Song 2 in my Top 10.

The Go-Betweens – Lee Remick (1978)

Why Lee Remick? Why not Head Full Of Steam or People Say or Cattle and Cane or any of the other masterpieces that Robert and Grant produced? It’s a very simple reason really. Because it is SO simple - I could have written it. For one afternoon in 1978 Robert Forster was about as musically talented as I am. It has a piss easy chord structure that even I can play on the guitar and lyrics so basic that when stuck for a word to rhyme with gem he came up with, um, gem. And lots of ba ba ba ba bananananas to fill in the time. I swear if Hank Five and myself had persisted with our band aspirations we could have written something as good but probably only the one. Please don’t think I am comparing myself to Robert, I realise that I am certainly not worthy. If you were to own that first Abel Label single, and how I would love to (hint there for 40th birthday present shoppers), you would turn it over and find that by the time he had written Karen his genius was already shining through. So put it on, press play and jump around for 2 minutes and 31 seconds and enjoy its pure unadulterated naiveté.
“She comes from Ireland, she’s very beautiful. I come from Brisbane and I’m quite plain.” How very true.