The Go-Go's Showtime Documentary

Belinda, Charlotte and Gina look freshly injected with botulism.

It was so good! I used to hang with Jane in San Francisco and she is genuinely one of the nicest people I know.

I don't know why they didn't like the Behind the Music episode since it's one of the best and it covers the same topics.

Is Kathy Valentine a lez too? In one of her stand up routines, Sandra Bernhard said Belinda was bi back in the day, not with her, but she knew from reliable sources if you gave Belinda a downer, she'd swing with you.

I [bold]hate[/bold] Belinda Carlisle. She's so ugly and has a worse voice and more plastic surgery than Janet Jackson and that's saying something.

Novelty act.

Belinda seems like a bitch.

R7 = Suzanna Hoffs

I'm a sucker for music documentaries (esp. when there is a lot of animosity amongst band members) and I didn't know much about The Go-Go's beyond the basics, so I figured this would be a fun watch. It was definitely interesting to get a better understanding of their roots and all the troubles they faced, but I thought it was a bit weird that their music really wasn't focused on much at all in the documentary! I was hoping to learn more about their music, but aside from "We Got the Beat" and "Vacation," I don't remember their music being discussed that much at all, which disappointed me.

R8 Belinda and Susanna Hoffs are friends

They actually had very few hits with lots of album filler. While more polished, The Bangles had way better songs.

Gina Shock was the star of this show. She was so funny!

I was disappointed they didn’t really cover the in between years much and just glossed over Belinda’s solo career. When they reformed did they include any of her hits in the set?

r12 I saw them twice around 15 years ago, and they perform most of their popular songs. And Belinda always kicks off her shoes. It's like her Flintstones thing.

I came out liking Gina and Kathy the best after watching the documentary.

Gina was actually the prettiest one in the bunch, IMO and always seem to have a sense of humor and didn't take herself too seriously.

Didn't she also date Jodie Foster? She was with some other well-known women IIRC.

Belinda's the best!

She didn't need them, but I'm glad she stayed for a while.

Charlotte comes across as much of a bitch as Belinda: "She's the voice and I write the hits" she said as she broke up the band. She was also probably the one who asked Jane if she really thought she was good enough to sing lead.

The saddest moment is when their original manager says the hardest part about managing the band is "when they don't want you anymore."

Won’t be able to see it without Showtime, but did the talk about the Broadway musical and if so what was the jist?

R19 you can get a 30 day free Showtime trial and cancel it. They only mentioned the Broadway play in the final minutes as an update on what they are doing now.

Loved Gina's Baltimore accent. She sounded as if she could have been in a John Waters movie. I'm also surprised you DL'ers haven't talked about Gina's weight gain. She's gotten quite chubby since their heyday.

R21, I was wondering if her weight gain was due to some type of medication she’s taking for her heart.

Do they mention when they sexually assaulted that guy

[quote] Do they mention when they sexually assaulted that guy

No, they didn't.

What terrible Music

I wonder how they came up with the lyric to We Got The Beat?

They were probably thinking: First line will be “we got the beat.”

What should the second line be? How about “we got the beat?!”

What next? we got the beat Next? And so on

"Novelty act."

Look, whether you like their music or not, they were about as organic as it gets. There was no male puppet master. There was no "Monkee-ing" around. They built it themselves, from the ground up. Can't you at least give them that?

I really loved them and loved their music, but that shit with Kathy a few years back soured me on them a bit, especially Belinda.....or as we called her on the board at the time, Bitchlinda.

So they leave out the sexual assault. I guess only men should be held accountable.

R29 What male musicians are held accountable for sexual assaults in their rockumentaries? I'll wait.

Kathy Valentine did mention that night in her book.

Why are we doing this thread twice?

R32 why not?

Drunk video of Belinda and Kathy from 1981

I had no idea there was a replacement member who wrote "Mad About You" for the band after Jane quit.

R32 This thread was first

The other thread is fixated on Belinda and Gina's weight.

I loved it! Was really fun.

I thought they all came off in their interviews sounding quite ‘sane’ and together...and pleasant. So great that all the players participated, including ex-band members and managers.

I didn't see the point of having Kathleen Hanna's interviews throughout. She had no affiliation with the band.

I think Gina would be a blast to go drinking with..

R39 Yes, it's great that all members (from the beginning of the group to the end ) were interviewed.

