Lindy Morrison
Encyclopedia
Belinda "Lindy" Morrison (born 2 November 1951) is an Australian musician originally from Queensland. She was the drummer in indie rock
group The Go-Betweens
from 1980 to 1989, appearing on all the band's releases from their first LP in 1981 until the band's first break up on 26 December 1989. Their song, "Cattle and Cane
" from 1983's Before Hollywood
was selected by Australasian Performing Right Association
(APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs
of all time. In 2008, 16 Lovers Lane
was highlighted on Special Broadcasting Service
(SBS) TV's The Great Australian Albums series as a classic example of 1980s rock music. The Go-Betweens reformed during 2000–2006 without Morrison.
Morrison has also performed in Silent Figures, Shrew, Xero
, The Four Gods, Deep Blue Sea, Cleopatra Wong (with Amanda Brown
ex-The Go-Betweens), and Tuff Monks
. She now drums in The Rainy Season.
from 1968, completing a Bachelor of Social Work in 1972.
It was during this period that she would meet the people and become involved in the activities that set the tone of her life. Morrison's final-year tutor, responsible for arranging placements for social work students, Roison Ann Hirschfeld was a member of the steering committee of the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS). She approached Morrison about joining the ALS late in 1972.
would later become the name of The Go-Betweens
3'rd studio album (1984) although it isn't clear that this is a reference to the Uniting Church hall on Leichhardt Street.
In her role as Aboriginal Field Officer for the ALS, Morrison worked alongside the radical aboriginal activist Denis Walker
. Walker had founded a local chapter of the Australian Black Panthers and "refused to accept the legitimacy of 'White man's Law". The job of field officer involved her going out late at night on "pig-patrol" which she described as:
and Bille Brown
. It was during this period that she started playing drums. After "burn out" and leaving the service of the ALS, a 2 year sojourn in England followed. On her return to Queensland, the experience of sharing a house with actors seemed to have remained with her and she moved into acting believing that "the only salvation lay in art" .
She was part of the Popular Theatre Troupe who protested against the Bjelke-Petersen
led National Party
government performing for free in public their sharply satirical political street theatre during a time when life in Queensland was felt to be strongly constrained by the government, select business groups, and political interests.
formed in 1977 in Brisbane
, Queensland
with Robert Forster
and Grant McLennan
, the group had a succession of drummers and travelled to the United Kingdom in late 1979. They returned to Brisbane in 1980 and Morrison (ex-Xero
) joined on drums and backing vocals. Their first single with Morrison, "Your Turn My Turn" appeared in September 1981 and was followed by "Hammer the Hammer" in March 1982. They recorded ten tracks as demos in Brisbane during 1981, which were released as Very Quick on the Eye by Man Made Records in 1982, the tracks showed that Morrison's "drum abilities, always a deeply underrated part of the band's appeal, fit hand in glove with the arrangements". By this time, Forster and Morrison were lovers and Morrison was living in Spring Hill
a Brisbane suburb.
The band's first official album, Send Me a Lullaby
, produced by The Go-Betweens and Tony Cohen
, appeared in February on Missing Link
in Australia. Morrison provided the album title, in preference to Two Wimps and a Witch, from a Zelda Fitzgerald
novel Save Me the Waltz
. Forster and McLennan wrote all the tracks, they alternated lead vocal duties, except "People Know" which had Morrison on vocals and James Freud
(Models
) guesting on saxophone
. In 2002, UK label Circus released a 2× CD version of Send Me a Lullaby which included "After the Fireworks" recorded as a collaboration with The Birthday Party's Nick Cave
on vocals, Mick Harvey
on piano and Rowland S. Howard
on guitar. It had been released as a single under the band name, Tuff Monks
in 1982 on Au Go Go Records
.
The Go-Betweens returned to UK and recorded their second album, Before Hollywood
(May 1983), with John Brand producing. It established them as cult favourites while "Cattle and Cane
" was released as a single and was "[a]rguably the band's absolute highlight of its earliest years". Forster said of Morrison's drum part on the song, "It had a great rhythm which I don't think any drummer in the world could've played except her. That rhythm never ceases to amaze me." In 2001, "Cattle and Cane" was selected by Australasian Performing Right Association
(APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs
of all time.
