I first discovered Spring Hill Fair on cassette at a Brashs record store in Dandenong, Australia. I was still in my early teens, and my only exposure to what we’d now call “alternative” music came from bands like The Cure, The Church, Depeche Mode, and New Order. Back then, we didn’t even use the term “alternative”; it was just music that sounded different.
I first discovered Spring Hill Fair on cassette at a Brashs store in Dandenong, Australia. I was still in my early teens, and my only exposure to what we’d now call “alternative” music came from bands like The Cure, The Church, Depeche Mode, and New Order. Back then, we didn’t even use the term “alternative”; it was just music that sounded different.
At that age, I’d already outgrown the glossy pop world of Countdown Magazine and Smash Hits. My curiosity led me to dig deeper, into publications like NME, Juke, and a curious little local magazine called A to Z, which I picked up at Sound Circle. It was during this phase that Spring Hill Fair became my gateway drug to independent music.
At the time, I had no idea of the band’s backstory. This was their third album, following Send Me a Lullaby (1981) and Before Hollywood (1983). I learned they hailed from Brisbane, a city that, to me, was synonymous only with The Saints. Signing to Rough Trade in the UK? That was impressive.
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As I slid the cassette into our Vector Research VCX400 deck, the album opened with the gorgeous 'Bachelor Kisses'. The late Grant McLennan once described The Go-Betweens as “a pop group, but the most unusual pop group there’s ever been,” adding, “Although we work with melody, we sometimes work against it” (Melody Maker, 1983). Yet on this track, the band embraced pop wholeheartedly. With heartfelt hooks and melodies, it had a thoughtful, articulate quality that reminded me of Prefab Sprout, who were also emerging in the UK at the time.
By the second track, 'Five Words', McLennan’s words about working “against the melody” started to make sense. This wasn’t untuneful—it was just different. Robert Forster’s vocal delivery, balanced against McLennan’s melodic instincts, created something both distinctive and captivating. Lindy Morrison’s rim-shots and Robert Vickers’ bass lines tied it all together, creating a sound that was tight yet refreshingly unconventional.
Then came 'The Old Way Out', an instant classic. Its memorable chorus, paired with sharp two-note guitar licks, was pure pop gold. By this point, I was hooked—no buyer’s remorse here.
Forster’s lyrical talents shine particularly bright on 'Part Company'. The line, “... That’s her handwriting, that’s the way she writes. From her first letter, I got to this her Bill Of Rights, part company,” is delivered with a poetic vulnerability. It’s pop music laced with beat-poetry introspection, a fitting medium for expressing the heartbreak he so poignantly articulates.
Side two opens with Vickers’ funky bass line, leading into a song that almost sounds like funk but remains unmistakably Australian in its delivery. McLennan blurts out lines like, “I got myself a mortgage, it didn’t save the marriage. We weren’t insured, insured against breakage,” before the track transitions into Memphis-style horns. It’s playful yet deeply resonant.
'Draining The Pool For You' feels ahead of its time—a precursor to the quiet-loud dynamics that The Pixies would later perfect. The track’s stop-start beats, minimalist guitar work, and laid-back vocals culminate in a subtle brilliance.
'River Of Money' is haunting. McLennan’s dry, spoken-word storytelling, paired with sparse instrumentation, evokes black-and-white cinema. It’s as if Australia had its own Bob Dylan, complete with a harmonica outro.
The album isn’t without its challenges. Producer John Brand admitted the recording process was difficult, particularly due to the integration of drum machines. “We spent the first week with drums and drum machines—a very, very bad scene,” Forster recalled later (Rolling Stone, 1996). While some critics found the resulting album disjointed, I see its diversity as its strength.
What makes Spring Hill Fair endure is its subtle vulnerability. As McLennan once noted, “People often mistake subtlety or reticence for naivety or wimpiness…if people do that, then it’s quite pathetic” (Melody Maker, 1983). That lack of overt commercial appeal may have kept the band from mainstream success, but it’s also what makes their music timeless.
For those willing to dive deeper, Spring Hill Fair is a Go Betweens treasure waiting to be discovered—a moment of pure artistic expression from a band that dared to rewrite the rules of pop music.
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