Grant McLennan

1958 – 2006

Grant McLennan and Robert Forster both sang and wrote songs for The Go-Betweens, and McLennan wrote one of their greatest, 'Cattle and Cane', recalling the rural Queensland environment of his youth. The Go-Betweens met The Boys Next Door in Melbourne, and McLennan and Nick Cave shared a house in Fulham when both bands relocated to London in the early 1980s. McLennan has released four solo albums, Watershed (1991), Fireboy (1993), Horsebreaker Star (1994) and In Your Bright Ray (1997). As Jack Frost, he has also recorded two albums with Steve Kilbey of The Church. McLennan has said that he was never comfortable performing, but Cave has said that the Go-Betweens always exploited the notion of the sensitive artist - 'uncomfortable and awkward on stage, that's what the Go-Betweens were kinda about'.

Updated 2021

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Portraits

Robert, Lindy, Grant
1981

Jenny Watson
Grant McLennan age 23

Face the music

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2005

Drawn from the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Face the Music explores the remarkable talents and achievements of Australian musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities associated with the music industry.

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