G Stands For Go Betweens - Top 40 Countdown # 5

20. Rock'n'Roll Friend (Robert)

 

'Your hands your hands loosen my hair.  And pull down both my straps. Urgin ancient motions now
lovers have to do their laps.'

 

A b-side from the Tallulah period. A wonderfully graceful song.

 

19.The Ghost & the Black Hat (Grant)

 

'The gravedigger's work is almost done. A hole in the ground spits dirt at the sun. The water-tank is dirty and dry. Dust from the creek covers the sky.'

 

From Liberty Belle. I find it difficult to choose between this, Spring Hill Fair and 16 Lovers Lane. Three peerless records.

 

18. Head Full of Steam (Robert)

 

'I'd never met her type. She locked the door and the key. Opened the windows for the neighbors to see her climb on my knee.'

 

From the same record and Robert's full on Pop period. It seems shameful that these singles did not grace the Hit Parade.

 

17.Spirit of a Vampyre (Robert)

 

'That's when it starts. That's when it starts.  The electric train of soft cylinder parts.
The dull mask of action on circus staff.  Mobility the hood of the Hindu scarf.'

 

And from their next, Tallulah when his writing became beautifully, weirdly Gothic. A beautifully crafted lyric.

 

16. I Need Two Heads (Robert)

 

'The best detective is a child detective.'

 

Their lone Postcard single.