I Need Two Heads

"I Need Two Heads" is a stand-alone single by Australian indie group The Go-Betweens. It was released as a 7" vinyl record on the Postcard Records label in the United Kingdom in June 1980[2] and by Missing Link Records in Australia, with "Stop Before You Say It" as the B-side.

"I Need Two Heads"
Single by The Go-Betweens
A-side"I Need Two Heads"
B-side"Stop Before You Say It"
ReleasedJune 1980
Recorded28 April 1980
StudioCastle Sound Studios, Pencaitland, Scotland
GenrePost-punk
Length2:29
LabelPostcard
Songwriter(s)Robert Forster, Grant McLennan[1]
Producer(s)Alex Ferguson
The Go-Betweens singles chronology
"People Say"
(1979)		 "I Need Two Heads"
(1980)		 "Your Turn, My Turn"
(1983)

In November 1979 Forster and McLennan travelled to England. It was during this time that their music was influenced by English post-punk bands, such as the Pop Group, the Raincoats and Gang of Four.[3] In February 1980 they were approached by Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins, who had recently established a Glasgow-based independent record label, Postcard Records.[4][5] In March that year Forster and McLennan went to Glasgow and signed with Postcard Records. During their eight-week stay in Glasgow they played three shows, with label stable mates Orange Juice and Josef K.[3] Postcard Records engaged Alex Ferguson (Alternative TV) to produce a number of the label's releases, including The Go-Betweens.[3][5] On 29 April Forster and McLennan recorded two songs at Castle Sounds Studios, with Ferguson.[6] They were "I Need Two Heads", a song written after they arrived in England, for which Forster described "I was being confronted with so much information over there, my head was just spinning, and I remember walking down the street thinking: 'I need another head to take this all in'"[3][7] and "Stop Before You Say It", an older pre-Europe song about irritation. The songs were both recorded using Steven Daly, Orange Juice's drummer.[4][6]

The single was released in June 1980 after Forster and McLennan had left the UK, where NME named it 'Single of the Week' and it reached No. 6 on the independent charts.[3][8][9] In Australia, Melbourne-based independent record label, Missing Link, acquired the rights from Postcard Records to release "I Need Two Heads" in Australia.[3][5][6]

Reception

Jonathan Greer, in his review of The Go-Betweens - G Stands for Go-Betweens Volume 1 1978-1984, believes the song is "a wonderfully original piece of post-punk-pop – by turns enigmatic, exciting and unpredictable."[10]

In his book, Simply Thrilled: The Preposterous Story of Postcard Records, Simon Goddard describes the song as a tune which betrays "a susceptibility to 'doomeh' shadows of Joy Division in its ho-humming bass, if not in its frisky handclaps and peculiar lyrics about bank books and child detectives".[5]

PopMatters states that the song sounds "a little like the Velvet Underground covering some obscure Monkees or Mersey-beat songs."[11]

Track listing

Original 7" Vinyl release

All tracks are written by R. Forster, G. McLennan[1]

No.TitleLength
1."I Need Two Heads"2:29
2."Stop Before You Say It"2:54

Release history
Date Region Label Format Catalogue
June 1980 United Kingdom Postcard 7" vinyl Postcard 80 4
November 1980 Australia Missing Link MISS 23

Credits
The Go-Betweens
Additional musicians
  • Steven Daly — drums
Production

References
  1. "'I Need Two Heads' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015. Note: User may have to click on 'Search again' and provide details at 'Enter a title:', e.g. I Need Two Heads; or at 'Performer:' The Go-Betweens.
  2. "The Go-Betweens : I Need Two Heads". Go-Betweens.org.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  3. David, Nichols (2003). The Go-Betweens. Portland, OR: Verse Chorus Press. ISBN 1-891241-16-8. Note: [online] version has limited functionality.
  4. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 2385. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  5. Goddard, Simon (2014). Simply Thrilled: The Preposterous Story of Postcard Records. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09195-824-4.
  6. Stafford, Andrew (2004). Pig City: from the Saints to Savage Garden. University of Queensland Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-70223-360-9.
  7. "Simply Thrilled: A Postcard Records Top Ten". Q Magazine. Bauer Consumer Media. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  8. Walker, Clinton (1996). Stranded: The Secret History of Australian Independent Music, 1977-1991. Pan Macmillan. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-73290-883-6.
  9. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-9517206-9-4. Archived from the original on 7 July 2010.
  10. Greer, Jonathan (26 January 2015). "'The Go-Betweens - G Stands for Go-Betweens Volume 1 1978-1984'". The 405. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  11. Pitter, Charles (8 April 2015). "The Go-Betweens: G Stands for Go-Betweens (Vol.1)". PopMatters. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
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