I just noticed that the director of the documentary also directed the Eagles doc. from a few years ago. She must have a way of persuading former band members to participate, because I think all the members of the Eagles participated in that one, as well, and we all know Don Henley and Glenn Frey were bigger bitches than any of The Go-Go's.

I remember liking Jane’s debut solo album, but the doc seemed to diss it?

This was well done. They seem really cool - I have always enjoyed their music, also.

When I saw the Go-Go's live with the B-52's in 2011, they sang "Mad About You" and "Rush Hour" and said they were honorary Go-Go's songs.

"Inside a Dream" from Jane Wiedlin's solo album could have also been a Go-Go's song.

R45 Same, I saw them on tour same year and they played both of those songs plus a few more I am forgetting.

They seem to have bad blood over "Talk Show" which to be honest was my favorite album of theirs. For a long time they would only play Head Over Heels from it. I think they may be playing one other song now, but certainly not other tracks.

But that was one whole album they weren't doing!

I thought it was great...I would have liked to have heard more about what the others thought about Belinda's solo success. I also thought it was strange that they painted Jane's solo career as a big flop--she didn't have a TON of success, but she did have a Top 10 solo hit with "Rush Hour".

I did feel bad for the former manager. A little bit less for the original member they booted who wanted the band to stay punk, but I am sure that was shitty for her.

Belinda is sort of nuts, but I can't help it, I love her. I got to meet them all backstage a few years ago, and they were all super nice, even Belinda.

I met them all at a fundraiser in San Francisco years ago. They were super nice, and chatty. Belinda might look bitchy, but she's actually really nice, at least when I've been around her. I lived near Gina in SF, and would run into her from time to time - super friendly as well - and very funny.

I liked the documentary enough but it sort of glossed over the last 25-30 years. It could've been another 30 minutes at least.

I think their pop tart music sucks.

I would rather listen to The Runaways with the great Lita Ford & Joan Jett any day.

I didn't realize until seeing all the photos of the band through the years that Gina, Jane and Belinda were the most photogenic. The three of them look like Muppet babies in the early days.

R51 you do that

R51 Who let the dogs out?

If they had stayed together and put out an album with Mad About You and Rush Hour, it would have at least been as successful as Talk Show.

[quote]Won’t be able to see it without Showtime,

OMG there are actually people who still don't know how to stream shit from other sites?

I love The Go-Go’s music and this documentary. I knew they were wild offstage but daaamn. Those girls partied hard. Courtney’s heroin addiction story was riveting. I was quite moved that it was Jane’s replacement that encouraged her to go to rehab. They all got through their stuff and seem more stronger for it.

Belinda Carlisle made Madonna look like a nun back then. She was THE party girl of the 80s.

The 42-minute version

R59 Here..

No mention of the apartment Belinda maintained in Marina Del Rey into the early 2000s for the sole reason of having a place to do coke.

I want a song called “Secret Coke Apartment.”

I think one of the reasons they don’t perform much from Talk Show is that Charlotte doesn’t have the guitar skill to do as good of a job as Kathy did on the album. The guitar parts on BATB and Vacation are much more simplistic.

Caught this last night. Time has not been kind to these ladies.

Charlotte's junky side was evident in the MTV promo with Kathy Valentine. Kathy has to talk to her like a two-year old to get her to read a cue card since she was so fucked up.

Holy shit does Charlotte look amazing for a 67 year-old former junkie!

Charlotte has always had a hardened look and isn't photogenic.

Belinda, on the other hand, looks great for being an out-of-control cokehead for decades.

So did each one have an abusive relationship with a different illegal substance?

r67 she looked fucking great in the doc.

If looking like a wrinkle-free 67-year old drag queen courtesy of botox is looking fucking great, then sure.

I don't know what you were watching, R70. The only one who looks like she's had too much "work" is Carlisle. And it's a shame, because that was a face that could launch a thousand album covers.

r70 she looked great. Not overdone and certainly not like a drag queen.

Check out the foreheads on Charlotte and Gina and say they haven't had work done.

Break me off a piece of this kitten with a whip!

R72 how does she not look like a drag queen?

Of course they've had work done, everybody in Southern California has had work done. The don't look "overdone" though.

[quote]how does she not look like a drag queen?

Because she doesn't?

R77 but....how?

They all look great, considering they snorted the GDP of Columbia.

She's always had a hardened junky look.

Nah, she looks great for her age.

R81 are you Charlotte's publicist?

