Great Australian Albums / 16 Lovers Lane - The Go-Betweens

''The Go-Betweens were arguably Australia's finest rock/pop band - a band that never really had mainstream success. Their heyday was in the 80's and, line-up changes included, they have released some 9 albums. This part of the Great Australian Albums series focuses on their 1987 album 16 Lovers Lane. It was an important release for many reasons. It was the album that finally promised to lead them into the big-time with the pop confection that was Streets of Your Town. That never happened and the band toured then crashed and burned soon after, not releasing another record for 12 years.
If there is any abiding impression left by the Great Albums series it is that making records is hard. Band members fight, producers struggle to capture the right sound and the bands question their resolve to make music. 16 Lovers Lane was no exception. Golden Era bass player Robert Vickers had left the band after Tallulah and was replaced by rough diamond John Willsteed who apparently had a negative influence on the band allegedly through regular intoxication and a lack of belief in the skills of other band members. Songsmith Robert Forster and drummer and co-founder Lindy Morrison were going through a break-up and she was enduring a family crisis which left her very little time to spend in the studio.
About the only ones who were having fun were co-writer Grant McLennan and multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown who were still in love. Only a year after the record came out the band broke up for reasons that remain sketchy. There's a reason Morrison and Brown don't appear in the same room as Forster (McLennan having died of a heart attack in 2006) as they still can't forgive the boys for the manner of the disbanding.
Crises can often produce great art and 16 Lovers Lane benefitted from a blend of the boundless joy of love and the quiet despair at the loss of it.
Lovers of The Go-Betweens may well baulk at the choice of album to celebrate. Some, like me, found Springhill Fair and Tallulah to be the highest points of the band and yet others see Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express to be their masterpiece. In truth, every Go-Betweens album is a masterpiece of sorts - however, it is perhaps the case that none meant quite so much for the history of the band as 16 Lovers Lane.
This is a fine documentary for lovers of the band and will no doubt send fans scouring KZbin for other songs and concert footage of the band. The great songs from the album like Love Goes On, Dive for your Memory, The Devil's Eye and others are given full treatment even if Robert Forster's descriptions of the basis of the songs make less sense than the lyrics themselves!''
(Trevor Darge)
www.michaeldvd....

[@alexzannoni1501]

This album is sublime as it captured something about Australian life that's disappeared for ever. Every time I listen to it I'm catapulted back to the 80s, when things were still real. I deeply miss The Go Betweens ...... Brilliance never dies!!!!

[@pvkoz8698]

I am so lucky. I mean I'm really lucky. I was a child of the 70s and 80s. A towering time for Australian music. I started seeing live music in 1978 and would spend, no kidding, 3 or 4 nights a week seeing live music in pubs and clubs. I was diagnosed cancer in 1979 and music was my number 1 saviour. So Australian music at this time was my beautiful respite from a horrible time. But that aside I saw thousands of gigs in the 70s and 80s, but to my eternal shame I never saw this magnificent band. I was so obsessed about Australian music's sound and lyrical matter that reflected back at us what we were doing ourselves that these bands were doing the same and writing about, so relatable. Listen to Koala Sprint by the Oils about going up north or Paul Kelly's Leaps and Bounds (which tears me up every time cuz even though I'm from Sydney I love Melbourne) or any Skyhooks songs about Melbourne. So to this band called The Go-Betweens. They're a Brisbane band and I spent a lot of my youth in Queensland on holidays (us NSW people back then always went north for holidays). I remember driving through cane fields on fire on my way north (if you know anything about cane growing is that you burn the canefield as part of cropping. Once I drove through a burning canefield where I couldn't see 10feet in front of me! Sparks and fire everywhere but just had to keep going through it). This is a Brisbane band proud and true and as much as Kelly or Skyhooks sung about Melbourne The Go-Betweens sung, not always, but had Brisbane in their blood and I get it. A gorgeous band, their melodies, lyrics, they just remind me of my home, Australia. As soon as I hear Cattle and Cane I am immediately transported to a place and time and I can hardly contain myself. Like a lot of our local bands they went to the UK to make it and who'd blame them! Love this band The Go-Betweens, one of my favourite ever bands that I, sadly, never got to see.

[@user-io3th6lo9t]

The best thing about MTV in those days was 120 minutes without which I would have never heard of this lovely Aussie band.

[@nigelkelley3004]

There is something achingly sad yet sunny and hopeful about this band. They are quite precious.

[@michaelstacey8507]

The most underrated Australian band of all time. I don't know how they didn't make it huge in the music world. To those who have never heard them before (do so) it's their loss. RIP Grant.