Following album releases were, Spring Hill Fair
(September 1984) and Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
(March 1986). Amanda Brown
joined later in that year. Within a few months, Brown and McLennan were lovers—many of McLennan's new lyrics were about this relationship. Tallulah
(June 1987), produced by The Go-Betweens for True Tone and Beggars Banquet contained their "most winsome and hummable songs, `Right Here' and `Bye Bye Pride'"; while Brown's contributions "added extra lustre". LO-MAX Records
released a 2× CD version of Tallulah in 2004, one of the additional tracks, "Doo Wop in 'A' (Bam Boom)" was co-written by Morrison, Brown, McLennan and Forster. In November 1987, The Go-Betweens returned to Australia and John Willsteed (ex-Xero with Morrison) replaced Robert Vickers on bass.
16 Lovers Lane
(1988), was the group's most commercial offering, providing the alternative radio hit "Streets of Your Town
" (1988), which became the band's biggest chart hit in both the UK and Australia peaking in the Top 100. The follow-up single "Was There Anything I Could Do?" was a No. 16 hit on US Modern Rock radio stations. Minimal commercial success were hardly the hoped-for breakthrough for the band, and after recording six albums, Forster and McLennan disbanded The Go-Betweens in December 1989. Morrison and Forster had separated as a couple earlier and both Forster and McLennan pursued solo careers. Brown and Morrison formed Cleopatra Wong in 1991. In 2008, 16 Lovers Lane was highlighted on Special Broadcasting Service
(SBS) TV's The Great Australian Albums series as a classic example of 1980s rock music.
, Tina Arena
and Wendy Matthews
.
Morrison was also the artist in residence at South Sydney Youth Service (1998–2001) and was employed by TAFE as the head tutor for the music course run by SSYS. She also teaches contracts and copyright and music business modules at TAFE.
in the New South Wales
(seat of Coogee
) in the 2003 state elections and in the Division of Wentworth
in the 2004 federal elections.
in 2007. For services as Board member and one who "who gave great assistance to community music initiatives and guidance in issues around performers' rights".
In 2008, an image of Morrison painted by artist Katherine Close was entered in the 2008 Archibald prize. The image depicts her sitting behind her favourite 'Ludwig' drum kit, the actual drum kit used on most of the Go-Betweens recordings and performances.
), Clyde Bramley, and fellow former Go Between Amanda Brown
.
She also serves as a board member for the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia where she serves as a representative of registered Australian recording artists (or 'artist director', making contributions to changes in policy to benefit recording artists)
, and national casework coordinator of the benevolent society Support Act Ltd.
Morrison graduated with a Masters in Legal Studies from University of New South Wales
Law faculty in 2010.
Morrison currently resides in Sydney
with her daughter Lucinda. She works in community music [for example, the Wataboshi Festival ]. One of her part time jobs is as a community musician where she directs a group of intellectually disabled musicians known as The Junction House Band.
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
group The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...
from 1980 to 1989, appearing on all the band's releases from their first LP in 1981 until the band's first break up on 26 December 1989. Their song, "Cattle and Cane
Cattle and Cane
"Cattle and Cane" is a song by the Australian alternative rock band The Go-Betweens, released as the first single from their second album Before Hollywood. It was released as a single in the United Kingdom by Rough Trade Records in February 1983 and reached #4 on the UK Independent Chart. The...
" from 1983's Before Hollywood
Before Hollywood
Before Hollywood was released in May 1983 in the UK on Rough Trade Records, an independent music label. It was The Go-Betweens' second album. The LP was produced by John Brand and recorded at I.C.C. Studios in Eastbourne, England...
was selected by Australasian Performing Right Association
Australasian Performing Right Association
The Australasian Performing Right Association is a copyright collective representing New Zealand and Australian composers, lyricists and music publishers. The association's head offices located in Sydney Australia, and it has branch offices in Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth...
(APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs
APRA Top 30 Australian songs
APRA's Top 30 Australian songs between 1926 and 2001 was a list created by the Australasian Performing Right Association to celebrate its 75th anniversary...
of all time. In 2008, 16 Lovers Lane
16 Lovers Lane
16 Lovers Lane was the sixth album by Australian indie pop group The Go-Betweens, released in 1988 by Beggars Banquet Records. Prior to the recording of the album, longtime bassist Robert Vickers left the band when the other group members decided to return to Australia after having spent several...
was highlighted on Special Broadcasting Service
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
(SBS) TV's The Great Australian Albums series as a classic example of 1980s rock music. The Go-Betweens reformed during 2000–2006 without Morrison.