They could've had so much more success if they hadn't been such catty bitches with each other. It was mostly about the publishing royalties, but Charlotte and Jane were the main songwriters. The others wanted a piece of the publishing, but why should they when they didn't write?

r82 why are you so hung up on Charlotte looking like a junkie drag queen when she doesn't?

R84 Sure, Jan

Drag queens usually are more glam than Charlotte. She's more like a female Iggy Pop.

Y'all should read Kathy's book, it is really good.

(Though it ends too early)

I enjoyed it. Always love the Go-Go's. The one about Duran Duran is pretty good too.

Some of the footage in the documentary was from Cinemax's "Album Flash"

Charlotte’s 66. Wow!

It’s absolutely amazing that none of them joined the 27 club.

All the Go-Go's are over 60 now.

[quote] They could've had so much more success if they hadn't been such catty bitches with each other. It was mostly about the publishing royalties, but Charlotte and Jane were the main songwriters. The others wanted a piece of the publishing, but why should they when they didn't write?

The bands that have avoided this just shared songwriting profit equally. Coldplay does that so Joe Schmo we don't know gets as much as the Former Human Paltrow Dildo.

They shouldn't get songwriting royalties if they don't write the songs. That's been an issue with so many bands.

Jane looks the best now. She's still such a cutie.

I love all of them. Even bitchy Belinda and Eeyore Kathy.

Did they mention Charlotte's time with "The Graces"? Always liked that album

They left out so many things. For example, did you know that Vacation was the very first cassingle ever released?

R97 Like that did so well for the cassingle.

On Ebay.

If someone writes a song, they're the one who get the royalty. Period. If a writer is willing to give up portions of their royalties to other band members who did not write the songs, that's their stupidity, er, decision. The others were envious of the money but also aware that they couldn't write the songs.

Yes, R100, that point has been made, repeatedly, over, and over, and over in this thread. We got it.

However, being in a band is also a business, which is why MANY bands divide money equally, and that includes songwriting proceeds. They probably do so in an attempt to avoid the SAME FUCKING ISSUE that the Go-Go's experienced, where half the band gets 90 percent of the money and two members are left with little to no money.

I did like how Belinda admitted that she didn't feel she had a right to argue about the songwriting money since she was such a fuck up.

At some point, they all had to just suck it up about Belinda being the "star". She may have not been a great singer, but she had a distinctive voice, was gorgeous, and just had "IT". Without her, no one would ever care about a Go-Go's reunion of any kind. Seem like they have all gotten used to their place in the band.

"Mad About You" was one of the first songs to be released on a CD single.

I loathe Belinda and I loathe how her insecurities have split the band apart time and again.

After reading what she did or tried to do when Kathy was out of the band, I have had sufficient of Bitchlinda Carlisle for the rest of my life. She can claim chanting and peace and love but she was a miserable, hateful cunt to others in the band and this is recent past, not 40 years ago, so she can save that fucking act for her husband, her kid or her fans.

Which one of them banged Sting when they toured?

Belinda never acted alone. Charlotte joined her to gang up on the others to break up the band in the 80s. Jane was involved with Kathy being kicked out a few years ago.

They could've had a much longer run if they hadn't been such cunts to each other.

I agree with the person above who said Jane looks the best. She looks exactly like herself, and appropriate for her age. Belinda looks indistinguishable from every other nipped and tucked Hollywood terror -- all of these women have turned into each other, the same exact face.

[quote] Belinda never acted alone. Charlotte joined her to gang up on the others to break up the band in the 80s. Jane was involved with Kathy being kicked out a few years ago.

Yes, some truth to that. At other times she's had co-conspirators.

According to the lawsuit from a few years ago, Belinda literally tried to have every single member of the band fired - or pushed out of the business, however you want to word it - to reduce that person's share of Go Go's Inc profits from 20 to 2 percent. She went after Jane first, if I recall, according to the papers. By the time Kathy was fired I guess enough members decided to agree on that.

That lawsuit was the revelatory document. I just could not believe it.

If Jane hadn't quit, Belinda and Charlotte couldn't have used the leverage of "She's the voice and I write the hits" against Gina and Kathy. And Jane likely wouldn't have ganged up on Gina since they are longtime friends.

[quote]However, being in a band is also a business, which is why MANY bands divide money equally, and that includes songwriting proceeds. They probably do so in an attempt to avoid the SAME FUCKING ISSUE that the Go-Go's experienced, where half the band gets 90 percent of the money and two members are left with little to no money.

The songwriters the Spice Girls worked with made it clear Geri Halliwell was the creative force and did most of the co-writing with them, but all 5 girls agreed to share the royalties.

