[/youtube]
WATCH: Big Country Performs ‘Inwards’ Live @ The Pier in New York City – 1986
Hailing from Dunfermline, Scotland, Big Country literally roared onto the world stage in 1983 with their debut album, The Crossing. The album sold over one million copies in the UK alone, and due to the success of its single ‘In a Big Country‘ the album quickly climbed into the US Billboard Top 20 and achieved Gold Record status.
Lead singer/songwriter Stuart Adamson (formerly of The Skids) brilliantly incorporated traditional Scottish music (including bagpipes) around his distinctive guitar-work, giving Big Country a truly unique sound for the times. His guitar sound became modeled by U2’s The Edge, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, and even Metallica’s James Hetfield.
After The Crossing, Big Country would go on to release one EP and seven more albums over the course of twenty years, many of which garnered wide critical acclaim in the UK, and topped the UK charts. But in the US, none of these later efforts would come close to matching the success of their debut album.
The band was eventually dropped by their record label Phonogram in 1991, but they remained a favorite opening band for iconic groups like The Who, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Robert Plant & Jimmy Page. Mick Jagger called Big Country “one of the best opening bands we have had”.
When not working on side projects, Big Country continued to release albums and tour together, though these later recording efforts failed to achieve anything close to the commercial success they enjoyed in the 80s. Adamson who had had a long battle with alcoholism, dating back to the 80s, suffered from acute depression, and by the end of the 90s he’d resorted to sudden disappearing acts without notice.
His second marriage began to crumble in 2001, and shortly after his wife commenced with divorce proceedings, Adamson disappeared again. On December 16, 2001, Adamson’s body was found in a hotel room in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he had hanged himself. He was 43 years old at the time of his death. He is survived by two children from his first marriage.
The way Big Country stormed into the US charts in the early 80s only to seemingly vanish by the decade’s end, might leave some younger Americans — largely unfamiliar with them — to believe Big Country was just another 80s ‘one-hit wonder’ group. This is most definitely not the case. The Crossing itself is one of the best albums of that era, full of fabulous songs. I cannot recommend it enough.
Here is a video of Big Country in 1986 performing ‘Inwards’ (from The Crossing) at The Pier in New York City. Though, Adamson has to stop abruptly for a moment to quell some fan on fan violence, this video, in my opinion, succeeds in capturing the band’s live energy.
ENJOY:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnVcItVybI0[/youtube]
Some other fabulous songs worth checking out from The Crossing LP include Fields of Fire, and Adamson’s personal favorite The Storm.
WATCH: Tracey K and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra Perform ‘The Cure & The Cause’ Live
Ireland’s Tracey K — a singer/songwriter who frequently collaborates with DJ/producer duo, Fish Go Deep (from Cork, Ireland) — is best known for her UK chart-topping dance track “The Cure & the Cause.” She has been writing and recording House music for much of the last decade — ever since her college days at Galway University. You can learn […]
LISTEN: New Paul Weller Single ‘Starlite’ Evokes The Spirit of The Style Council
Last Tuesday, Paul Weller released a new standalone single, Starlite, which will surely delight his longstanding Style Council fans. For the first time in 20 years, Weller recaptures that soulful dance spirit that made The Style Council stand apart from both his earlier The Jam material as well as his later solo work. Here’s how […]
LISTEN: Reggae Great Delroy Wilson Sings ‘This Life Makes Me Wonder’
In 1961, a thirteen year old Delroy Wilson began his music career in Kingston, Jamaica, recording ska hits penned by Lee “scratch” Perry, Coxsone Dodd, amongst others. His music evolved with the sounds of 60’s Jamaica from ska to rocksteady and eventually to reggae. By the late-60s/early-70s he was one of the most influential reggae recording stars on the […]
Why Is Chris Hedges A Lone Voice In Criticizing Huffington Post’s Business Model?
Chris Hedges’ new TruthDig column, Huffington’s Plunder, raises a topic that seems to provoke a lot of uneasiness in the liberal blogosphere. It points a spotlight on the business model pioneered by one of the country’s most prominent progressive voices, Arianna Huffington. Huffington recently released a book entitled “Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning […]
Ayn Rand Movie Coming Soon
from http://thetempestuousnemesis.blogspot.com/ “Ayn Rand,” real name Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum, was a proponent of “egoism” and the “Virtues of Selfishness”. As far as she was concerned, altruism was a sin. Her anti humanitarian philosophy is a favorite of libertarian/republican corporate CEOs. She condemned social programs that helped people but received social security and medicare benefits under […]
WATCH: Ricky Gervais’ Controversial 2011 Golden Globes Monologue
Ricky Gervais was absolutely hysterical Sunday night as host of the 2011 Golden Globe Awards! Granted, he pushed the envelope in terms of appropriateness, but come on now — seriously! — isn’t that what all of us are secretly hoping for from any major award event’s comic MC? Without a Ricky Gervais or Chris Rock or […]
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