tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post842947682805237941..comments2023-10-24T11:11:49.568+01:00Comments on There Are Places I Remember: Songs About Places: Streets Of Your TownGeoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10966328708258079467noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-26037269003511139692011-03-17T18:32:45.995+00:002011-03-17T18:32:45.995+00:00Hey there Geoff, you might enjoy my book about mus...Hey there Geoff, you might enjoy my book about music: http://books.google.com/books?id=nw2uOAMCZC4C<br /><br />DickDicknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-11221532606769958022011-03-13T22:18:03.440+00:002011-03-13T22:18:03.440+00:00If only the powers that be would reissue '16 L...If only the powers that be would reissue '16 Lovers Lane' in the U.S. ..Randynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-65888840603638914182011-03-13T22:16:37.900+00:002011-03-13T22:16:37.900+00:00I love "Dive For Your Memory" from that ...I love "Dive For Your Memory" from that album.Leonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-91325300305527313702011-03-13T22:15:30.214+00:002011-03-13T22:15:30.214+00:00Amazing band. "Cattle And Cane" from Bef...Amazing band. "Cattle And Cane" from Before Hollywood is one of the finest songs ever.Lynnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-62257281535831329852011-03-13T22:14:48.505+00:002011-03-13T22:14:48.505+00:0016 Lovers Lane is simply breathtaking as an album;...16 Lovers Lane is simply breathtaking as an album; it is a deeply moving, aurally sensual collection of songs about relationships and the broken side of love that never lapses into cheap sentimentality or cynicism. It's a hugely literate, magnificently written, performed, and produced piece of pop classicism. THANK YOU for this album, Go-Betweens!Sidneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-6662880547850321772011-03-13T22:13:08.112+00:002011-03-13T22:13:08.112+00:00I love the Go-Betweens - best Indie band from Aust...I love the Go-Betweens - best Indie band from Australia EVER!Yolandenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-15744602439455779852011-03-13T22:12:26.752+00:002011-03-13T22:12:26.752+00:00Yes, although it's maybe less random than it a...Yes, although it's maybe less random than it appears - Robert's my life partner so he forwarded me your column link!Lindynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-43581079857127399822011-03-13T22:08:42.089+00:002011-03-13T22:08:42.089+00:00Hi - maybe you'll enjoy my cover of the song: ...Hi - maybe you'll enjoy my cover of the song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL-LgoVoPtM<br /><br />I think the video for the song is really good.Davidhttp://www.davidmccormack.com.au/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-38809204257687261492011-03-13T22:05:49.740+00:002011-03-13T22:05:49.740+00:00It's probably because I'm British, but the...It's probably because I'm British, but the thing about Australia that I notice both Brits and Americans doing is finding city equivalents: Melbourne is to Brooklyn what Sydney is to Los Angeles; Sydney is Glasgow, Melbourne is Edinburgh. It's like Australian cities are never themselves, always version of UK or US ones!Robertanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-41783741444318011922011-03-13T22:00:41.635+00:002011-03-13T22:00:41.635+00:00Apparently earlier this week Obama received an ipo...Apparently earlier this week Obama received an ipod from Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, during her visit, and it included "Streets of Your Town" - it was an ipod full of Australian music. Here is the full list of songs she gave him! - http://www.messandnoise.com/news/4211691Bergnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-29184674260296876022011-03-13T21:57:32.422+00:002011-03-13T21:57:32.422+00:00Hey, two members of the Go-Betweens! What a truly ...Hey, two members of the Go-Betweens! What a truly wonderful group. Thanks for the links to The Monthly.Geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10966328708258079467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-51260452596806031232011-03-13T21:55:24.279+00:002011-03-13T21:55:24.279+00:00You may enjoy our song "Just the Way You Are&...You may enjoy our song "Just the Way You Are" which samples "Streets of Your Town" <br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZAAlqnJWbAGiordianohttp://www.myspace.com/milkymusicworldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-39290577531235889182011-03-13T21:51:59.422+00:002011-03-13T21:51:59.422+00:00Hi there (and hi Robert!). I was the female drumme...Hi there (and hi Robert!). I was the female drummer you refer too. I drum in The Rainy Season now - check us out! http://www.myspace.com/therainyseasonbandLindynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-65008181287842176192011-03-13T21:48:59.865+00:002011-03-13T21:48:59.865+00:00Yes we were full time band members of Elmer Gantry...Yes we were full time band members of Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera. It was right before we joined Strawbs instead. Me on bass, Hud on drums. First we were The Five Proud Walkers though (before we changed our named to Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera). And before all of that I was with Jaymes Fenda and the Vulcans too.John Fordhttp://www.myspace.com/johnfordofthestrawbsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-18269505653501991972011-03-13T21:42:19.443+00:002011-03-13T21:42:19.443+00:00I really like your writing. Thank you for writing ...I really like your writing. Thank you for writing about us. I'll keep reading your column now - and if you're interested, I write one too, for The Monthly. Here is a recent one I wrote about Australian music of the 1960s: http://www.themonthly.com.au/arts-letters-robert-forster-scream-glory-and-madness-being-60s-and-70s-australian-pop-singer-2919<br /><br />You may also want to read my column on Grant, after he died in 2006: http://www.themonthly.com.au/remembering-grant-mclennan-true-hipster-robert-forster-246<br /><br />And fairly recently I did an evening called "15 Songs About Brisbane" - http://www.collapseboard.com/robert-forster-15-songs-about-brisbane<br /><br />Sorry you didn't like Brisbane much (my home town). If you do ever come back, shoot me a line through The Monthly and I'll show you a better version of the city!