Morrison has also performed in Silent Figures, Shrew, Xero
Xero (band)
Xero was a Brisbane, Australia punk rock and new wave band from the early 1980s.The initial lineup was Irena Luckus, Barbara Hart, Chris Anderson, Debbie Penny, Peter Adams and John Hunt, Deborah Thomas, Vic Allen and Lindy Morrison, soon joined by John Willsteed. Lindy Morrison was later replaced...
, The Four Gods, Deep Blue Sea, Cleopatra Wong (with Amanda Brown
Amanda Brown (musician)
Amanda Gabrielle Brown is an Australian composer, classically trained musician, singer and songwriter, renowned for her role as the violinist of the band The Go-Betweens and more recently a session musician and soundtrack composer....
ex-The Go-Betweens), and Tuff Monks
Tuff Monks
Tuff Monks was a short-lived band consisting of Nick Cave, Mick Harvey and Rowland S. Howard with Robert Forster, Lindy Morrison and Grant McLennan...
. She now drums in The Rainy Season.
Education
As a child, Morrison attended an independent school called Somerville House, located in the inner city suburb of South Brisbane. She attended the University of QueenslandUniversity of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
from 1968, completing a Bachelor of Social Work in 1972.
It was during this period that she would meet the people and become involved in the activities that set the tone of her life. Morrison's final-year tutor, responsible for arranging placements for social work students, Roison Ann Hirschfeld was a member of the steering committee of the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS). She approached Morrison about joining the ALS late in 1972.
Social work
The Aboriginal Legal Service began operating out of the Uniting Church hall on Leichhardt Street, Spring Hill, in the winter of 1972. Morrison was its second full time employee. Spring Hill FairSpring Hill Fair
Spring Hill Fair was released in September 1984 in the UK on Sire Records. It was The Go-Betweens' third album. The LP was recorded at Studio Miraval in Le Val, France. Prior to the recording of the album, bass player Robert Vickers had joined the group, enabling Grant McLennan to move to lead...
would later become the name of The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...
3'rd studio album (1984) although it isn't clear that this is a reference to the Uniting Church hall on Leichhardt Street.
In her role as Aboriginal Field Officer for the ALS, Morrison worked alongside the radical aboriginal activist Denis Walker
Denis Walker
Wilfrid Denis Walker is a former Rhodesian cabinet minister resident in the United Kingdom. He is known for his monarchist activities and anti-communism and is also the Company Secretary, Director and Treasurer of the International Monarchist League and its UK subsidiary, the Constitutional...
. Walker had founded a local chapter of the Australian Black Panthers and "refused to accept the legitimacy of 'White man's Law". The job of field officer involved her going out late at night on "pig-patrol" which she described as:
"...trying to stop the Police from picking up Aboriginal people coming out of the hotels, because they'd take them in a put them in goal for drunkenness and the next morning I'd have to go to court, ask for bail, take them across to the legal service and the lawyers would then have to work towards stopping them being locked up or fined. So pig-patrol was the first way to stop them doing that so we'd go out on a pig-patrol every night at 10 o'clock."
Theatre and activism
During her time with the ALS, Morrison resided in Brisbane, sharing a house with aboriginals, musicians and the actors Geoffrey RushGeoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen...
and Bille Brown
Bille Brown
Bille Brown, AM is an Australian Shakespearean actor and acclaimed writer of plays.Brown was born in Biloela, Queensland and studied drama at the University of Queensland where he received and Honorary Doctorate of Letters...
. It was during this period that she started playing drums. After "burn out" and leaving the service of the ALS, a 2 year sojourn in England followed. On her return to Queensland, the experience of sharing a house with actors seemed to have remained with her and she moved into acting believing that "the only salvation lay in art" .
She was part of the Popular Theatre Troupe who protested against the Bjelke-Petersen
Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
led National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
government performing for free in public their sharply satirical political street theatre during a time when life in Queensland was felt to be strongly constrained by the government, select business groups, and political interests.