When Geri left group the Absolute songwriting team were told by the Spice Girls management team not to work with her. They said fuck off and did the whole of Geri's first album, with 3 number 1s.

I had no idea Geri was involved with songwriting.

R101 = Gina.

Too bad but the group was never that much anyways. Be thankful you got that 10% because it's more than you would have made working at Burger King.

So Geri was the one with all the talent? Who knew?

R114 Well it obviously wasn't Victoria.

I think they all look pretty good. Gina's put on a few pounds. But haven't we all. Belinda is the one that I think that looks like crap. Too many fillers. Too much plastic surgery. I'm glad to see they're back playing again. And friends again. They were really fun band.

Fun fact. Belinda is one day younger than our Madonna.

I haven't seen the doc yet. Were Margot and the original drummer in this too?

If the Go Gos were around today, they'd be ordered to get makeovers and have a ton of plastic surgery to look like Instahos before any record company would sign them.

I'm sure the editors tried to get a few seconds of Belinda not looking at her phone as the whole band walked on Sunset to the Whiskey.

But, nope, Belinda was going to be standoffish and stared at her phone the entire time.

Has Belinda ever done anal?

I peg, er, beg your pardon, r120? We don't do that in our house! Just ask Duke!

UK AUDIENCE: "Show us your tits!"

BELINDA: "We don't do that."

R118, they did have a ton of transformations. It was during the MTV era. Even the cover of Beauty and the Beat was something of an ode to the concept. It was also ironic because the girls were known to not bathe.

(R117) the ex members are in it. And their ex manager. It's pretty sad.

I thought it was just okay...a standard, by-the-numbers rock doc.It felt like there was a lot more to be told, and that they were just skimming the surface, maybe in order to not pick at old wounds. Honestly, I learned more about the band just listening to Kathy Valentine's interview on the Mark Maron podcast.

The whole thing seemed like a pitch for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Because they came from the punk scene. They were part of the punk scene. The punk scene was wild. They were a punk band at heart, because they started out on the punk scene. Oh, and did I mention they came from the punk scene? Because they came from the punk scene.

R125 I don't think you paid attention, but The Go-Go's were part of the punk scene. In Los Angeles.

I'm surprised that they went into Charlotte's heroin addiction in such detail but didn't mention Belinda's decades long coke addiction at all. Weird. Also, R122, I remember when Belinda did that. I was so excited to see the pictures and when I finally saw them they were so airbrushed they looked like paintings. Really disappointing.

Any mention of Jane fucking the guy from The Specials/Fun Boy Three. Terry Hall? I was shocked to find out Terry was straight! I always thought he was gay. I saw The Specials several times in concert, Terry definitely didn't come across as straight.

Jane wrote "Our Lips Are Sealed" with Terry Hall, what a great song. I enjoy both versions, but The Fun Boy Three version is somewhat better, to my ears.

The more I read the more I think I'll miss this one

Funny that the documentary tried to make them seem a bigger success than they were.

It says they were the most successful all-female group ever...that played their own instruments...and wrote their own songs.

Too many qualifiers to count for anything

Why don’t more women write songs and play instruments? I guess most little girls don’t dream of being in a band.

I was surprised that the doc didn’t play that infamous and much played video of them when they were all drunk as shit and had some men with them.

R130, although Heart had interchangeable male band members, the Wilson sisters outdid the GoGos on every level, although ironically, their biggest chart hits were written by others.

[quote]Why don’t more women write songs and play instruments? I guess most little girls don’t dream of being in a band.

Because the life of being on the road in a band is pretty grueling and it's much more the proclivity of men than women.

Love the Go Go's and Belinda's solo work.

Why wasn't Belinda able to sustain her solo success in the US? Her first two albums were HUGE. She was getting Madonna, Janet Jackson level buzz in 87 and 88. Then a year later it was gone. A shame because her following two albums were every bit as good.

Most 80s artists were over in the early 90s. They stopped getting radio play and promotion, only the huge stars made the transition into the 90s like Madonna and Whitney.

R136, the most important aspect of the argument is that the 80s ushered in music video. You get a catchy video and it overrode the music. That's why the GoGos image and videos were so important. Without it, there would have been no success and they would have been, I don't know, the Donnas

Belinda was in that league though. She was nominated for several American Music Awards and her competition was Madonna, Whitney and Janet.

I'm just saying it was like she was everywhere in 1988 but by the following year it was completely different.

