Grant McLennan

by Jason AnkenyAs the co-founder of Australia's beloved cult band the Go-Betweens, Grant McLennan established himself among the finest and most effervescent songwriters in contemporary pop music, a standing his subsequent solo career did little to alter. Born in Rock Hampton on February 12, 1958, McLennan was attending Brisbane University during the mid-'70s when he and fellow student Robert Forster decided to channel their shared affection for punk and '60s folk into a band; dubbing themselves the Go-Betweens, they issued a series of singles before recording their debut LP, Send Me a Lullaby, in 1982. Over the course of the decade to follow, the Go-Betweens emerged as one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the post-punk era, yet excellent LPs like 1983's Before Hollywood and 1987's Tallulah simply failed to find an audience; when 1988's brilliant 16 Lovers Lane failed to push the group to the stardom so many predicted, they disbanded, and McLennan began his solo career. After recording as one half of Jack Frost, a duo he formed with the Church's Steve Kilbey, he issued his solo debut, 1991's Watershed (credited, as was its 1993 follow-up, Fireboy, to G.W. McLennan). After 1995's double-LP Horsebreaker Star, he toured with a briefly reunited Go-Betweens before issuing his fourth solo effort, In Your Bright Ray. The Go-Betweens reunited again in 2000 and enjoyed a creative and critically acclaimed streak that lasted for four albums and a concert DVD. On May 6, 2006, McLennan died at his home in Brisbane at age 48.