The Go-Betweens
The Go-BetweensThe Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...
formed in 1977 in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
with Robert Forster
Robert Forster (musician)
Robert Forster is an Australian singer-songwriter, best known for his work with songwriting partner Grant McLennan, with whom he co-founded The Go-Betweens.Forster grew up in Brisbane, Australia attending Brisbane Grammar School...
and Grant McLennan
Grant McLennan
Grant William McLennan was an Australian singer-songwriter with the alternative rock band The Go-Betweens, which he co-founded with Robert Forster in Brisbane, Australia in 1977...
, the group had a succession of drummers and travelled to the United Kingdom in late 1979. They returned to Brisbane in 1980 and Morrison (ex-Xero
Xero (band)
Xero was a Brisbane, Australia punk rock and new wave band from the early 1980s.The initial lineup was Irena Luckus, Barbara Hart, Chris Anderson, Debbie Penny, Peter Adams and John Hunt, Deborah Thomas, Vic Allen and Lindy Morrison, soon joined by John Willsteed. Lindy Morrison was later replaced...
) joined on drums and backing vocals. Their first single with Morrison, "Your Turn My Turn" appeared in September 1981 and was followed by "Hammer the Hammer" in March 1982. They recorded ten tracks as demos in Brisbane during 1981, which were released as Very Quick on the Eye by Man Made Records in 1982, the tracks showed that Morrison's "drum abilities, always a deeply underrated part of the band's appeal, fit hand in glove with the arrangements". By this time, Forster and Morrison were lovers and Morrison was living in Spring Hill
Spring Hill, Queensland
Spring Hill is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Australia located 2 km north of the central business district. Parts of Spring Hill can be considered to be extensions of the Brisbane CBD.-Schools:Spring Hill is serviced by a number of schools...
a Brisbane suburb.
The band's first official album, Send Me a Lullaby
Send Me A Lullaby
-The Go-Betweens:* Robert Forster - vocals, rhythm guitar* Grant McLennan - vocals, bass guitar, lead guitar* Lindy Morrison - drums, vocals-Additional personnel:* Nick Cave - vocals...
, produced by The Go-Betweens and Tony Cohen
Tony Cohen
Tony Cohen is an acclaimed Australian record producer and sound engineer based in Melbourne, best known for his work with The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in the 1980s...
, appeared in February on Missing Link
Missing Link Records
Missing Link Records is a record store in Melbourne, Australia. The shop first opened in 1971, but was then called Archie and Jughead's, named after the comic. The shop's co-founders, David Pepperell and Keith Glass, established the shop as a much-needed rock record shop...
in Australia. Morrison provided the album title, in preference to Two Wimps and a Witch, from a Zelda Fitzgerald
Zelda Fitzgerald
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald , born Zelda Sayre in Montgomery, Alabama, was an American novelist and the wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was an icon of the 1920s—dubbed by her husband "the first American Flapper"...
novel Save Me the Waltz
Save Me the Waltz
Save Me the Waltz is the only novel by Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. Published in 1932, it is a semi-autobiographical account of her life and marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald.-Background:...
. Forster and McLennan wrote all the tracks, they alternated lead vocal duties, except "People Know" which had Morrison on vocals and James Freud
James Freud
James Randall Freud was an Australian rock musician-songwriter. He was a member of Models during the 1980s and wrote their two most popular singles, "Barbados" and "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"....
(Models
Models (band)
Models were an alternative rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1978 and went into hiatus in 1988. They are often incorrectly referred to as The Models. They re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit,...
) guesting on saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
. In 2002, UK label Circus released a 2× CD version of Send Me a Lullaby which included "After the Fireworks" recorded as a collaboration with The Birthday Party's Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
on vocals, Mick Harvey
Mick Harvey
Michael John Harvey , is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with the singer and songwriter Nick Cave...
on piano and Rowland S. Howard
Rowland S. Howard
Rowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, he played electric guitar in the post-punk group The Birthday Party. Howard died of liver cancer in December 2009, aged 50 years....
on guitar. It had been released as a single under the band name, Tuff Monks
Tuff Monks
Tuff Monks was a short-lived band consisting of Nick Cave, Mick Harvey and Rowland S. Howard with Robert Forster, Lindy Morrison and Grant McLennan...
in 1982 on Au Go Go Records
Au Go Go Records
Au Go Go Records is the name of a Melbourne, Australia based independent record label.It was founded by Bruce Milne and Philip Morland from a house in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy in 1979 and is now operated by Greta Moon....
.
