belinda carlisle Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Belinda Carlisle “Mad About You”

sfilzen — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 15:51:18 +0000

Belinda Carlisle “Mad About You” 1986. Today, August 17th, is Carlisle’s 60th birthday (b. 1958). “Mad About You” was the first single from her debut solo album Belinda after the breakup of the Go-Go’s in ‘85. It hit #3 on the US charts and is also significant (to me) for having Andy Taylor of Duran Duran featured on the track’s guitar solo; he also appears in the video, complete with his guitar-solo grimace. “Mad About You,” and the video, instantly bring me back to June ‘86 when, on my summer break before high school, I attended an arts camp on the campus of UW-Platteville. MTV was usually on in one of the common rooms of the cinderblock dorms we were housed in and inevitably “Mad About You” would be playing as I strolled through. The song has a perfectly pop summer vibe, all 80′s gloss and bubbly energy. Side B of the 7″ single has the track “I Never Wanted a Rich Man” which also appears on Belinda and was written by former fellow Go-Go Charlotte Caffey. It’s got a kinda country-pop lilting twang to it with a 60′s girl-group dowoppy subtext and is not a song I particularly care for.

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The Germs “Forming”

sfilzen — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 14:55:04 +0000

The Germs “Forming” b/w “The Germs Live” (which is really “Sex Boy” recorded live at the Roxy, the Germs’ second show, supposedly intended to appear in Cheech and Chong’s movie Up In Smoke. It didn’t make the cut.) originally released 1977 on What Records? and reissued in 2015 on Viaduct Records, green vinyl. Today, August 17th, is Belinda Carlisle’s birthday – yes, she is best known as the lead singer of the Go-Go’s but she was briefly the original drummer for The Germs, going by the name Dottie Danger. From an interview with Rolling Stone: I was the first drummer but we never played. I came down with mononucleosis and had to go back to my parents’ house and recuperate. But yeah, I’d met Lorna Doom before she was the bass player for the Germs. We used to go see the Babys and the Ramones the first time they came to L.A.We went to the Beverly Hilton to try to get Freddie Mercury’s autograph, and we met Darby Crash and Pat Smear, who were trying to do the exact same thing. They thought we were ridiculous-looking, and we thought they were ridiculous-looking, and then we thought, “Let’s form a band.” I’d seen a lot of the early punk bands and just got to be part of the scene. After I got mono, another friend of ours from art class, Donna Rhia – Becky was her real name – was the first drummer. When I got better, I was fine with her taking over the drums, because I didn’t like playing the drums. I became sort of a Germs prop person. I would hand Darby peanut butter and broken glass and salad dressing and whatever was around. When we formed the Go-Go’s, I had the choice of playing drums again or singing, and I decided to sing.

Donna Rhia (Becky Barton) is the drummer on this single; she was replaced first by David Winogrond, then Cliff Hanger, next was D. J. Bonebrake (best known for being in X), then Nicky Beat (L.A. Guns), Rob Henley and finally Don Bolles. Darby Crash (b. Jan Paul Beahm) still went by the moniker Bobby Pyn in ‘77 and both he and Pat Smear are credited for the writing of “Forming.” The photo below is supposedly of bassist Lorna Doom (Teresa Ryan) and Belinda Carlisle from around ‘77.

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Go Go’s “Vacation”

sfilzen — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 16:39:36 +0000

Go Go’s “Vacation” 1982. Today, August 17th, is singer Belinda Carlisle’s birthday (b. 1958). The Vault is also heading out on vacation later this week so it’s a perfect pull.

Vacation is the Go Go’s second album and it reached #8 in the US, the single “Vacation” also reaching #8 in the summer of ‘82 (and may have been the first single to ever be released on cassette). The LP’s other two singles, “Get Up and Go” and “He’s So Strange,” did not do as well: the former – a fun pop rocker with a classic Bo Diddley beat – reached #50 and the latter failed to chart at all. Overall Vacation is a fun pop record, perfect for spinning on a portable player at the beach, playing frisbee and watching the speedboats pull water skiers. Here’s a picture from our up-north trip last summer of the Min-Aqua Bats in Minocqua, WI and, for obvious reasons, “Vacation” was my ear worm for a few days.

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