| I Need Two Heads | |
| Cover: | I_Need_Two_Heads_3.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | The Go-Betweens |
| A-Side: | I Need Two Heads |
| B-Side: | Stop Before You Say It |
| Released: | June 1980 |
| Recorded: | 28 April 1980 |
| Studio: | Castle Sound Studios, Pencaitland, Scotland |
| Genre: | Post-punk |
| Label: | Postcard |
| Producer: | Alex Ferguson |
| Prev Title: | People Say |
| Prev Year: | 1979 |
| Next Title: | Your Turn, My Turn |
| Next Year: | 1983 |
"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[1] and by Missing Link Records in Australia, with "Stop Before You Say It" as the B-side.
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.[2] In February 1980 they were approached by Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins, who had recently established a Glasgow-based independent record label, Postcard Records.[3] [4] 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.[2] Postcard Records engaged Alex Ferguson (Alternative TV) to produce a number of the label's releases, including The Go-Betweens.[2] [4] On 29 April Forster and McLennan recorded two songs at Castle Sounds Studios, with Ferguson.[5] 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'"[2] [6] 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.[3] [5]
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.[2] [7] [8] In Australia, Melbourne-based independent record label, Missing Link, acquired the rights from Postcard Records to release "I Need Two Heads" in Australia.[2] [4] [5]
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."[9]
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".[4]
PopMatters states that the song sounds "a little like the Velvet Underground covering some obscure Monkees or Mersey-beat songs."[10]
| Date | Region | Label | Format | Catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1980 | United Kingdom | Postcard | 7" vinyl | Postcard 80 4 |
| November 1980 | Australia | Missing Link | MISS 23 | |