The Go-Betweens returned to UK and recorded their second album, Before Hollywood
Before Hollywood
Before Hollywood was released in May 1983 in the UK on Rough Trade Records, an independent music label. It was The Go-Betweens' second album. The LP was produced by John Brand and recorded at I.C.C. Studios in Eastbourne, England...
(May 1983), with John Brand producing. It established them as cult favourites while "Cattle and Cane
Cattle and Cane
"Cattle and Cane" is a song by the Australian alternative rock band The Go-Betweens, released as the first single from their second album Before Hollywood. It was released as a single in the United Kingdom by Rough Trade Records in February 1983 and reached #4 on the UK Independent Chart. The...
" was released as a single and was "[a]rguably the band's absolute highlight of its earliest years". Forster said of Morrison's drum part on the song, "It had a great rhythm which I don't think any drummer in the world could've played except her. That rhythm never ceases to amaze me." In 2001, "Cattle and Cane" was selected by Australasian Performing Right Association
Australasian Performing Right Association
The Australasian Performing Right Association is a copyright collective representing New Zealand and Australian composers, lyricists and music publishers. The association's head offices located in Sydney Australia, and it has branch offices in Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth...
(APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs
APRA Top 30 Australian songs
APRA's Top 30 Australian songs between 1926 and 2001 was a list created by the Australasian Performing Right Association to celebrate its 75th anniversary...
of all time.
Following album releases were, Spring Hill Fair
Spring Hill Fair
Spring Hill Fair was released in September 1984 in the UK on Sire Records. It was The Go-Betweens' third album. The LP was recorded at Studio Miraval in Le Val, France. Prior to the recording of the album, bass player Robert Vickers had joined the group, enabling Grant McLennan to move to lead...
(September 1984) and Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express, the fourth album by The Go-Betweens, was released in 1986 in the UK on Beggars Banquet Records, the record label that would release the remainder of the original group's LPs through their breakup in 1989. The album was recorded at Berry Street Studios...
(March 1986). Amanda Brown
Amanda Brown (musician)
Amanda Gabrielle Brown is an Australian composer, classically trained musician, singer and songwriter, renowned for her role as the violinist of the band The Go-Betweens and more recently a session musician and soundtrack composer....
joined later in that year. Within a few months, Brown and McLennan were lovers—many of McLennan's new lyrics were about this relationship. Tallulah
Tallulah (album)
Tallulah was the fifth album by The Go-Betweens. It was released in 1987 in the UK on Beggars Banquet Records. Prior to the recording of the album, the group had expanded to a five-piece with the addition of multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown. The original release consisted of ten songs...
(June 1987), produced by The Go-Betweens for True Tone and Beggars Banquet contained their "most winsome and hummable songs, `Right Here' and `Bye Bye Pride'"; while Brown's contributions "added extra lustre". LO-MAX Records
LO-MAX Records
LO-MAX Records is a west London based independent record label, founded in 2003 and specialising in rock music.Signings include Simon Lynge, The Wrens, Kevin Ayers, The Go-Betweens and The Court & Spark....
released a 2× CD version of Tallulah in 2004, one of the additional tracks, "Doo Wop in 'A' (Bam Boom)" was co-written by Morrison, Brown, McLennan and Forster. In November 1987, The Go-Betweens returned to Australia and John Willsteed (ex-Xero with Morrison) replaced Robert Vickers on bass.
16 Lovers Lane
16 Lovers Lane
16 Lovers Lane was the sixth album by Australian indie pop group The Go-Betweens, released in 1988 by Beggars Banquet Records. Prior to the recording of the album, longtime bassist Robert Vickers left the band when the other group members decided to return to Australia after having spent several...
(1988), was the group's most commercial offering, providing the alternative radio hit "Streets of Your Town
Streets of your town
"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...
" (1988), which became the band's biggest chart hit in both the UK and Australia peaking in the Top 100. The follow-up single "Was There Anything I Could Do?" was a No. 16 hit on US Modern Rock radio stations. Minimal commercial success were hardly the hoped-for breakthrough for the band, and after recording six albums, Forster and McLennan disbanded The Go-Betweens in December 1989. Morrison and Forster had separated as a couple earlier and both Forster and McLennan pursued solo careers. Brown and Morrison formed Cleopatra Wong in 1991. In 2008, 16 Lovers Lane was highlighted on Special Broadcasting Service
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
(SBS) TV's The Great Australian Albums series as a classic example of 1980s rock music.