<br />RobertRoberthttp://www.themonthly.com.au/robert-forster?destinationnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-1283763839132133002011-03-13T20:36:04.770+00:002011-03-13T20:36:04.770+00:00Thanks for that background info, John -the song as...Thanks for that background info, John -the song as it was presented at the time never seemed to fit with the rest of the Strawbs stuff. I think you and Richard Hudson first appeared as part of Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera and the Flame song that was on the Rock Machine sampler.Geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10966328708258079467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-27752163117609607432011-03-13T20:28:58.446+00:002011-03-13T20:28:58.446+00:00That's a great story about the bookseller in N...That's a great story about the bookseller in New York!Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10190486337916706104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-71351153432097479222011-03-13T20:27:40.728+00:002011-03-13T20:27:40.728+00:00Hey there. Interesting blog. In answer to the peop...Hey there. Interesting blog. In answer to the people who find it strange that The Strawbs did "Part of the Union" - as an anti-union song - it was definitely more Hud than anything. My buddy Hud is definitely a staunch conservative. He performed at the Conservative party conference a few years ago, in 2002, with Terry Cassidy as his "High Society" band (although the papers said The Strawbs peformed, which wasn't accurate). Also, I don’t live in England anymore, but the main thing over there before all the anti-war stuff started happening was the Euro-Pound debate, and Hud wrote a song about it called “Just Say No.” He sent me this song and said, ‘What do you think of this,’ and I said, ‘pretty catchy,’ and it was. He made his own recording of it over in England and when I went over to do the Strawbs tour, which was in June, we played it on the tour as an acoustic opening thing. Whether it convinced anyone to keep the Pound, I don’t know. But anyway, the rest of us Strawbs were/are pretty apolitical. And as for "Nice Legs," remember that the end of the song turns it around on the guy: <br /><br />"She looked me up and down and really put me in my place<br />She said nice legs shame about your face<br />Nice legs shame about your face"<br /><br />so I actually think, Geoff, that you COULD reinterpret the song as an "anthem of feminist solidarity."John Fordhttp://www.myspace.com/johnfordofthestrawbsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-42144717439853172352011-03-13T19:46:10.994+00:002011-03-13T19:46:10.994+00:00It is strange to even think about the Strawbs rele...It is strange to even think about the Strawbs releasing an anti-union song - I associate them so much with the early days, their bluegrass origins, when they would play with Sandy Denny. So they seem to me classic progressive folk. I guess I think of that phase of "Part of the Union" to be the period of time when Ford and Hudson hijacked the band (and the fact that those too soon left and went off to make records like "Nice Legs, Shame about her Face" does suggest they were the troublemakers here!).Jannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-19569755676905727162011-03-13T19:29:21.395+00:002011-03-13T19:29:21.395+00:00Re 1984, the publisher Isaac Deutscher said that ...Re 1984, the publisher Isaac Deutscher said that when he bought a copy of the book in New York shortly after its publication in 1949 the bookseller said to him: ``Have you read this book? You must read it, sir. Then you will know why we must drop the atom bomb on the Bolshies’’Geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10966328708258079467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-71201949677454121882011-03-13T19:23:45.186+00:002011-03-13T19:23:45.186+00:00Here are the scary, dark lyrics of the song for yo...Here are the scary, dark lyrics of the song for you all!<br /><br />Round and round up and down<br />Through the streets of your town<br />Everyday I make my way<br />Through the streets of your town<br />Don't the sun look good today?<br />but the rain on its way<br />Watch the butcher shine his knives<br />And this town is full of battered wives.<br />Chorus<br />I ride your river under the bridge<br />I take your boat out to the reach<br />Cos I love that engine roar<br />but I still don't know what I'm here for<br />Chorus<br />they shut it down<br />they closed it down<br />they shut it down<br />they pulled it down<br />ChorusMontynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-34125902159469574602011-03-13T19:17:29.829+00:002011-03-13T19:17:29.829+00:00I didn't know about Orwell's books being t...I didn't know about Orwell's books being taken up by the right - although now I'm thinking of it, I can imagine both being used to critique leftwing governments, the welfare state, etc. (Unfortunately for poor Orwell!)Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10190486337916706104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-28648400349445309092011-03-13T19:11:22.309+00:002011-03-13T19:11:22.309+00:00I lived in Australia for a few months too. And one...I lived in Australia for a few months too. And one of the things I really appreciated about Australian culture is its penchant for leisure. Australia is a lot different from America in this way, and it’s the most popular criticism I heard from them about us: Americans work too much, too hard, too competitively and therefore live in a culture of stress. “Who can live like that? I certainly couldn’t!”, “It’s a coronary just waiting to happen!” are a couple of things some Australian friends said to me when describing their experience living abroad in DC. I think my values are pretty in line with that thinking. I have criticisms of my own about America’s Calvinist achievement oriented society. I agree with Australians that we suffer in the quality of life department, and in a bunch of other ways, I guess, that I won’t get into now.Garricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-64984730026940602212011-03-13T19:10:18.500+00:002011-03-13T19:10:18.500+00:00Yes, Geoff is right - those figures about populati...Yes, Geoff is right - those figures about population density are averages, and obviously in the inhabited areas along the coasts, population density is similar to any UK or US city.Clintonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-3783067979941353212011-03-13T19:05:12.500+00:002011-03-13T19:05:12.500+00:00Re Marie and Simone's comments, I think it bec...Re Marie and Simone's comments, I think it because the vast majority of the population live on the coastal strips and very few inland, for climate reasons.Geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10966328708258079467noreply@blogger.com