[@Liamnerfdude1]

michael stacey because they wrote for art.

[@cabarlahh]

Yes Grant....so fucking sad...

[@LaughingStock_]

Well, sadly, The Trffids could also claim that title.

[@JJørgensen]

I agree. Everybody knows Midnight Oil and ACDC but Australia had/has many talents and great musicians. I started discovering australian music since I heard Icehouse's first album decades ago. Yeah and I completely felt in love with Go-Betweens.

[@user-wc5gi2lz3n]

No, that would be Died Pretty - who are way better

[@Nigelxman]

I can't believe I'm seeing this for the first time. This album is so special to me, and the one that made me fall in love with The Go-Betweens. I only saw them live once (in 1989?) at a small club in Long Beach, California, but it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. I'm a massive fan of Grant's solo albums and I was truly heartbroken (still am) when we lost him in 2006. Especially after having spent to amazing months in Australia and 5 weeks in Brisbane, which is a city my then girlfriend and I fell in love with. Sorry for rambling, but thank you so much for posting this wonderful video. :-)

[@kenstanding4039]

Wonderful band ..... love them always. Beautiful songs.

[@paulprac]

Just spent nearly an hour watching that. Brilliant. Always loved them and, like everyone else, cannot understand why they were never global mega-stars? There is no justice.

[@johangaudissabois8668]

What a great video. Lots of inside stuff from the 2 ladies. Touching, what a pity this band never had a top 10 album. They so much deserved it.

[@panxualebasque4481]

A universe that remains mine for better and for the worse with the certainty that I have lived the best moments of our planet. Australia, one of the most endearing continents of our world. Go-betweens thank you

[@barrygaynor1025]

I loved the Go-Betweens from the first time I heard "the Streets of Your Town" -- amazing song! And when I heard "Bachelor Kisses", it knocked me out.

[@jesusyt1970]

Love, Love, Love - FOREVER!!! Thank F... most of the world won't know of them, let them be sweet pearls for lucky souls like us!!!

[@garybridge-ku7bf]

Thank you for uploading this, it was a fantastic watch, from a band who deserved much much more. I myself love this band, and 16 Lovers Lane is the perfect album from start to finish. ❤

[@conchubharcinnfhaolaidh3341]

One of the great albums, totally underrated, some of the best love songs ever, so sweet and tender with an extra poignancy now that Grant left this world a way too early. They deserved far more success than they achieved.

[@johangaudissabois8668]

16 LOVERS LANE along with LIBERTY BELLE is among the greatest albums ever. Should be in each serious record collection.

[@andreaneilcmc]

Beautiful album, beautiful people and a beautiful story!

[@bryanlaughland3001]

It sure is

[@ozbaz99]

I was in my late teens when this album came out. Being a Uni student at the time i assumed it was a big hit as it was every where - I didn't follow charts then. A truly wonderful record.

[@Paulthecelt]

Fabulous film of not only one of Australia's best, one of the worlds best. Beautiful.

[@jensbondarenko9195]

This music will always left me speechless about it. What a wonderful gift to us they made.

[@lionelperrier5146]

I love this Documentary...I was born in Brisbane and love their music

[@alisonlaing4212]

Thank you Go Betweens, and a good doco.

[@leokimvideo]

Like great artists their acceptance will happen long after they are all gone. If ever there was a band that deserves a second chance it's this one, and their songs sound far more powerful 30 years after they were written.

[@jamesnolan5548]

Too happy for me, hence I was always a Triffids fan

[@cabarlahh]

AMEN xo

[@Egurenkone]

True

[@berndjenter4005]

@@jamesnolan5548 Yeah , The Triffids ! Especilly their 'Treeless Plain' album !

[@vordman]

A band will only find lasting acclaim via the passage of time. That even applies to The Beatles. Commercially successful at the time, but it wasn't until the 1990s that they became truly respected.

[@TheMimifur]

The Go-Betweens were the 2nd nicest band I ever worked with. They were the best Australians and only beaten into first spot for utter politeness and respect by the Swiss band The Young Gods.

[@msenno29]

what can you say, sublime pop at its best...

[@realramone3455]

The Go-Betweens were something else. Saw them twice in Lisbon, in 89 tour of 16 lovers lane and on the second encarnation in 2001. Marvellous, both times. Always in my heart.

[@daverawcliffe3212]

One of the greatest bands ever in my opinion, musical geniuses, I began listening to them in the mid 80’s and was absolutely astonished by there incredible music, They have influenced so many bands including Nice , also from Australia, I consider Nice to be right up there with The Go betweens.

