sunday i heard word that Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens had died in his sleep, at the way too early age of 48. along w/ Robert Forster, they combined to become the poor man's McCartney/Lennon of Australia, w/ Grant typically takier the sunnier side of things a la Macca, while Robert probed a bit darker as Lennon did.
they realized fairly early on that trying to make a living via music while based in Australia would be a trying endeavor at best, so w/ drummer Lindy Morrison they packed up and settled in England, where they put out a single on the vaunted Scottish label Postcard, also home to releases from bands such as Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, and Josef K. Rough Trade then released the bulk of their records, culiminating in the sublime 16 Lovers Lane, after which the band split up (i was fortunate to catch them on this tour, in '89) and Robert and Grant pursued solo careers (Grant notably teamed w/ Church mainstay Steve Kilbey and did a record as Jack Frost).
however, things set in motion in the early '00s found the two men working together again, enough so that they actually recorded more records and toured; the live set i caught in dublin in '04 was really great, and the new material stood up to the quality level they'd set earlier. so it's very disappointing to hear the news of Grant's sudden demise. here's a song from Grant, a well-known one from him and said to be semi-autobiographical.
Cattle and Cane
RIP, Grant.
they realized fairly early on that trying to make a living via music while based in Australia would be a trying endeavor at best, so w/ drummer Lindy Morrison they packed up and settled in England, where they put out a single on the vaunted Scottish label Postcard, also home to releases from bands such as Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, and Josef K. Rough Trade then released the bulk of their records, culiminating in the sublime 16 Lovers Lane, after which the band split up (i was fortunate to catch them on this tour, in '89) and Robert and Grant pursued solo careers (Grant notably teamed w/ Church mainstay Steve Kilbey and did a record as Jack Frost).
however, things set in motion in the early '00s found the two men working together again, enough so that they actually recorded more records and toured; the live set i caught in dublin in '04 was really great, and the new material stood up to the quality level they'd set earlier. so it's very disappointing to hear the news of Grant's sudden demise. here's a song from Grant, a well-known one from him and said to be semi-autobiographical.
Cattle and Cane
RIP, Grant.
