The Go-Betweens - Was There Anything I Could Do?

[rocknrhinestone68]

Idiot!!!!!Ass hole fucker!!!!!

[rocknrhinestone68]

Same to you buddy!!!!!

[BrisbaneGoFish]

pfft the Go Between were shit, for their time they were mainstream boredom, light spinless pop in a time when har4dcore rock was needed, that why they got eaten by American grunge, fucking losers they are, not a fucking riff or breal between them, maybe thats why they called the go bet weens.

I shit on soft pop.

[rocknrhinestone68]

@BrisbaneGoFish For one thing you don't know what the hell your talking about, The Go Betweens are pretty damn good (Have you Wrong Road ) and second can you do better?

[shnunk1]

@BrisbaneGoFish Get fucked.

[Plasticsoul]

@BrisbaneGoFish is it hard going through life being such a gigantic douchebag? with all of that shit flowing from your mouth you must smell like a cesspool.

[BrisbaneGoFish]

@Plasticsoul The Go Betweens were typical of the banal soft pop of the 80's, reached noone... plasticpants....

[Crimeyfied]

@BrisbaneGoFish You're wrong. I'm here listening to this right now. I remember frat boys and preps without a musical clue drunkenly stomping to Nirvana... not a knock on Nirvana, but mainstream and hugely known doesn't often spell the best for a band. See Kurt's reaction to it.

[BrisbaneGoFish]

@Crimeyfied I think 0:49 to 0:53 explains it....

[Plasticsoul]

@BrisbaneGoFish obviously they've reached quite a few people. just curious - how many people have you reached with your music, douchelips? how many records have you sold? what is the last venue that you sold out? clueless prat.

[tNJippoes]

I saw Icehouse, the Church and the Triffids at Homebake recently, this one of the bands I wish could have been there.......sad, he went too young

[USA1749NY2SFnSD2Fork]

Sweeeeeeeet...my fav for a hella long time...love it still...

[BistouflyTheGreat]

Slightly sounds a little bit like "some girls are bigger than others" by the Smiths. Both are good songs anyway

[dagrubster]

the australian smiths. great band

rip grant

[dagrubster]

the australian smiths. great band

rip grant

[dagrubster]

the australian smiths. great band

[dancing0being]

Very good!

[volven1]

yes...die seeligen go-betweens....ich sag nur rose, lichte höhe 2 meter 50 und massenpogo bis zum umfallen...grüsse an alle, die damals dabei waren und sich mal hierher verirren sollten.....

[taster321]

The weakest song on the album was released as first Single. Probably because the record company demanded an Up Tempo song.

[Sammyzuko]

Sounds like The Smiths - Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others

[HeadlandRoad]

@Sammyzuko Except of course that the Go-Betweens were already well known by the time the Smiths started up. The Go-Betweens released their first single in 1978 and their first album in 1981. The Smiths only formed in 1982 and released their first single in 1983. So maybe it's the Smiths who sound like the Go-Betweens? Only with more moaning and whining.

[dancing0being]

@HeadlandRoad

Go-Betweens were million times better than Smiths. I think Smiths made very bad music. Very bad style too.

[woozilmusic]

@dancing0being You are having a laugh. Hey these are good and real quirky music but if it wasnt for the smiths there would be no brit pop bands. Technically the smiths were brilliant and johhny Marr out of this world.

[dancing0being]

@woozilmusic

Cure, Smiths, U2. The Crap Triad of 80s.

No brit pop without Smiths? Ha ha ha ...

Johnny Marr was decent but Morrissey started to create a bit of quality music only a few years ago with solo albums.

Anyway, i never liked and understood Smiths. Extremely overrated band, like Radiohead. I don't care about them too.

[woozilmusic]

@dancing0being Ah well when you class The smiths with the cure and U2 there is a problem. The Smiths you either loved them or hated them that's it nothing else. No middle ground like there is for U2 or other bands in that genre.

Oasis you either love them or hated them, the jam were the same and that's why they differ from the go betweens you cant love them nor hate them just a good overall band with some great songs. Listen to the queen is dead by the smiths then let me know. Hate or Love!!

[dancing0being]

@woozilmusic

I think His (Her) Majesty Morrissey answered you with his 1st album title (he couldn't stand his own self?? :D)

Marr was not bad, but as HeadlandRoad commented before, Morrissey was too much moaning and whining.

I can't understand your way of feeling, but i and many people i know love Go-Betweens. I also know some people that just like a bit the Smiths, but are not very excited. The Queen Is Dead (talks about himself?) is the best Smiths album, but definitely not for me.

