| Author | Message | ||
     jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 146 Registered: 07-2005 |
Tough it would be interesting to get a list of Grant's likes influences and dislikes,obviously Bob Dylan, Television, Patti Smith and I noticed on the board a liking for Francoiz Breut. Any body else have any knowledge on this. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 475 Registered: 05-2005 |
I always thought Grant would be influenced by Nick Drake - just a hunch, nothing more | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 362 Registered: 04-2005 |
Well, he was never shy about mentioning the Monkees, Lovin' Spoonful, Creedence, and the more melodic side of the Velvets ("Who Loves the Sun," for example) as influences too. I suspect a lot of his pop songcraft came from influences like that. And I've always wondered how much of a Neil Young influence he had--I find his chord structures (especially his use of 7th chords) reminiscent of Young's style. | ||
| steve haddan Member Username: Steve_haddan Post Number: 2 Registered: 05-2006 |
I find the question of Grant’s dislikes and likes an interesting one and thought I might be able to shed some light on where he stood on what. We first met in 1976 when residents of the all-male St Johns College, a residential college at the University of Queensland and we became great friends. There was no artistic link, we both liked a good time, a drink and a smoke. I loved his rich sense of humour and his often caustic observations of people in whose behaviour he was less than pleased, of which I was often one! Grant’s background is a valid pointer to his tastes and values. Many will have read of the early death, when Grant was four, of his father, a doctor. Grant was sent to boarding school, the Church of England Grammar School in Brisbane and remained highly critical of the machismo displayed in such establishments at the time and what he saw as their narrow world view, particularly artistically. He recalls writing a brilliant poem once and being caned by the teacher when he refused to conceded to the teacher that the poem wasn’t his own work! His achievements as a beautiful poet are evident in his wonderful songs. I recently read a poem penned in 1977 for one of his mates’ girlfriends and it was beautiful. His love of books and poetry, according to his Mum Wendy was a product of his relationship with his grandfather. His uncle John Warner, his Mum’s brother, was the Anglican chaplain at the Toowong church. Grant was raised by his Mum and I’m sure this lack of male role models, beyond the many he encountered and detested at boarding school, had much to do with the sensitive and compassionate person he became. He believed every male had a responsibility to be the best role model they could be and live to the highest standards. How ironic that he was perpetually unlucky in love in the years that followed, but he was very much a “my way or the highway” kind of guy! Girls were certainly drawn to him, especially those of a bookish nature with a love of the arts. In the seventies at Queensland University, different times indeed, it was pretty much “bring on the girls” and every man for himself, but he generally declined to become too much involved although he was often the interested observer, ever ready to berate anyone’s less than civilised behaviour. He loved to party big time and we had the funniest experiences. While he did his best to improve my cultural position, I too was doing my best to take him to what he called “the dark side”. He dabbled often and I was highly entertained by his articulate and often less than flattering summations of our shenanigans the morning after. We amused each other constantly, less frequently when his friendship with Robert began to bear fruit. Rob offered a more appropriate alternative. But back to the music and films preferences of Grant McLennan. In 1976, when we first met, I liked Burt Bacharach, the Beatles, Beach Boys, disco…George Clinton, the Temptations, Gloria Gaynor, Earth Wind and Fire, the Commodores, Brass Construction and the Undisputed Truth,. Disco was, at the time, where the chicks were at and Grant appraised my heathen tastes with great vigour. He was very much an artistic “snob”. “It’s about the music not chicks Stephen.,” His art was an area where he refused compromise. I loved him very much. He favoured the “alternative” and more obscure music of the time- Iggy Pop, the Stooges, the Ramones, Patti Smith, Ry Cooder, John Prine, Mott the Hoople, and Jackson Browne, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lynard Skynard, The Band, Neil Young, Randy Newman and Bob Dylan. He always had their records before their general release, always taking the bus into town to fossick for gold in the city’s import shops. All albums were maintained meticulously and housed in plastic covers. He introduced me to Boz Scaggs’ seminal “Silk Degrees’ long before its commercial release, and I think Grant felt Boz had “sold out” when this album became a huge hit!!!. The Monkees are often mentioned, although to my surprise I can’t recall their getting much work on his turntable. He was a great fan of the university’s FM radio Station Triple Zed, which was always blaring from his room. It was Brisbane’s only FM station at the time and well ahead of its time, breaking local bands like the Saints, whose taste of international success in 1977 certainly gave Grant and Robert hope of bigger things to come for a pair of novices from Brisbane. In 1977 he was adding artists like Graham Parker, the Clash, the Jam, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Greg Khin, Nick Lowe, the Paley Brothers, Dr Feelgood and Nils Lofgren to his collection. Movies too were every bit as important to Grant at the time. He loved anything that told stories of New York, Martin Scorcese’s “Mean Streets” and “Taxi Driver” two of his favorites. He loved “The Last Waltz”, Nicholson in “Five Easy Pieces” and “Chinatown”, Coppola’s “The Conversation” and “The Godfather Part Two”, Michael Winner’s “The Stone Killer”, Antonionis’ “Blow Up”, “The Passenger” and “Zabriskie Point”. The films of Fellini and Marilyn Monroe were also favorites. I hope this offering assists his fans’ understanding of the wonderful human being we have just lost. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 79 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks Steve for waxing your memories - it's always nice to colour in some of the gaps. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 489 Registered: 05-2005 |
cheers steve, very well put together, fascinating stuff. i don't think grant remonds me of anything or anyone musically, he gotta be one of the true originals, same for foster too! | ||
| Guy Ewald Member Username: Guy_ewald Post Number: 168 Registered: 02-2005 |
Yes, very insightful reading from Mr. Hadden. Thanks. It's interesting that Grant's musical tastes were similar to those of my "circle" back in the day... they're almost "Standard Issue" for a serious rock-centric record-buyer during those years. But as others have said, Robert and Grant were not only brilliantly talented, but also keenly self-aware and self-critical of their own work. Songs like 'Marco Polo Jr.' didn't make the cut NOT because they weren't good/cool songs, but because they betrayed obvious sources of influence. I have never once played "name that tune" with The Go-Betweens... any influences they might have had were far too well-digested. The Go-Betweens are in that "rare breed" of bands who actually have a distinct and original sound. All the more impressive given the range of their musical creations. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 474 Registered: 03-2006 |
This possibly ties in to this thread: after reading many favorable remarks about it on this board, I pulled out my copy of the "Going Blind" single (great fucking song, by the way) to hear "Locust Girls" and, blimey, was struck by how similar the keyboard riff that propels the song is to the one used in "You're My Best Friend" by the redoubtable Queen. Grant McLennan: secret Freddie Mercury disciple? They did wear similar close-shorn "do's", and also had a fondness for soccer wear...I'm just sayin'... |