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, before disbanding in late 1989. Forster and McLennan reformed the band in 2000 with a new line-up, McLennan died on 6 May 2006 of a heart attack and The Go-Betweens disbanded again.

In 1988, "Streets of Your Town", the first single from 16 Lovers Lane, became the band's biggest chart hit in both Australia and the United Kingdom (UK). The follow-up single "Was There Anything I Could Do?" was a No. 16 hit on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the United States. In May 2001 "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.