Follow on TwitterWATCH: 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:
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.
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:
Some other fabulous songs worth checking out from The Crossing LP include Fields of Fire, and Adamson’s personal favorite The Storm.
R.I.P. Mick Karn – Bass Player of Japan (July 24, 1958 – Jan. 4, 2011)
I was sad to hear that Mick Karn, artist and bass player of the band, Japan, lost his battle with cancer yesterday.
Fronted by lead singer David Sylvian, Japan formed in 1974 in South London, and had a distinctive sound vaguely reminiscent of Bowie or Roxy Music. Karn played a fretless bass guitar, and his unique style of playing helped to define Japan’s sound.
They were a major influence on many of the new-wave Romantic bands that would sprout up in the early 80s. Yesterday, Duran Duran’s bass player John Taylor blogged about the first time he and Nick Rhodes saw Japan perform live and the impact Karn’s work and style had on him. Taylor said of Karn: “[he is] one of the great visual and sound stylists of the late-70s/early-80s.” Japan has long been noted as one of Duran Duran’s major influences.
After Japan’s demise in 1982, Karn and Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy formed Dali’s Car, producing just one album together, The Waking Hour.
In 1991, Japan reconvened with all four original members (Sylvian, Karn, Steve Jansen, & Richard Barbieri) but under a different moniker, Rain Tree Crow. What resulted was something of an experimental, improvisational album, more in keeping with David Sylvian’s solo projects than anything Japan had previously created together.
Never having made a huge splash on this side of the Atlantic, many Americans are unfamiliar with Japan’s amazing song catalog, including the tracks: Methods of Dance, Still Life in Mobile Homes, Quiet Life, Visions of China, Ghosts, Nightporter, Life in Tokyo, etc.
Here’s Japan in 1979 performing ‘Quiet Life’:
Mick Karn is survived by his wife Kyoko, and his son Metis. You can post your condolences and tributes to his facebook page.
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