Songwriting for the album began with Robert Forster's "By Chance," which was written in Melbourne in December 1981, a month after the Australian release of the band's debut album, "Send Me a Lullaby". Forster admitted he had disliked much of what he had written in 1980 and 1981 and had been in "a hole". But "By Chance" marked the turnaround. "I was away again, my songwriting driven by the simple logic that if I could write one strong song, I could write another." The song was used as the B-side to the Grant McLennan composition, "Hammer the Hammer," which was released as a single in March 1982. Missing Link label boss Keith Glass, who had funded the recording and distribution of "Send Me a Lullaby", told the band he could not finance a second LP, but began shopping the debut album overseas. Geoff Travis, owner of Rough Trade Records in London, agreed to license both the album and the new single for UK release, then also invited the Go-Betweens to London to record a follow-up album.