Best Go-Betweens Album

i think my three favourite albums are on the bottom of the poll. weird.

If I'd voted, Liberty Belle would have won. I am clearly a failure as a human being. I am also saddened that noone voted for Bright Yellow Bright Orange as it is my favourite of the reformed era.

actually quite amazing that there are so few impossible persons...

There ought to be a law, dammit!

It's 62 degrees. No clouds. It's a 16 Lovers Lane day.

One vote for "Spring Hill Fair"?!?!? I didn't vote but would probably have voted "Before Hollywood"

Before Hollywood and Send Me A Lullaby are their best albums because they have the most punch. 16 Lovers Lane is a bit shite to be honest - it's wishy-washy, drab and sounds 80s without the quirks of Tallulah. I reckon the sentimental lyricism went down better when the music sounded awkward.

Tallulah sounds more wishy-washy and eighties than 16 Lovers Lane; it's still my favorite.

It's mid-evening and still is 30 degrees celsius. I'm attracted to someone I cannot have for varying reasons. I drove her around today while she was hungover. The floorboards on my house are polished wood. I've been for a walk. The only song that can paint this mood, this feeling and this situation is Bye Bye Pride.

But I still would have voted Liberty Belle & The Black Diamond Express today and any other day except for those slightly warm spring days where the sun just sneaks through the blinds. Those are 16 Lovers Lane days.

Also, Oceans Apart needs more love because it's proof that you can grow up and still be a romantic.

Also, it's catchy as.

If I had voted, Liberty Belle would have won!

http://devonrecordclub.com/2013/07/30/the-go-betweens-liberty-belle-and-the-black-diamond-express-round-52-toms-selection/

Ah, but if I had voted I would've gone for Before Hollywood, so it'd still be a draw (NB: I may well have voted in this poll already).

Would've gone for The Lost Album if it were an option, cos I Like Their Early Stuff Better

I also would have voted for Before Hollywood.

I would also have voted Before Hollywood.

This is great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKxhevymXVM

On Spring Hill Fair, celebrating its thirtieth birthday.

http://thequietus.com/articles/16322-the-go-betweens-spring-hill-fair-review

Well done, Alfred. Though you mentioned they were sober and Grant most certainly was not.

lol -- sober in mien. I've only read speculation about McClennan's alleged drug use.

Oh, Steve Kilbey has more than confirmed it. Which is funny because he and Robert don't seem like the type (whatever that means).

LP boxed set:

First 600 orders worldwide get a book from Grant McLennan’s personal library and a signed bookmark from Robert Forster

!!!

oof that looks great ... and so expensive!

Details and all

http://dominorecordco.com/gobetweens/

Hmm, gonna have to look closely at the tracklisting of the CDs, I have all the expanded reissues from around 10 years ago.

Yeah, tons of tracks on those. I assume there must be more than a little overlap.

I'm glad Grant McLennan owned more than 600 books

if the guest essayists are as sharp as the one I've read, then this box should be a treasure.

Forster: "I don't think anything has been done like this before for a band of our popularity or 'reach'. That's what I love about it - the blowing up and mythologising of the band to a size that is correct in regard to its importance, but not its record sales."

forster and mclennan's high self-regard has always been oddly charming

great piece on spring hill fair, btw alfred! though I like river of money.

Wonder if Grant was a big annotator of his books? I'm seriously considering a pre-order, even though the vinyl lps are about as useful to me as 8-track tapes.

thanks, tyler!

yr welcome.
would be great if grant's entire collection was made up of harry potter first editions.

will never own the set, but wouldn't mind just looking through the list of book titles

alfred's piece is first on my reading list though

By my estimation, this box set has at least 40 (!) songs which have never been on CD, at least in these versions - 17 of them, going by the titles, have never been released in any form. Of course, the number of non-CD tracks could be higher - some of the songs listed were b-sides or bonus tracks on the 2xCD versions of the first three albums, but some of those may not be the same versions as these.

It looks like one complete Peel session is included, two others are not, and sadly it's the one that's already been on CD. There were other radio sessions, and some of the alternate versions of album tracks may be from those.

This is sort of a bad deal for the die-hard Go-Betweens fan who bought the albums as they came out, and later bought up to the expanded CD versions - 40 "new" songs for more than 200 dollars. But the book from Grant's collection is pretty intriguing, and the bookmark from Robert is a very funny Go-Betweens type of touch.

My picks!

I particularly like the Tallulah bit. I tend to be dismissive of it when I'm not listening to it, precisely because of "Cut It Out". (Plus, I seem to like "Right Here" waaaay less than many.) The rest, however, is great.

Soto, I hate to be that guy again but just noticed you've accidentally listed 'A Bad Debt Follows You' as 'A Bad Debt Won't Leave'!

Listening to this live album called Fountains of Youth: Live at the Town and Country Club which sounds pretty good. Seems like tyler blogged about it.

Friends of Rachel Worth, Bright Yellow Bright Orange, and Oceans Apart all missing from Apple Music now. Now I have to dig through boxes of CDs to burn them. WTF.

I wonder if they're in the process of reassigning rights and replacing them with the new masters. "Oceans Apart" was vastly improved on the new box set - none of the horrendous distortion that plagued the original release.

FWIW, someone asked Forster if the second Go-Betweens box set would get re-pressed since the first one was - apparently not for reasons related to rights ownership/demands. (Lindy later pointed out that Beggars owns those three albums in question worldwide except in Australia.)

FWIW, on the "States of Independence" podcast Robert indicated that plans are afoot to release standalone versions of all 9 Go-Betweens albums in 2026. (Presumably from the mastering done for the box sets and the corresponding digital downloads.)

Pleased to see that The Friends of Rachel Worth, Bright Yellow Bright Orange, and Oceans Apart are all available for streaming now in 'max' quality on Tidal.

2026 repress of G Stands for Go-Betweens Volume 1 already sold out for the US and UK? Looks like you can still get it in the EU:

https://thegobetweens.krasserstoff.com/products/the-go-betweens-g-stands-for-go-betweens-volume-1-box-set

I guess they're enough longer including a book from Grant's personal library with the box set anymore.

also its £199... not sure if that was the original price? i paid £150 for the volume 2 set. enough to put me off anyway.

i have been on a big go-betweens kick recently, particularly those early singles

oops, posted before i was ready. the first disc of the G Stands For Go-Betweens comp, i meant:

First Five Singles
LP1-A1 Lee Remick
LP1-A2 People Say
LP1-A3 I Need Two Heads
LP1-A4 Your Turn, My Turn
LP1-A5 Hammer The Hammer
LP1-B1 Karen
LP1-B2 Don't Let Him Come Back
LP1-B3 Stop Before You Say It
LP1-B4 World Weary
LP1-B5 By Chance

i wish i would have heard “karen” before the term entered popular discourse, because then i would have been like “karen, yay-ee-yah-ee, karen, yay-ee-yah, karen"

Kinda sucks for Karens now, because that name was very cool when the single was out.

Nice going metaphorical Karens, you ruined "Karen" for literal Karens.

yes but this song could change everything, if more people knew

yay-ee-yeah-ah

ba ba ba ba ba ba ba BAH

love goes on anyway!

I'm so glad the reunion albums are up on Spotify now, "Oceans Apart" is so incredible I immediately flashed back to the last time I saw them play. Grant, man, what a songwriter. They are both incredible, of course, but I am a sucker for his songs. I have a great Grant McClennan t-shirt that shares the Monkees design, but I'm afraid to wear it because I don't want to ever wear it out.

chef'sbachelor's kiss