Regarding Belinda's solo career in the US, wasn't there a story of how she was either drunk or stoned and bitched out some producer and he pretty much blacklisted her?

I recall reading that somewhere. I know she mentioned the confrontation in her book, but I think that resulted in her being blacklisted.

They were huge in the early 80's. But it was lightning in a bottle, they were done by 85.

Loved them back in the day...Belinda can off kind of bad and self important, she spoke of Mad about You as a Go Go song but it was her first solo song right?

Jane did look the best, she seems sweet. They were all so fucked up it is amazing they lasted as long as they didi.

Loved Gina's Baltimore accent, she still has it after all these years. It is like a listening to a John Waters movie.

Behind the Music with The Bangles is a surprisingly similar story to the Go-Go's without the drugs. They had the same manager, Susanna and Michael Steele divided the band by shunning the other two, Susannah was recruited by their new management to leave as a solo artist, Susannah struggled on her own and they've gotten back together for several reunions.

R141

The doc was exceptionally good and Jane is still gorgeous. She’s like an amalgamation of Jennifer Tilly an Winona Ryder.

I love The Go-Go’s but I love The Bangles more. They were a better band.

Neither Susannah Hoffs or Michael Steele "I just wanted to go home" have legitimate reasons for not going to Debbi Peterson's wedding after being invited in the video at R142

Belinda's solo work was unremarkable.

It's not that it was bad, but it was manufactured for her by songwriters and aside from a few songs like Mad About You, really could have been anyone singing and/or created for anyone.

I remember the story of the Go-Go's opening for Robert Palmer solo, and he'd been rude to them, so Belinda smeared her period blood on his suit.

The execs at IRS really hated this band. They were excited for their success at the beginning but tired of their antics and also diminishing record sales.

I just watched it. I wish they showed Morgan Mason. I think he's hot.

Ain't he though?

"Mad About You" and "Heaven is a Place on Earth" are great summer songs.

B has always seemed like an airhead in interviews.

Not only were Belinda Carlisle and Madonna born a day apart, both lost a parent at five years old.

Madonna's mom died and Belinda's dad walked out on her family that year.

Which one exactly had the beat?

I saw Belinda and Charlotte on Belinda's first solo tour in a small club in Philly. Was a wonderful night!

They put on fantastic live shows.

Belinda's face 😕

Belinda's pictures in Playboy.😂 It looks creepy with that much airbrushing. Why didn't they just use another models body and put her head on it. It might have looked better.

Just a little background information:

Their best song is "Head Over Heels."

Jane has a cute YouTube Channel. She looks great.

Kathy wrote Vacation, correct? Is/Was that their most successful song? I seem to remember reading a comment from her that the royalties from that still cover a bunch of her expenses since it has been used in movies, commercials, etc.

Charlotte Caffey co-wrote the best 2 Bangles songs released since their reunion, with Susanna Hoffs and Vicki Peterson - Something That You Said and I'll Never Be Through With You.

And when Caffey took time out to have her daughter in 1994, Vicki Peterson performed in her place for the Go-Go's tour to coincide with the Return To The Valley Of The Go-Go's album.

Imagine Peterson backstage watching silently at the passive aggressive nastiness of her temporary bandmates thinking "And I thought the Bangles were fucked up..."

My favorite part of the documentary was when they talked about Gina moving to LA and how she didn't look punk enough, so they cut her hair and dyed it black. The very next sentence was them talking about how in the LA punk scene you could be yourself and be accepted.

I wish they had talked about Jane and Sparks.

Belinda is starting to look like Priscilla Presley.

One-fourth of these comments are from the same person (yikes).

[quote]Belinda is starting to look like Priscilla Presley.

OMG you’re right!

Belinda has always looked like Priscilla Presley. If you look at her in the Mad About You video when she's in the car going in circles, the resemblance is uncanny.

I remember reading an interview with one of the Go-Gos — wish I could remember which member, sorry DL — and she said something interesting about the band’s dynamics. She commented that they shared the uniquely female trait of alternating between tiptoeing around each others’ feelings and going for the jugular.

R164 That's the hypocrisy of punk in general for you.

NPR did a little history of the band thing

R161 yes

I can't remember if it was in an interview for her book (maybe Marc Maron?) or in her book but yes, one year of licensing Vacation was about 60K. Not making her rich but after taxes, not bad.

[quote] Kathy wrote Vacation, correct? Is/Was that their most successful song? I seem to remember reading a comment from her that the royalties from that still cover a bunch of her expenses since it has been used in movies, commercials, etc.