Educational work and writing
Morrison is also the author of a short workbook entitled "Australian women in rock and pop music" and made an hour-long video to accompany it. Intended as student material it is housed in the Performing Arts Collection, the Arts Centre, Melbourne, and the National Library of Australia. Interviewees for the video include Kylie MinogueKylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
, Tina Arena
Tina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena is an Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. She has won several awards, most notably 6 ARIA Awards and in both 1996 and 2000 she received the World Music Award for the world's best selling Australian artist...
and Wendy Matthews
Wendy Matthews
Wendy Joan Matthews is an Australian adult alternative pop singer originally from Canada who has been a member of Models and Absent Friends and is a solo artist...
.
Morrison was also the artist in residence at South Sydney Youth Service (1998–2001) and was employed by TAFE as the head tutor for the music course run by SSYS. She also teaches contracts and copyright and music business modules at TAFE.
Politics
Morrison stood for election as the candidate for the Australian DemocratsAustralian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
in the New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
(seat of Coogee
Coogee
Coogee may refer to:*Coogee, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney*South Coogee, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney*Electoral district of Coogee, an electoral district in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, based around the area...
) in the 2003 state elections and in the Division of Wentworth
Division of Wentworth
The Division of Wentworth is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It was proclaimed in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. The Division is named after William Charles Wentworth , a noted Australian explorer and statesman...
in the 2004 federal elections.
Recognition
Morrison was appointed a Lifetime Honorary Member of the Music Council of AustraliaMusic Council of Australia
The Music Council of Australia is a national peak music organisation for Australia. It is the official Australian representative to the UNESCO world peak music organization, the International Music Council , Paris...
in 2007. For services as Board member and one who "who gave great assistance to community music initiatives and guidance in issues around performers' rights".
In 2008, an image of Morrison painted by artist Katherine Close was entered in the 2008 Archibald prize. The image depicts her sitting behind her favourite 'Ludwig' drum kit, the actual drum kit used on most of the Go-Betweens recordings and performances.
Current activities
Since November 2007, Morrison has been a member of The Rainy Season, a five piece band fronted by Jed Brown, and including Peter Jones (ex Cosmic PsychosCosmic Psychos
The Cosmic Psychos are a punk rock band based in Melbourne and rural Victoria in Australia. An underground band that has only ever achieved limited recognition.-Description:...
), Clyde Bramley, and fellow former Go Between Amanda Brown
Amanda Brown (musician)
Amanda Gabrielle Brown is an Australian composer, classically trained musician, singer and songwriter, renowned for her role as the violinist of the band The Go-Betweens and more recently a session musician and soundtrack composer....
.
She also serves as a board member for the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia where she serves as a representative of registered Australian recording artists (or 'artist director', making contributions to changes in policy to benefit recording artists)
, and national casework coordinator of the benevolent society Support Act Ltd.
Morrison graduated with a Masters in Legal Studies from University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
Law faculty in 2010.
Morrison currently resides in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
with her daughter Lucinda. She works in community music [for example, the Wataboshi Festival ]. One of her part time jobs is as a community musician where she directs a group of intellectually disabled musicians known as The Junction House Band.
Published Writing
- Stranded in The Dismissal edited by Sybil Nolan MUP 2005.
- Performers Copyright in sound recordings after the Australia –US FTA – mere symbolism? Intellectual Property Law Bulletin Vol. 17 No. 10 Lexis Nexus Butterworth’s
- Demolition Girl Rolling Stone May 2005 LLC Germany
- It’s a Man’s World Sydney Morning Herald 3–4 July 2004
- Beachport Festival by the Sea Music Alive Vol. 1 No. 2 1996
- Improvisation in Rock and Pop Music Sounds Australian Vol. 14 No.48 1996
- Australian Women in Rock and Pop Music, Ausmusic. 1995
Filmography (Video Productions)
- Australian Women in Rock and Pop Music, Ausmusic. 1995
- Sisters Are Doing it for Themselves Video, Ausmusic 1995.
External links
- interview recorded for the ABC Radio National program "Pig City" (talking about her role / experiences / observations in the civil disobedience movement and in protecting the rights of Aboriginal people at about 23 minutes into the program material, and several times later)