the go-go's Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Go-Go’s “Beauty and the Beat”

sfilzen — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 18:20:28 +0000

Go-Go’s “Beauty and the Beat” released 40 years ago today, July 8th, 1981. Their debut album is one of the best of the 80′s and hit #1 on the US charts. I was absolutely gaga for the Go-Go’s after hearing their smash hit single from Beauty and the Beat “We Got the Beat,” which went to #2 on the Hot 100 chart in 1982 (The Go-Go’s first recorded and released “We Got the Beat” in 1980 on Stiff Records in the UK), remaining at that no. 2 slot for three weeks thwarted only by the equally awesome “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” by Joan Jett who was at #1. I remember those three weeks of girl-power rock-n-roll in April ‘82 vividly, me huddling by the radio, waiting for Casey Kasem to announce the top songs so I could hit record on my little cassette player. I also still adore “Our Lips are Sealed,” their first single from Beauty and the Beat which went to #20 in the US. Besides those two singles, I also love “How Much More, “This Town,” “Skidmarks on My Heart” and “Can’t Stop the World.”

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Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat”

sfilzen — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 20:52:25 +0000

Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat” b/w “Can’t Stop the World” 1981 edition on IRS. The Go-Go’s first recorded and released “We Got the Beat” in 1980 on Stiff Records in the UK (the b-side was “How Much More”) and then in ‘81 in the US on IRS where it made it onto the dance club charts (#35). They released (and re-recorded) it again in 1982 as the second single from the Go-Go’s debut LP Beauty and the Beat and it hit #2 on the Hot 100 chart, remaining there for three weeks. I was absolutely crazy for “We Got the Beat” and remember those three weeks of girl-power rock-n-roll in April vividly. I huddled by the radio waiting to hit record on my little cassette player while Casey Kasem announced the top songs – this track and the stubbornly awesome #1 that the Go-Go’s couldn’t quite ever surpass: Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” (which was the first album I ever bought with my own money). The success of “We Got the Beat” is significant because helped usher in new wave on a large scale to the US, accomplished by a group of women who wrote their own music and played their own instruments, all the while having a great dance party time of it.

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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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The Go-Go’s “Talk Show”

sfilzen — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 19:22:53 +0000

The Go-Go’s “Talk Show” released on this date, March 22nd, 1984. Their third and last album before the band broke up in ‘85 (before regrouping and releasing God Bless the Go-Go’s in 2001). Talk Show made it to #18 on the album charts with three released singles: “Head Over Heels” (#11), “Turn to You” (#32) (the official video is unavailable but it features a very young Rob Lowe!) and “Yes or No” (#84). It’s fairly standard Go-Go’s material: poppy, danceable and sweet but I think the band’s internal tensions (due to creative differences and drugs) bled into the songwriting – it’s just not as fun as their previous albums. “Head Over Heels” is great, always one of my favorites, but the rest of the album is tired; songs like “You Thought” seem to cobble together every mid-80′s Top 40 formula: big production, tense buildups, dense harmonizations, beep-boop keyboards, over-the-top and often unnecessary guitar solos. Allmusic says, “the record is cluttered with half-realized songs and an overly detailed production which occasionally prevents the songs from reaching their full potential.”

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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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Joan Jett and the Blackhearts “I Love Rock-n-Roll”

sfilzen — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 17:30:45 +0000

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts “I Love Rock-n-Roll” 1982. This was the first record I ever bought with my own money. I was 11 years old, in 6th grade and NUTS for the hit single, which was #1 on the charts for 7 weeks, from March to May. I remember the #2 song was The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat” for three of those weeks. I’d sit glued to the radio, listening to Casey Kasem’s American Top 40, waiting for those 2 glorious back-to-back songs. When I was able to save up enough allowance money to buy the record, I played the crap out of it and the album cover pictured above shows the wear and tear over the years. (Yes, this is the same album I bought back in ‘82).

“I Love Rock-n-Roll” was my favorite single on the album, but “Crimson and Clover,” the last song on side 1, was freakin’ amazing. I loved (and still do) its echoey and anthemic verse and then frenetic instrumental hook. Side 2 never saw as much playing action as Side 1, but “Bits and Pieces” is a great rocker with a Bo Diddley beat. The only song that irritates me is “Little Drummer Boy” since I’ve never cared for that Christmas Carol, but if I have to listen to it, Joan’s version is probably better than anything else out there.

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