[dancing0being]

@woozilmusic

Maybe at 80s Smiths looked a bit "advanced" and "cool", but today they sound only like a bad joke. I am only 26yo to say exactly what happened then. GB had some contribution in 80s music and their sound and way of acting remains respected.

Many magazines and critics promote some stereotypes about music that i don't agree with. There were many great bands at 80s that had no commercial success. Almost all 80s best music was not selling much.

[woozilmusic]

@dancing0being Good sound comments but i have nearly 20 years on you so maybe thats all there was back then if you wanted to shy away from the likes of Bon jovi etc. That and no disrespect to jovi was not my cup of tea at all. The smiths were different from the electronic and manufactured music (kylie etc) that were on the radio every minute. You know your music and have your opinions thats good. You are right many 80's bands did'nt but should have made it. Take care regards.

[dirkbogarde44]

@dancing0being The Smiths sound like a bad joke ? What are you on about ? They sound just as fantastic now as they did then because the songs are timeless.

[BrisbaneGoFish]

@woozilmusic the Smiths were actually emo, not really embraced by mainstream as U2 or the cure (Goth)

[woozilmusic]

@BrisbaneGoFish Never thought of the Smiths being Emo but back in 1984 there was no such thing. No classification for self harm or depressed music there was no death metal or grunge etc. You had punk heavy rock, mod and the regulars like jazz and rock n roll etc. These different types of classification started to appear in the 90's

[BrisbaneGoFish]

@woozilmusic it was emotionally based , you cannot tell me Morresy was not an emotional if not only an emotional artist, as far as the 80s I found the Smiths a tad boring compared to some of the relevant home grown music in Australia.

[woozilmusic]

@BrisbaneGoFish Home grown talent in Australia, and that would be ???

[BrisbaneGoFish]

@woozilmusic Too many too name.

[woozilmusic]

@BrisbaneGoFish Or too few!!!

[BrisbaneGoFish]

@woozilmusic The Angels,Australian Crawl, The Divinals, Midnight Oil, Beasts of Bourban, Hoodoo gurus, The Hard ons, Radio Birdman,The SunnyBoys,Cold Chisel,Hunters and Collectors,Redgum,The Radiators,AC/DC,Nick Cave and the Bad seeds,Inxs,The reels,X,The celibate rifles...hmm maybe too few but my memory is shot, thats just off the top of my head.

[tNJippoes]

@BrisbaneGoFish Smiths were never ever emo, they created their own Genre

[tNJippoes]

@dancing0being Along with Joy Division the Smiths are listed by NME as the most influential bands for bands that came after them. Three very different fanbases here.....I lived through it.

[7klicksout]

To hell with smart! Give me Amanda Brown any day or night!!! Yeah Baby.....

[gildedfryingpan]

hey this is pretty badass.... love the microphone-stroking... and the other sexual bits. they are so silly and smart

[RiotGrrrlLogic]

Australian 80's...WOW...never saw it before. Very strange, quirky and interesting..

[dm3830]

FFS . All those commenting negatively on the video just pause for a moment to harvest a few more neurones from somewhere and reflect that just perhaps these are actually highly intelligent people (this is definitely the case) familiar with a thing called irony even more than the usual Australian level on this? Including portrayal of band roles, women in music video, all that.

[OzzInter]

This song "introduced" me to the Go-Betweens.

Still love this song!

[piginasack]

Loving the unsupportive bra.

[cartoonelvis]

@piginasack No bra - fashion back then

[attackofthemongs]

embarassing video , great song

[cartoonelvis]

@attackofthemongs It was the 1980's, hence the video

[anderzom]

great song! horrible video

[inialny]

but Kevin Rudd has also gone

[tNJippoes]

Magic!

[Stavinoj]

Great song, classic album (16 Lovers Lane), but in all honesty the video is a little cheesy. Still it is nice to hear or see anything from The Go-Betweens.

[cartoonelvis]

@Stavinoj It was the 1980's - that's what a lot of videos were like back then

[rullrich100]

Gosh I miss Grant.

[ronhelf]

is there anything more inane and banal than small minded comments on how people look? Why comment on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico when you can make snide, silly, and irrelevant remarks about looks. god humans are pathetic.

[TheLittleginnie]

@ronhelf I don't agree with 'body fascism', & largely agree with your comments about unnecessary personal remarks, but - why would you want to comment on the oil spill when you're looking up a pop video on youtube to get a bit of light relief from what's happening in the world?

[Gadense]

They're amazing... love this song :]

[morsebulb]

good good good song.

