The Go-Betweens – 16 Lovers Lane
When I'd left London and gone north, I got married and we had a child quite quickly. I was also involved with union work [for the PFA]. Now, I was living fairly near Manchester when 'Madchester' was just happening. And I missed it, completely. A weird, weird thing for someone who's such a music fan as me. And yeah, I liked Happy Mondays, I have the albums, and I knew all the bands. But, I certainly wasn't involved in the rave scene, not at all. When you're married and have a kid you have other priorities. So while everyone was listening to all that, one of my favourite bands, who'd been going a long time, suddenly released an album; The Go-Betweens, with 16 Lovers Lane. And that record reminds me of that beautiful, fabulous, first honeymoon time. There will be many people who tell you there are other albums of theirs that are equally great to listen to and I love Tallulah and all the others, but listen, the songs on here are just staggeringly beautiful. I think it was around that time that people started calling them [Forster and McLennan] the Lennon and McCartney of Australia and I certainly got that reference. The standard of the songwriting is certainly up there.