[@bravebern]

I saw the Go Betweens twice in London in the 80’s the first time sort of accidentally and I remember being blown away first by Amanda who to 16 year old me was simply the most amazing person I had ever seen and Robert going in to the crowd. The second time I saw them a friend of mine went with me last minute after I was stood up and he met a girl from Denmark and moved out there and married her! There is no general playlist I make or favourite playlist that doesn’t have at least one Go Betweens song - Bye Bye Pride or Quiet Heart Thanks for the memories

[@AdamTeAwanui]

They really were one of our greatest bands.

[@davidhughes6]

Quiet Heart is my favourite song of all time. I remember in the 80's just playing it over and over again. This really is a seminal album.

[@Gaz3801]

I first went to a Go Betweens gig in 88 or 89 at Revesby Hotel in Sydney when I was 19 or 20... Now in 2019, my 13 year old son listens to the Go Betweens because their music is timeless. Brilliant band, great songs awesome lyrics.

[@robertoc2485]

That was a great documentary. Thanks for posting.

[@NewFalconerRecords]

It's a pity that they didn't do a second series of Great Australian Albums. This was the standout of the series in my opinion, the Silverchair one was great as well. 'Right Here' was a spectacular documentary about the Go Betweens, but there are things here that weren't covered in that doco. Ben Lee was really good here as well, I thought. Made some very insightful comments.

[@pmccservices]

OMG Thanks so much for posting. How fortunate this was done before that most sad day later in 2005.

[@TwelveDeck]

+pmccservices If you're talking about Grant's death, that was actually in 2006.

[@cedriccourtois3484]

A great and amazing band ! I love so much this music !

[@jollygoode4153]

Loved Amanda !!!

[@gerardkramer6922]

One of my favourite albums for sure and what a good docu about it!

[@AttitudeCharter]

God only knows how I discovered this album years ago, but I absolutely love it. Superb.

[@waltercoyle6393]

I consider this the most romantic album of all time.

[@aus80srockradio94]

16 Lover's Lane is just brilliant.

[@TheDragnetNod]

Streets of Your Town - One of the greatest songs ever. When I heard this, on KBCO from Boulder, Colorado, I had to go out and buy it. This was back in the late 80s, I believe. Ah, to be young again…………..

[@61jpm]

Beautiful! Thank you for posting!

[@apo60paok]

Exquisite album.So nostalgic then, so much nostalgic now !

[@wolandbegemotazazello]

One of, in my opinion, greatest albums ever...

[@patricshaw]

such beauty! astonishing music

[@BertisGuitar]

A more detailed account of events around the break-up can be found in robert forster's excellent book 'grant & i'...it's also a heartbreaking account of how difficult it is to be in an unsuccessful band.

[@wvu05]

So true. At a certain point, you surely just get sick of being poor and producing great work that doesn't get appreciated.

[@vv247]

Fabulous underrated band ...I have all their records.

[@kevininsomne]

I used to paint while listening to this album and some other of their songs 🌎

[@LizzyC725]

There has never been a better band. I realize I saw Grant and Robert at The Knitting Factory NYC, one year before Grant died.

[@tonybutcher4762]

Maybe not the Go Betweens best album but it marks a great period in Aussie music history and holds up all these years later .

[@blaialosaliver6878]

From València (Spain), amazing band. 🎤🎸❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@LaughingStock_]

I'm so grateful this is available, but, Christ, I wish we could get this at 1080p. There must be an HD version out there somewhere. P.S. "Liberty Belle" is their masterpiece - sorry, kids.

[@alvaroasc]

Hello. I have this album - bought recently on vinyl format. I find it a delicious album to listen to and felt sad to know that the band haven´t achieved the success they surely deserved. Who can really resist on the incredible "Streets of your town"? Thanks for the post. I knew other australian pop groups like TRIFFIDS or INXS - great bands, too.

[@fredfat1606]

favourite band

[@rubiconnz1754]

This vid is spectacular - a work of art !! Learnt so much re the band the album and personalities and Ben Lee always liked his work ( He used term Homo Erotic ) off to look it up !!

[@TerryGLopez]

the Steed; long tall Forster; poetic Grant; lindy Grant, looking back, is a hugely original songwriter. He used his weaknesses as strengths. Fabulous film of not only one of Australia's best, one of the worlds best. Beautiful.

[@waynemcmurray5044]

I have grown only this yesr to love this band. It was sad about grant passing away It is sad thst he lost his true love amanda

[@artespopular]

Not only one of Australia’s greatest albums produced, but definitely in my Top Ten ever. Every song are fecking brilliant pop rock masterpieces.

