| "Streets of Your Town" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
cover of Australian release |
||||
| Single by The Go-Betweens | ||||
| from the album 16 Lovers Lane | ||||
| A-side | Streets of Your Town | |||
| B-side | Wait Until June | |||
| Released | July, 1988 | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock/Indie rock | |||
| Length | 3:34 | |||
| Label | Beggars Banquet | |||
| Writer(s) | Grant McLennan | |||
| Producer | Mark Wallis | |||
| The Go-Betweens singles chronology | ||||
|
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"Streets Of Your Town" was a single by Australian indie group The Go-Betweens, from their 1988 album, 16 Lovers Lane. Featuring polished production, a prominent backing vocal by Amanda Brown and a guitar solo by bassist John Willsteed, "Streets of Your Town" is one of the band's most recognised songs and is arguably the closest the group had to a mainstream hit. It was released in July 1988 in the UK on Beggars Banquet, where it reached #80 on the singles charts[1] and in Australia in August 1988 on Mushroom, where it reached #70.[2] In New Zealand, the song was issued in November 1988, and was a top 40 hit, peaking at #30[3] -- the band's highest-ever placing on any national chart.
The single was re-released in the UK in 1989, in an attempt by Beggars Banquet to encourage the band’s commercial momentum. However, it only peaked at No. 82.[1]
Written by Grant McLennan, the sunny, upbeat music is contrasted with darker lyrics: "Don't the sun look good today but the rain is on its way, watch the butcher shine his knives, and this town is full of battered wives". The often played videoclip mixes evocative images of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, but there is also a second clip, filmed in black-and-white and included on the CD remaster, featuring footage of the band performing the song.
McLennan said of writing the song, "I was listening to "Under the Milky Way" and I was just working it out - cause I'm a big fan of The Church. And that afternoon I came up with a chord progression and a chorus."[4]
This song was used as the theme song for Prime Television in Australia in 2001-2002[5] and for television advertisements for The Courier Mail in 2006/2007, though in both cases the song was edited so that the darker lyrics were omitted.
Lines from the song were included by U2 when they played "Elevation" and "With or Without You" on the opening of the Pacific leg of their Vertigo World Tour in Brisbane, in dedication to McLennan. The song was also played after the band's second encore.[6][7]
The song was covered by Ivy, appearing on their 2003 album, Guestroom. It has also been covered by the band Vetiver in their 2011 tour.
The opening guitar chords from the song are sampled on "Just the Way You Are" by Italian dance production group Milky. The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart in October, 2003.[8]
The song was also featured in the 2008 Australian/British AFI award-winning drama-based feature film The Black Balloon.[9]
Contents |
| Chart (1988) 1 | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart[2] | 70 |
| UK Singles Chart[1] | 80 |
| Chart (1989) 1 | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[1] | 82 |
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | July 1988 | Beggars Banquet | 7" vinyl | BEG 218 |
| 12" vinyl | BEG 218T | |||
| CD single | BEG 218CD | |||
| May 1989 | 7" vinyl | BEG 232 | ||
| 12" vinyl | BEG 232T | |||
| CD single | BEG 232CD | |||
| Australia | August 1988 | Mushroom | 7" vinyl | K607 |
| Spain | 1988 | Victoria | 12" vinyl | VIC 349 |
| Germany | 1988 | Rebel | CD single | SPV 55-3017 |
| United States | 1989 | Capitol | 12" vinyl | SPRO-79547 |