[qiput]

classic song with a great 80s video. making a lot out of a white backdrop!

[earnestbunny]

Great tune! Bloomin odd video. The 80's were not kind to them were it?

[irminlean]

the guy with the red shirt is so emo! lol

[BigRubberProductions]

one has huge glasses. one has 'thinning hair'. one has too much make up. one has a uni-brow. one needs braces. which ones which?

XD this songs acc quite good.

[jessicapancakes]

man i actually love this video so. much. and i have no idea why.

[eduardolinhalis]

Very nice song but the video... arghh... :) Initially I though it was a combo-group: In the vocals: Bob Mould (from Husker Du), in the guitars Philip Oakey (the voice of Human League) in the bass: Mike Mills (after diarrhoea) and in the drums: Dee Snider (from Twisted Sister!). Ok, calm down guys, I'm just kidding...

[Timmybear]

@eduardolinhalis - evil, but wonderful. :)

[amrak63]

Great song, WTF video.

Yeah, who did the drummer's hair? The poor woman DOES look like she could be Dee's sister.

[nagatatomoko]

such beautiful songs...I miss them. "16 lovers lane" was an alltime favourite album of mine.

[ArnoDali]

R.I.P Grant McLennan!

[billsyboy]

Thnx XDC...been looking to see if Amanda was "somewhere"

[xdc07]

Amanda, you are very talented and very beautiful. check out the photo on Amanda's my space webpage. Just saw your doco on Max pay tv about this band. Hope to travel to NSW to see you at your next gig.

[klimkowicz]

What a terrible, terrible, inappropriate video. God how awful! One of the best and most emotive GoBetween songs they did it to too.

This is truly awful.

[cartoonelvis]

@klimkowicz Give it a break - it was the 80's FFS.

[jeremyshambles]

that violin solo was snodger!

[bigtusa2]

que saudades de 1988, uma da melhores bandas de sempre

[maitea100]

amanda is the stevie nicks of this legendary aussie band

[karehl33]

Amanda has the looks but Lindy´s got this special charm.

[luckystriker888]

I'd rather lose myself in voodoo than in U2. Brilliant song!

[Rich27014]

This was the 1st GB tune I heard, courtesy of the great Peter Easton, on BBC Scotland and I loved it instantly....

[tulisten]

Amanda Brown is more beautiful year by year. If you're quick, she's on Rockwiz 13/12/08. Anyone who saw the recent documentary '16 Lover's Lane' on TV could only be mesmerised by her.

Lindy Morrison (the drummer) is also a spunk (and smart as hell).

This is a great song, great lyrics, fun video.

[dartmouthhoop]

I've been looking for my Amanda all my life...just amazing!!!

[roates]

Amanda is simply gorgeous...

[bassmaggot666]

@tulisten u got that right about lindy so so so so smart

i have her as a tafe teacher amazing person

[tubatalabal]

@bassmaggot666 What's "tafe"?

[Johnnystrychnine]

@tulisten I don't think Amanda Brown is beautiful. You have bad eye sight. Lindy Morrison is less than average in looks.

[Timmybear]

@Johnnystrychnine - You do realize aesthetics are personal, right? For example, I've never seen why people think Brad Pitt, George Clooney or Jake Gyllenhal are attractive. I don't have to - it's not required. I have no aesthetic measures for women, as I'm not attracted to women, but each seems like a self-possessed, confident person from her outward presentation - that's all that should matter.

[bigtusa2]

Great, my favourite from 80´s

[zee339]

this song rocks, compared to their others

[zee339]

:56 who is this girl on the violin?? she is beautiful

[theidealcopy]

Amanda Brown, joined in 1986.Best Aussie band ever!!

[maida1982a]

maybe best band ever

[ricebaker13]

agree with beethousand... where is love goes on??

[beethousand]

worst song on 16 lovers lane and pretty crap video

[akis723]

that's funny. I always thought this is propably the best song of GOB. Perhaps the arrangment is not so great but the lyrics are amazing. Classic 3:00 minute pop diamond perfect... just perfect.

[georgeharper]

Goofiest video ever, but the song is good

[reilly3]

Was there ever a more genuine soul than Grant McLennan? Love watching him doing what he loved.

[straighttoyou]

Congratulations and thanks a lot GOBTV! It's not a sopfisticated video but it gives us a clear picture of all the band members and, especially, Grant. I never had the chance to see them live but I listen to their songs repeatedly....

[gobtv]

I directed this video. It was cheap, and the idea was to have a bit of fun....which we did. It's not a work of genius, but I wanted to do something at odds with their reputation for being overly serious. It was more Brady Bunch than Neighbours in my eyes though.