[@JJørgensen]

Streets Of Your Town + Cattle And Cane are immortal songs. For 3 decades I am asking myself why Amanda left Grant. What was the real reason. What was behind the scene. Then in late 80's they had everything to be lifetime loving partners. So sad.

[@bernie4268]

I read that Amanda left Grant when he broke up the band. He wasnt expecting that and he was shattered.

[@MrBazzabee]

Everybody in Australia was thin then.

[@mikeg6606]

Australia's best ever band without a shadow of a doubt. I have them right up with Lennon and McCartney in terms of songs.

[@michaelhall5429]

I don't know man, cold chisel is up there with the best in the world. Acdc built hard rock from the blues up. Gotye made the best bedroom pop song of all time. I think the go betweens are amazing, they make me prouder of being from Brisbane than wally and Alf do, but they aren't Lennon and McCartney. Cattle and cane would make my version of a Beatles best of though.

[@stevecheevers7337]

"About the only ones who were having fun were co-writer Grant McLennan and multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown who were still in love. Only a year after the record came out the band broke up for reasons that remain sketchy" Simply they weren't making any money and I think Grant wanted to try a solo career. Grant and Robert didn't fall out but I think Amanda and Lindy didn't take it well, especially Amanda who supposedly dumped Grant on the same day he broke up the Go Betweens (Robert says it in a article he wrote about Grant a little after his death, he doesn't mention her by name). I can see why Amanda never got a invite back into the band, but I'm surprised Liddy didn't but Grant supposedly going by this documentary didn't get along with her. Great documentary on sadly neglected band.

[@wvu05]

In "Grant & I," Robert Forster said that he was constantly the intermediary between the two. Perhaps he was prophetic when he came up with the band name.

[@oneeyedman99]

Amanda says that as well at the end of this video.

[@johangaudissabois8668]

I criticised ROLLING STONE's ALL TIME TOP 500 albums and forgot there that among the great ommissions : also no GO-BETWEENS , no TRIFFIDS. Those 2 Australian bands are very special to me. Great timeless mmusic and this is surely true for 16 LOVERS LANE : what an album . Far better than RUMOURS to which it is often compared....

[@TheMichaelseymour]

love the way lindys snare sounds ....not the bombastic , over the top , male hugeness that dominates a song and mix....they sound natural, real and musical .

[@bernie4268]

I’m not surprised to hear that. I regret not going up to Grant after a solo lunchtime show at Monash uni in the early 90s and saying hi. I wanted to but I was too shy!!!!

[@michaelenglish1992]

Damn, this is amazing.

[@russellb5573]

For me, the only Australian band and a masterpiece of an album that chimes full of life

[@lynnleistinger151]

And the saints...

[@ViolentSpring]

They once chopped my heart The way they chop a tree.

[@TwelveDeck]

Amanda is smoking hot.

[@blackpeter70]

No need for words, my friend. It's just a given. Awww, yeah! :D

[@bravebern]

I was transfixed seeing her live at 16! I was left of the stage and she is right in front of me looking incredible.

[@buddhull]

If there’s another episode it should be for The Saints’ Prehistoric Sounds.

[@Semprini537]

Gŕeat band. Album too

[@oneeyedman99]

I've been reading Robert Forster's memoir "Grant and Me", which gives additional detail about the band's breakup and its aftermath. Here are some tidbits: John Willsteed had been fired from the band about six months before the breakup, for excessive drinking. Tension between Lindy and the band's new bassist was the final straw that pushed Robert and Grant to break up the group. By then, they already had many songs written for their projected followup, but the rehearsals went poorly. Another reason for the breakup was that most of the songs the two had written had no drum part, which made Lindy superfluous. Robert and Grant envisioned continuing to record together as an acoustic duo. However, it never occurred to them until long afterward that Amanda would have fit quite well with that duo. Another catalyst for the split was that Robert had fallen in love with a German psychology student. Most of his songs for what would have been the followup to 16 Lovers Lane were written in her Bavarian farmhouse. Grant was devastated by Amanda's leaving, and spent years trying to win her back. This is why he and Robert did not record together for many years afterward; he decided to cut a solo record instead as a way of trying to win her back, and per Robert most of the songs on Grant's first two solo records "are about Amanda, and those that aren't sound like songs trying not to be about her." Robert suspects he never fully recovered from the breakup. His personal life, always chaotic, became a total shambles, with writing and performing music pretty much his only redemption.

