The Go-Betweens’ seminal album 16 Lovers Lane has inspired audiences for over three decades since its release in 1988.
The band, formed by Grant McLennan and Robert Forster, hit their stride both lyrically and musically, with the album spawning some of their most unforgettable songs including ‘Streets of Your Town’ and ‘Was There Anything I Could Do?’
The choice to celebrate its legacy may seem obvious, but as Amanda Brown, one of the original members of the band reveals, it wasn’t something they had planned on doing.
“We never thought we’d play those songs again,” she says earnestly. “The idea to do this show came from a suggestion. Katie Noonan had just gotten the job as the director of the Queensland Music Festival. Being a proud Queenslander, she was a Go-Betweens admirer and loved 16 Lovers Lane so the idea came about when she realised it was the 30-year anniversary of the album coming up, along with the ten-year anniversary of Grant’s death.”
To bring these songs to life, Brown, along with original Go-Betweeners Lindy Morrison and John Willsteed, have been joined by an all-star cast of Australian musicians. “The nice thing about this show is that it’s modular,” says Brown. “We have the core band which is the three original members alongside Dan Kelly, Dan Widdicombe and Luke Peacock, and then depending on where we’re playing the show we pick up different singers from that town.
“For the first show in Brisbane we had some really young bands like Ball Park Music and Cub Sport join us who were fans of the band. That was surprising but also gratifying.
“We’ve been curating the guest artists ourselves so it was really important for us to have people who had a connection to the band in some way,” continues Brown. “People like Paul Kelly and Steve Kilbey were our contemporaries at the time and have been our friends for years. Other people like Romy Vager and Laura Jean we didn’t know but I think they share that left-field independent spirit of The Go-Betweens.
“With this augmented band it means that we’re able to realise the arrangements on the album so much more fully and it’s honestly a better dynamic than when we first performed the songs. I think in many ways we’re sounding better than we ever have.”
The shows have not only been an opportunity to hear the songs performed again but have also been a chance to share special memories of the band and remember McLennan’s life. “To learn the songs required listening to them again and just the simple thing of hearing Grant’s voice again was quite emotionally confronting and really sad for me,” says Brown. “It’s lovely that the songs are getting another chance to be out there in the world and that Grant’s words and music live on and find a whole new audience.”
Brown also recognises the movement that they belonged to back in the 1980s and how this allowed for songwriters like McLennan and Forster to flourish. “I think that bands from around that time, like The Triffids and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and The Moodists set the standard for very poetic, literate songwriting. I think 16 Lovers Lane was Grant and Robert’s Blood on the Tracks.
“They were huge Bob Dylan fans and really it’s about love and every stage of it, from falling in love to falling out of love and every emotion in between those two states that everybody can relate to.”
As for whether or not she thought that the band would have such an impact to this day, Brown recalls her fellow bandmates’ confidence back in the ‘80s. “I remember at the time 30 years ago, Lindy, Robert and Grant all seemed very confident of their legacy. I wasn’t so sure of it, but in hindsight they were proven to be correct.
The Go-Betweens’ seminal sixth album 16 Lovers Lane will be showcased as part of Bendigo Autumn Music festival on Sunday April 28. Head to the festival website for more info on the lineup and for tickets.
