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 Wallace Wylie

Fading Celluloid and Fading Memories – The Artistic Triumph of The Go-Betweens’ Before Hollywood

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It’s here that I bring in the third element of Before Hollywood, the mesmerising drumming of Lindy Morrison. Her power is such that at several moments she threatens to steal the show. Bringing a tension and control to the entire proceedings, Morrison’s drumming provided the songs with the necessary tautness that allowed the bass and guitar to quarrel and snap. With each album following Before Hollywood The Go-Betweens lost a little of this tension. By 16 Lovers Lane the acoustic Dylan-esque influence far outweighed any other and as such Lindy Morrison’s drumming skills were somewhat underutilised.

I can’t deny my love of 16 Lovers Lane, but to me the special magic of The Go-Betweens is contained on Before Hollywood. Here is Grant as the doomed, romantic introvert; here is Robert as the cracked actor, forever searching for a new occurrence (even the cover shows Forster looking intently at the camera while McLennan looks away, lost in thought), and here too the jittery post-punk feel of the music gives Lindy Morrison the perfect canvas for her art. That’s not to say that it is all downhill from here on in. Every album by the first incarnation of The Go-Betweens is, in its own way, essential and Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express even jostles with Before Hollywood as contender for best Go-Betweens album (and by extension best album ever made).

Only on Before Hollywood, though, does the songwriting sound so unique and thrilling. Only on Before Hollywood do we hear the sound of a band finding themselves and finding their identity. It manages to capture a specific instant when both songwriters were influenced as much by contemporary acts as classic ones. Almost all songwriters gradually move away from more experimental approaches and settle into tried and tested song forms. If we’re lucky, though, there will be a period when youthful arrogance, emerging songwriting skills and a brash disregard for rules will converge to produce something bold and unconventional. If we’re really lucky it will sound as utterly brilliant as Before Hollywood. Its genius remains undimmed.

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