[@brianjones8721]

Yeah, after reading that memoir it was sad to see how Grant's life went downhill after that. You can see in both live performances and music videos from this time how madly, deeply in love Grant was with Amanda. Also, what Robert leaves unsaid in the book but always hints at was that Grants drug use became much more problematic after the breakup.

[@oneeyedman99]

@@brianjones8721 Yes, Robert said that he wasn't going to talk about anybody's drug use other than his own. To me that implies that Grant and probably John were indulging in more than alcohol.

[@tomartos]

Lindy's drumming was brilliant

[@Darren-D.C-Cross]

R.I.P Grant x

[@cabarlahh]

😢😢😢

[@JustinCase-ld4ih]

Lovely

[@weeeed66]

pretty effin cool !

[@apd8339]

good show Vale Grant McLennan.

[@darylcumming7119]

Thanks.

[@IsabelAlmada-il9id]

Una gran banda australiana

[@peterblack62]

Judging from the face expression, it was actually Amanda who paid the highest price. No light in her eyes.

[@Nigelxman]

+peterblack62 I see a lot of light (and spark) in her eyes mate.

[@peterblack62]

+Nigelxman well ...perhaps ..

[@michelealfredson9145]

She's hugely sensitive. Both she and Lindy express their hurt in different ways. But like robert said...'we we're just bumbling boys'

[@wvu05]

@@michelealfredson9145 And in "Grant & I," he admitted "This was definitely the correct artistic decision, but we didn't realize the emotional impact it would take."

[@MrDunkiep]

I know what you mean. There's a lot of melancholy in her expression.

[@dancraven7178]

Bye Bye Pride is musical grace

[@lukedempsey112]

'Well, I saw you at the opening, somebody's hand was up your dress - you were showing off everything, except your finesse.'

[@jimorpe1949]

I think the band is more famous and regarded now than then......

[@carlossouffront1769]

The version of Clouds with Grant singing around the 24 minute mark...anyone know what release it's on if any?

[@berndjenter4005]

I prefer their 'Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express' album ! Because it's not so 'perfect' !

[@LucyWeate]

I think triple j gave it a red hot go- that’s how I Lund it. And a bridge name is solid? Truly genius and international level- a bit underrated outside Australia

[@ewanreid88]

The part where it shows Grant singing Clouds 23:38 does anyone know where I can find the full version of this?

[@michaelfraser5723]

There's something big and special about white Oz music

[@GlenMcAllister]

What happened to "I'm Alright"? Would have like to hear band's interpretation/explanation of that song.

[@Therenegadeaussie]

There are a few bars of it at 26:50

[@teddydog6229]

Grant doesn't look all that healthy in this. He's lost a fair amount of weight. I thought he'd died of a sudden heart attack or something similar. Maybe it was something else. He was one of the most likeable people in music and I hope he passed quickly and painlessly as possible.

[@aristideau5072]

He was a guest artist at an 'Underground Lovers' gig I went to in Sydney in the late 90's and I did not recognise him at all.

[@465marko]

The local television station network promo ruined that song "streets of your town".......

[@evanstephen300]

Bob Dylan (and shades of Mark Knopfler) really shining through in acoustic Clouds 24:11

[@cabarlahh]

20 dislikes !!??? WTF ??? Why the hell are you even here 🤔🤔🤔 Trolls 😠

[@hswnewijdiebsjwnswidhwi6126]

Beautiful album, beautiful people and a beautiful story! Amanda is smoking hot.

[@nnoddy8161]

Where can I get a copy of Grant McLennan's version of 'Clouds'? Just awesomely beautiful.

[@bclayj]

There is a fantastic acoustic version of the song on That Striped Sunlight Sound, Live at the Tivoli in Brisbane

[@nnoddy8161]

@@bclayj Thanks so much. Just need to find a download of it.

[@Therenegadeaussie]

Should say 1988 not 1987 release.

[@somethingyettocome]

I love Lindy s drumming. She s for sure no virtuoso, but I really like her style...

[@Muesli711]

@50:28 No guitar credit for John Wilsteed seems a little bizarre after watching this.

[@michaelfraser5723]

new wave by default

[@kevininsomne]

What's the song in 26:55 help me! I can't remember the name!

[@oneeyedman99]

They really goofed in breaking up when they did. 16 Lovers Lane was perhaps not their best record, but it was the one where they finally found their formula (it was the only one that got airplay on my local "modern rock" station, and the first one of theirs I bought). If they could have come up with another like that, even one not quite as good, I have to think it would have grown the commercial foothold which they had managed to gain here in the states.

[@snakewhitcher4189]

Australia had a disproportionate number of great albums. They should happy with what they accomplished.