When you think of the canon of rock music, it's largely a man's world, from the most legendary performers to the (theoretically, mostly) male-dominated clique of music geeks. Sure, Elvis and The Beatles wouldn't have gotten anywhere without their screaming female fans, but it took until the early '80s for girls to earn a place in the hierarchy of rock. That glass ceiling was finally shattered with Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Gina Schock, better known as The Go-Go's.
The Los Angeles quintet traced its roots back toward the emerging punk scene in the late '70s (Carlisle, under the name "Dottie Danger" was briefly a frontwoman for The Germs!) but soon enough adapted a power-pop/New Wave sound that first gained them minor prominence in the U.K., when a demo version of future hit "We Got the Beat" was released on Stiff Records. Eventually, The Go-Go's were signed to I.R.S. Records, founded by Miles Copeland, iconic manager for The Police (and brother of the band's drummer Stewart) and cut their first full-length album, Beauty and the Beat. Though it was a solid debut with some killer guitar riffs and bubbly synth hooks, nobody could have predicted the success it was bound for - two million copies sold, six weeks atop the Billboard charts, two hits in "Our Lips Are Sealed" (No. 20) and "We Got the Beat" (No. 2) and a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
Despite all this, the album has never been released on CD past its original incarnation - until now. On May 17, EMI will reissue Beauty and the Beat for its 30th anniversary (also to be commemorated by the band's forthcoming summer tour), remastering the album and adding a bonus disc featuring a live show at the Metro in Boston. The exact day of the show has not been determined, although some fans have noted that the bonus disc shares an identical track list with a promotional disc that aired on Westwood One radio networks in late 1981. While the set was incomplete in broadcast form, omitting an early live version of future hit "Vacation," it's a treasured set among collectors.
Order your copy from Amazon and hit the jump for the rundown. The Go-Go's, Beauty and the Beat: 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (EMI/Capitol 50999 027027 1 1, 2011)
Disc 1: Remastered original LP (released as I.R.S. Records SP-70021, 1981)
- Our Lips Are Sealed
- How Much More
- Tonite
- Lust to Love
- This Town
- We Got the Beat
- Fading Fast
- Automatic
- You Can't Walk in Your Sleep (If You Can't Sleep)
- Skidmarks on Your Heart
- Can't Stop the World
Disc 2: Live at the Metro, Boston, 1981 (previously unreleased)
- Can't Stop the World
- Skidmarks on My Heart
- How Much More
- Tonite
- Fading Fast
- Cool Jerk
- London Boys
- Automatic
- Lust to Love
- This Town
- You Can't Walk in Your Sleep (If You Can't Sleep)
- Our Lips Are Sealed
- Surfing and Spying
- Beatnik Beach
- (Remember) Walking in the Sand
- Let's Have a Party
- We Got the Beat
Release Round-Up: Week of May 14
Beauty and the Beat: Go-Go's Guitarist Kathy Valentine Announces New Memoir
Love Never Dies: Belinda Carlisle Plans 'Heaven On Earth' Vinyl Box
Release Round-Up: Week of April 1
"but it took until the early ’80s for girls to earn a place in the hierarchy of rock. That glass ceiling was finally shattered with Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Gina Schock, better known as The Go-Go’s."
Mmmm, I guess Janis and the Wilson sisters didn't count.
Not true. I know this is a considerable asterisk, but much of the commercial/artistic success of The Go-Go's was a female thing. They wrote their own songs as others (including Heart) did, but in terms of commercial output, none of their stuff (or Janis' self-written stuff - Kristofferson penned "Bobby McGee" - or any of the mostly-male-penned Motown/girl group LPs) hit No. 1 before The Go-Go's. You had Carole King's "Tapestry" at No. 1 a decade or so before...but that's the logic from where that sentence came. That, and not a whole lot of sleep.
Well to say having a number one hit is the litmus test of breaking the glass ceiling is a little subjective because then you are comparing a pop oriented group(I rarely if ever hear the Go Gos on classic rock stations today) to the more serious AOR of Heart and Janis Joplin. Of course the Go Gos had a better chance of making a number one hit.
To serious rock fans in the 80's the Go Gos were a joke, successful but a joke. Heart and Janis were taken seriously by all rock fans.
Let me recant that "Joke" quote, that isn't fair. I should have said they were looked at like a disposable pop act, no one I know thought they'd be around for more than a couple of albums. They were successful because they came out at the advent of MTV when a wave of one hit wonders (which I admit the Go Gos weren't) and flash in the pan groups were getting airplay.
Interesting that they didn't include the studio version of the b-side "Surfing and Spying" as a bonus track. (I'm assuming the track on disc two is a live version.)
Hopefully reissues of "Vacation" and "Talk Show" will follow. I'm still kicking myself for not picking up the 1998 reissue of "Talk Show" back in the day. Copies go for $50 or more on eBay now.
I'm surprised and disappointed that a remastered "Surfing and Spying" (studio version) wasn't included as a bonus track. Adding it to the original set of 11 songs seems like a no-brainer, especially for such a long-awaited deluxe edition. Otherwise, it's a great release. The remastered sound is a revelation, as is the live concert disc.
Bill B:
“but it took until the early ’80s for girls to earn a place in the hierarchy of rock. That glass ceiling was finally shattered with Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Gina Schock, better known as The Go-Go’s.”
Mmmm, I guess Janis and the Wilson sisters didn’t count.
janis & the wilson sisters weren't the first all-female band to finally hit #1 on billboard. that's the meaning of the passage. 30 years wait to get such a landmark album remastered is a crime! 1-2-G-O-G-O!