80's Music Junkies: The Go Gos

The Go-Go's are an all-female American rock and roll group formed in 1978. They made rock history as the first all-woman band that wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard charts with a number-one album. Stylistically, their energetic music spanned pop-punk, surf, new wave, and rock.

They rose to fame in the early-1980s and their unlikely break-thru success ushered in an era of new music in the U.S. Their debut album Beauty and the Beat is considered one of the cornerstone albums of American New Wave. In the beginning they played primarily pop punk and later defined themselves with the distinct sound of 1980s rock. The Go-Go's had five U.S. Top 40 hits.
Formed in 1978, the group originally featured Belinda Carlisle (vocals), Jane Wiedlin (guitar, vocals), Charlotte Caffey (lead guitar, keyboards), Margot Olaverra (bass), and Elissa Bello (drums). They started out playing at seminal punk rock venues such as The Masque and the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles. In 1979, Gina Schock replaced Bello on drums. During that year, the band recorded a demo and supported the British ska revival group Madness in both Los Angeles and England. The Go-Go's spent half of 1980 touring England, earning a sizable following and releasing "We Got the Beat" on Stiff Records.

Cover image from the 1982 hit single, "We Got the Beat"In December 1980, bassist Margot Olaverra was replaced with Kathy Valentine, who had played guitar in bands such as Girlschool and the Textones (Valentine had no prior experience playing bass and learned in four days). The Go-Go's signed to I.R.S. Records in April 1981. Their debut album Beauty and the Beat was a surprise hit and topped the charts for six weeks. "Our Lips Are Sealed" and a new version of "We Got the Beat" were extremely popular singles in early 1982. The follow-up, Vacation, sold well, but the group was forced to go on hiatus when Schock underwent surgery for a congenital heart defect. 1984 saw a return to critical acceptance with the Martin Rushent produced album Talk Show, but sales were poor. Personality conflicts and creative differences were also taking a toll, and Jane Wiedlin announced her departure from the group in October 1984. The band sought a replacement for Wiedlin, and finally selected Paula Jean Brown as their new bassist, with Valentine moving to rhythm guitar. They played the 1985 Rock in Rio festival with this new line-up, but Carlisle and Caffey soon realized their hearts were no longer in the group and decided to disband in May 1985.

Beauty and the Beat is the debut album from the Californian all-female band The Go-Go's. Released in 1981 (see 1981 in music), the album was preceded by the import single "We Got the Beat", which became a massive club hit in Europe and, later, the United States. When the album was finally released, it steadily climbed the Billboard 200 chart, eventually sitting at number one for six weeks. Beauty and the Beat sold in excess of three million copies, making it one of the biggest "surprise" debut albums of all time. It is now widely considered one of the cornerstone albums of 80's "new wave" music. It was the first album entirely written and performed by an all-female band to top the charts.

The title is a play on the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, retold in numerous formats.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 413 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005. The lead single "Our Lips Are Sealed" has been covered over the years by numerous artists, and remains a staple of 80's playlists. It is frequently cited as one of the Top 100 and Top 50 songs of the 80's. Rolling Stone magazine has named it one of the Top 100 Pop Singles of all time.

"This Town" was used as the theme song for Rich Girls, a reality show which formerly aired on MTV. It was performed by Lillix.