Letters to the 2nd issue of Go-Set

Reader engagement with Go-Set brought forward a bevy of ideas that the editorial team took up. In this letter Kristine Kelly of Clayton suggests a means by which readers can let other Go-Setters know who they think is good and bad. The idea of the specific terms "Go-Go" and "No-Go", seems simple yet effective, and many readers took up the offer. The editor seems comfortable with shortening Kristine to Kris. I wonder why. It should be pointed out the Mixtures were a fairly successful group in 1965.

Pat Carroll talks about Vietnam. In the thesis I speculated that Go-Set used the words of musicians and artists as a way moving a political agenda onto a teenage audience. Pat Carroll was well known as a singer and less none for making political statements. Interestingly the letter only sticks with matters of pop and does not comment on her statements about Vietnam. At this time Australian troops had only been in Vietnam in number for less than a year. The comments on an article on the Flies, would be followed up very soon by an article on the Flies in Go-Set.

Bad English at the start of the letter. This letter also mentions dossiers, it is an odd word for "file" unless the word comes to Go-Set readers in the context of the "cold war" and "spies". More importantly is the section of the letter that asks Go-Set to ask visiting stars questions "away from the normal", and show photographs of the artists as well. More specifically is the request for a picture of Bobby Bright, whose birthday they express an interest in.

The letters show an enthusiastic readership, keen to make a difference to the pop world of the other readers in Melbourne. Still one can't help thinking that to some extent there is a degree of collusion between them.