The Go-Go’s “Talk Show”

Published On: March 22, 2017Tags: , , , ,

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.”