Grant McLennan, 1958-2006

It's funny how life works.  I was working out at the Y yesterday and my shuffling MP3 player moved on to one of my all time favorite songs - "Clouds" by The Go-Betweens.  I've raved about the album, 16 Lovers Lane, before, and I realized I hadn't listened to it recently. So before heading out to hockey this morning, I dug through the disaster that is my desk and found the first CD from the dual CD package and listened to it on the drive this morning.  And still agree it is "simply breathtaking", as AllMusic.com says. Just some great all around stuff.

And it was in this very frame of mind that I was reading the paper this morning, as I ate my bagel.; Maybe once a week, or even less, I actually sit down to a breakfast with the paper, instead of just a quick glance at the sports pages.  And as I flipped through the paper, I glanced at the obits and there, at the top, was the sad announcement that Grant McLennan, one of the co-founders of The Go-Betweens, had died yesterday of an apparent heart attack at the all too young an age of 48.  He's the one who penned the "dark side of romance" songs for the Lovers Lane album, as he was fresh from his breakup with one of the other band members, while Robert Forster penned the more "upbeat on romance" songs, as he was just beginning with the other member of the group!

So maybe there was some kind of psychic vibe going on here. Ha!  But still, I think I'm going to have to flesh out my Go-Betweens collection, as 16 Lovers Lane remains my lone possession in their oeuvre.  Maybe I'll run out and get the recent DVD from them, That Striped Sunlight Sound.

allmusic ((( Grant McLennan bio )))

Grant McLennan, 48, singer and founder of Go-Betweens - The Boston Globe

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