Always the modest one in the Go-Betweens next to Robert Forster's arty stance. I remember reading Forster remark that McLennan had little ability to edit himself or judge his own work, so McLennan would come in with a dozen songs thinking that he was done, and Forster would throw out most of them. This is the sort of thing that doomed Ford Madox Ford (87 novels, according to Coetzee) to second-string status, but pop is more concise, and McLennan's best still overshadows most of his competition.
His finest moments, for me:
Cattle and Cane
Dusty in Here
And one more obscure gem:
Heaven Says
One of those is cool.
Posted by: Matt at May 19, 2006 6:53 PMI was really saddened to hear of his death. I'm actually pretty fond of quite a bit of his solo work on Horsebreaker Star. 16 Lovers Lane is my absolute favorite Go-Betweens album.
Posted by: frumiousb at June 25, 2006 10:11 PM