Part Company

"Part Company"
Single by The Go-Betweens
from the album Spring Hill Fair
A-side Part Company
B-side Just a King in Mirrors
Released 0 August 1984 (1984-08-00)
(see release history)
Format 7" vinyl
12" vinyl
Recorded November 1983
Pathway Studios, London
Genre
Length 4:53
Label Sire
Writer(s) Grant McLennan, Robert Forster[1]
Producer(s) John Brand
The Go-Betweens singles chronology
"Man O'Sand to Girl O'Sea"
(1983)		 "Part Company"
(1984)		 "Bachelor Kisses"
(1984)

"Part Company" is the first single taken from The Go-Betweens third album, Spring Hill Fair. It was released in August 1984 by Sire Records with "Just a King in Mirrors" as the B-side.[2] In the UK a 12" single was also released on Sire.[3] The single failed to make an impact on the charts.

In November 1983 the band recorded a number of demos commissioned by Rough Trade for their third album, at Pathway Studios, with producer John Brand.[4] "Newton Told Me" was re-recorded after originally being considered as a B-side for "Man O'Sand to Girl O'Sea" and recorded by the band in May 1983.[4] "Part Company" was also re-recorded in May 1984 for its subsequent inclusion in Spring Hill Fair.

Forster later indicated in an interview that McLennan had told him that "Just a King in Mirrors" was about Nick Cave, who he was close too at the time.[5]

Critical reception

In his review of Spring Hill Fair, at Allmusic, Ned Raggett describes the song as having "an almost-Smiths-like all-around performance on the verses spiked with an at once inspirational and regret-laden chorus."[6] In a more detailed review of the song, Raggett states that it "demonstrates so many of the Go-Betweens' core strengths it's practically a role model for anyone seeking inspiration -- a literate but not obnoxiously so lyric, a fine lead performance from Forster, an arrangement that throws in some subtle tweaks (and a suddenly all the more intense chorus) to the straightforward electric/acoustic combination. The keyboards throwing sound like a nervous, uncomfortable wail, Lindy Morrison's drums are among her strongest, and the whole song seems to capture an uneasy combination of diffidence and sudden yearning down to its fadeout."[7]

Pitchfork's Doulas Wolk comments that "Part Company" is "Bob Dylan's 'Blood on the Tracks' refracted through Australian rehearsal room windows.[8]

Steve Bell (TheMusic.com.au) advises that "the song features strong lyrics and some serious six-string interplay (the combination of Forster and McLennan’s guitars that would later become so important basically started here) but never really managed to gather much traction."[9]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by G. McLennan, R. Forster[1]. 

7" vinyl release
No. Title Length
1. "Part Company"   4:53
2. "Just a King in Mirrors"   2:58
Total length:
 7:51

All songs written and composed by G. McLennan, R. Forster, except where noted.. 

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalogue
United Kingdom August 1984 Sire 7" vinyl W 9211
12" vinyl W 9211-T

Credits

The Go-Betweens
Production

References

  1. 1 2 "'Part Company' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 3 August 2015. Note: User may have to click on 'Search again' and provide details at 'Enter a title:', e.g. Part Company; or at 'Performer:' The Go-Betweens.
  2. ↑ "The Go-Betweens: Part Company". Go-Betweens.org.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "Go-Betweens, The - Part Company". Discogs. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 David, Nichols (2003). The Go-Betweens. Portland, OR: Verse Chorus Press. ISBN 1-891241-16-8. Note: [online] version has limited functionality.
  5. ↑ Jelbert, Steve. "The Ten Rules of Rock 'n' Roll". The Quietus. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Raggett, Ned. "Spring Hill Fair - The Go-Betweens". Allmusic. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  7. ↑ Raggett, Ned. "Part Company - The Go-Betweens". Allmusic. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Wolk, Douglas (22 January 2015). "The Go-Betweens - G Stands for Go-Betweens: Volume 1, 1978-1984". Pitchfork. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  9. ↑ Bell, Steve (26 September 2014). "A Look Back At The Go-Betweens' 1984 Classic 'Spring Hill Fair'". TheMusic.com.au. Retrieved 4 August 2015.

External links

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