[SquarkingCockatoo]

Grant and Amanda are together and up the front, with the rest of the band behind...

A metaphor for the band at the time, perhaps?

The silliness isn't obviously apposite for the lyrical content, but that often isn't a bad thing.

[xzh242]

How sexy does Amanda Brown look in this video? She's lovely!

[oleshatterbutt]

Yeah,I totally agree-my ex looks just like her.I guess she makes movie soundtracks nowadays

[europoodle]

luv the lippie (no really)

[Dan8477]

Adore this song, but good gracious, what a terrible video.

[giannisergente]

Genius... perfect pop-sensitive band...!!

:)

[lightflower]

Great song.Please re-release the original.

[Trabalesi]

One of the best songs in the world

[ronhelf]

one of my favourite Go-Be's songs...

[splintamike]

This is great - they always were taking the piss out of the industry in videos. Dont forget that back in the 80s male popstars were wearing lipstick for real!

[telleebabe]

Absolutely *fantastic* song but the video's awful! Better close your eyes and just listen :)

[twainname]

I love their look in the video, they look like everyday people and not Pop stars. The lead singer looks like you would meet him working at the corner store or maybe your accountant. I mean if you saw him on the street musician is not the first thing that pops into your head. Great stuff.

[SpiritOfAus63]

that's because they are Australians.

[pathdaly]

Even if you took away the accents I reckon I could pick an Aussie band from the 70's to the 90's. There seems to be a particular sound/feel which cuts across different musical genres and says AUSSIE.

[Toyboy789]

Great trck . . . but check out the drummer's wardrobe change abaout 0.18/19! bad continuity!

[Timmybear]

I never noticed that before! Interesting...

[ThisRandomGuy]

Yeah but check out Robert's shirt at 0:31 and 1:11.

[lemurvision]

That has to be deliberate ... I mean, he's playing 2 different guitars too.

[ralfrecords]

what a great video

[ichdenkeauch]

One of my greatest moments in life was being lucky enough to see them live on their last Aussie tour! An amazing band and so under rated!!! Thanks guys.........

[merlo59]

great song!!!!!!!!!!

[castingtherunes]

The lipstick guy is funny. Very warm, emotional, enjoyable band.

[Gato76680]

He has a name! (Robert Forster).

What a band! Aussie pop at its climax.

[KwautLizard]

Truly superb band. I'm from New Orleans, not just R&B and Jazz in the City That Care Forgot. NO people characteristically love all 'good' music and I was so lucky to catch this band in Australia. One of my faves and always with me. Thanks again!

[minecritter]

I saw this video on American late night TV 20+ years ago, and never heard anything else from them until I found them on YouTube this week. I love the fun expression of this video. I am so sad to learn of Grant's death, and hope to always remember him this way.

[JetJockey87]

R.I.P. Grant, I Reckon he's captured what aussie music should sound like, better than cold chisel..ewwghh. And check the hair out.

[VonTripps]

I hear they are getting back together again.

Is this true?

[Timmybear]

Well, this could be a bit challenging, since Grant is dead and Amanda and Lindy both, at one point, sued the two principals (though, given that the girls came to the funeral, there might be some reconciliation - still, I believe Robert's announcing that the band was over was fairly definitive...).

[dragster58]

GREAT TUNE!

[crispeater78]

I think he was pretty wasted a lot of the time. In fact, David Nichols's biography of the band paints him as a manipulative stirrer whose reprehensible behaviour was driven by his drug use. The original bassist, Robert Vickers, sounds like a very nice guy in contrast, but he left the band in between Tallulah and 16 Lovers Lane as the touring was putting a strain on his relationship, hence Wilsteed entering the fray.

[jimebenhoh]

Pretty hammy! That makes it fun, even though it's not their best video. The bassist Mr Wilsteed appears pretty wasted. Amanda Brown 'accidentally' let a dress strap slip. And I love Robert's lipstick and attempts to steal the spotlight by furiously strumming behind Lindy's drums. The overall impression is that by this point the band had a "oh, what the hell" attitude. No more earnest eyebrows (see Bachelor Kisses).

[alegende]

Finally found this! yes! brings back memories back in late 80s driving my car so early in the morning in East NY, Brooklyn NY!

[JetJockey87]

Wow? From Brooklyn? I never thought Go-Betweens were that big. Hearing Aussie Music outside of Australia is odd enough.

[CJARCHIVES]

listening to the band play on 89.1 FM

(WFDU not WNYU)?