They brought California new wave pop to high school gyms, fraternity basements and AM radio countdowns around the country, the first all-woman band to crack the No. 1 Billboard album spot in history. Thirty eight years later (gasp!), their catchy power beat still makes everyone want to dance.
The Go-Go’s hit the music scene hard in 1981 with “Our Lips Are Sealed,” the first single off of their debut album, Beauty and the Beat. The album rose to No. 1 on the Billboard charts and stayed there for six weeks, selling a total of 2 million copies and reaching double platinum. It also earned the group a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist.
And it cemented the Go Go’s as power pop cool right out of the gate.
The band grew out of the Los Angeles punk rock and new wave scene in the late 1970s, which is how two of its founding members, Belinda Carlisle and Jane Weidlin, met. After attending the Sex Pistols final show in San Francisco in 1978, Carlisle and Weidlin decided they wanted to be in a punk rock band, too. They recruited a drummer, Weidlin taught herself how to play guitar, and Carlisle took on vocals.
The Go Go’s were born.
They hit the Sunset Strip, grew a following, and were invited to open for Madness on their UK tour. After returning to California, the final Go Go’s lineup of Carlisle, Weidlin, Charlotte Caffey (lead guitar and keyboards), Gina Schock (drums) and Kathy Valentine (bass) had changed their sound from straight up punk to new wave pop, which audiences loved but record label executives didn’t (the Go Go’s being an all-female band and all).
One independent label took a chance, and in 1981 the band recorded Beauty and the Beast. (The cover featured the band members in towels, which they bought from Macy’s for the shoot and returned immediately after.)
Then came MTV, a concert tour with the Police, and Vacation, the band’s second album. It wasn’t the sensation the first album had been, but the title song reached the Top 10, as did “Head Over Heals” off their third album.
Unfortunately, personal issues started to affect the band. The group went on hiatus in late 1983 when Schock had heart surgery, while Carlisle, Caffey and Valentine struggled with drug and alcohol addictions. Jane Weidlin left the band in late 1984, but after finding a replacement and playing a few shows, Carlisle and Caffey decided to break up the band.
The Go Go’s were over, almost as soon as they began.
After the Go Go’s disbanded, Carlisle and Weidlin embarked on successful solo careers, as did other members of the band. The original five bandmates, all of whom are now sober, have reunited several times in the three decades after they first hit the charts, with several show dates scheduled for 2021. A new documentary released this year traces their influence on pop and new wave music, and includes footage from some of their very first shows on the Sunset Strip.
And little girls all over the world have grown up thinking, I want to be in a band too.