I've Got The Beat!

The Go-Go's went bye-bye awhile back but still remain a pop culture phenomena. My son who is 12, knows the song, "We got the beat" and "Vacation" by heart, now how did that happen? Well let me say this, it happened because the band drew attention to themselves, kept recording what should have been "one hit wonders" but instead, "constant wonders".

May 1978. BELINDA CARLISLE and JANE WIEDLIN (Then known as JANE DRANO)were sitting out in front of a party in Venice Beach in California with a friend named MARGOT OLIVARRIA. They were sure to not be passed by without a second glance, no way! These girls could make your own mother cry, in fact they did many times with their ripped barbie doll clothing they wore, black lace up boots and fishnet on every part of their bodies except where it was meant for, the legs. They even wore trash bags occasionally in place of dresses. MARGOT played the bass, JANE played rhythm guitar, painting tiny numbers on the fretboard to learn chords, ELISSA BELLO soon became the drummer and BELINDA sang, and a true songbird she was.

The girls had their band, and started playing out. It helped that they lived right in the heart of Hollywood aiding them in finding anyone and everyone music scene. Their rehearsal studio was in the basement of a porno theater, which also served as a serious hangout for anyone Punk. They made their debut album right in that basement in 79'.

All good things must come to an end, and for the Go-Go's there were no exceptions for this rule. The chemistry between the friends was changing and so was the music. It was not long before the band had a whole new lineup, that was GREAT! More girls with attitudes and a passion for Rock N' Roll music brought The Go_Go's to life in a big way. There was one tiny mole hill to jump, the punks were now trashing these rocker beauties for their new sound, a sound that we all grew to love called pop. The punks decided that The Go-Go's were now "selling out" but non of these professional bandsters were threatened at all, they loved their new sound and so did the entire population! They were on their way to stardom.

In 1980 the girls went on a six month tour in England , pawned everything they could to pay their way around and live like true rock stars now, poor, hungry and sleepless zombies. In 1981, THE GO-GO S signed to I.R.S. RECORDS. Two TOP 20 HITS, "OUR LIPS ARE SEALED" AND "WE GOT THE BEAT", Their debut BEAUTY AND THE BEAT would go double platinum. They had finally done it, they could eat now! Off they went in a van, then later moved on up to a bus and then a full blown tour bus with a real life Manager in tow.

Once again, turbulence hit. One thing that is sure in any band is that tension can build and get ugly quickly, again, no exception for the Rock N' Roll beauties. According to Jane in the band, things were getting more difficult as the fame was rising chest high. Their was an "unspoken code" among the band girls, that in order to be a GO-GO, they had to all be exactly the same every minute of every day. This meant that they dressed alike, partied alike, liked the same guys and even had to agree with each other on all levels of band decisions. This is not an easy task for anyone, but throw a bunch of hormonal girls into the mix and you have a raging explosion.

May of 1985, the band was disbanded, officially. The Go-Go's were no more or at least in the sense that they once were. When have you ever known any woman to roll over and give up...NONE. In 1990 the girl's decided to put aside differences to record a cover version of "Cool Jerk" and briefly toured the US, to for kicks.

Today, their music is still huge, every karaoke bar, every radio station and every teen in America has tuned in to listen to these beautiful girls of Rock make history. And now even more with RETURN TO THE VALLEY OF THE GO-GOS, A 36 Track collection of single hits, B-SIDES, Live Tracks and previously unreleased songs that start with rehearsal tracks from back in 1979.