In her book she pretty much comes out and says that she regrets giving co-writing credit to Charlotte for this song because she really wrote it herself.

[quote]Belinda has always looked like Priscilla Presley. If you look at her in the Mad About You video when she's in the car going in circles, the resemblance is uncanny.

Belinda was purposely rocking the Ann-Margaret look for the Live Your Life Be Free era, to a point Ann-Margaret thought she was watching herself on tv, according to one of Belinda's interviews, although that might have been the cocaine talking.

No idea why the US record company launched the album with Do You Feel Like I Feel, one of the most pedestrian Nowels/Shipley songs. I Plead Insanity, You're Nothing Without Me or Love Revolution would have been better first singles. The title track was released in the UK and made it to #12.

[quote]In her book she pretty much comes out and says that she regrets giving co-writing credit to Charlotte for this song because she really wrote it herself.

They played the original Vacation on the documentary and the verse is recognisable but the chorus was really weak. If Caffey helped re-write it she deserves a credit.

Wasn't there a story about Peter Allen getting a songwriting credit for Arthur's Theme because he contributed the "when you get caught between the moon and New York City" line and nothing else?

And Allen's line is what made that song, and it's the only verse anyone remembers.

Kathy co-wrote Head Over Heels too.

[quote]And Allen's line is what made that song, and it's the only verse anyone remembers.

Absolutely.

This is Kathys original song. The foundations are there but whoever (Caffey or Wiedlin) restructured it and added new lyrics and melody deserves a credit.

Original version of Vacation

Can't Stop the World by The Textones

Gina Schock is the kind of person who would be a blast to hang out and have drinks with.

She's a good ol' Baltimore girl.

I actually really like the new song a lot.

Textones/Kathy on vocals original of "We Don't Get Along".

Turn to You is their best video

That video is transphobic.

Boy Belinda looked like a young Mickey Rooney in the Turn to You video.

Girl Jane looks like Winona Ryder.

[quote]Girl Jane looks like Winona Ryder.

See R143.

Boy Gina is the best, with girl Kathy pretty funny as well.

Didn't one of them bang Rob Lowe?

R176 and R171. Definitely Charlotte deserves some $ if she polished the original up. $60K a year is a nice base of cash to have, as long as Kathy owns her home, pulling in $5k a month from one song isnt too bad.

Belinda is so FAT in Turn to You.

R190 Of course, that’s why she had to turn, it was too hard to waddle at that point.

R191 lololol

Belinda and Madonna both have the dulcet tones of a bleating sheep. It was funny when her back up dancers were making fun of her in Truth or Dare, they both sound alike.

Belinda demoed Boy Meets Girl’s “Waiting For a Star to Fall” but she reportedly hated the song.

I'm not generally a Belinda fan but that aside, that song was not a good match for her voice and she was wise to nix it.

"This is like a bad drunk woman on the karaoke singing a bad version of the Boy meets Girl classic" R194

"We Got the Beat" - Stiff Single Version

R193, Donna Delory sang backup for Belinda Carlisle.

donna delory sang backup for eeeevvvvverrryyyyone

R161 only two Billboard top 10s. We Got The Beat reached number 2, and Vacation reached number 8.

Head Over Heels *just* missed top 10 and stalled at 11

Jane was right to walk away when asked to split royalties. Why would anyone want to only get 1/5 of what they were previously getting paid?

I don't blame Jane at all. If I wrote the damn songs and then the other band members - who contributed nothing to the writing of those songs - demanded a cut of the royalties I would be all "FUCK YOU!" too and walk out.

Jane may not have wanted to split royalties five ways, but she also pulled the plug on receiving any future royalties from any new material.

R204, they didn't have any big hits afterwards, so all the money was in those first few songs.

R205 I wonder why....

I also think they had a pretty poorly defined persona. Their music was out of whack with what the record company wanted their image to be. All this female bubblegum. That got stale quickly and their music went south immediately anyways.

Here’s a not to bad bootleg of the Head Over Heels musical.

Wasn't Belinda a raging cokehead bitch and that's what mostly put an end to her solo career?

A lousy voice and shitty songs contributed too.

R209 she definitely had her binge issues after her peak in the late 80s. I think she had more hits in Europe into the 90s. I’m kinda surprised she faded practically into oblivion in the States. I guess it was out with the old in with the new thing of the new decade. Could have sworn her and Mason were divorced but Wikipedia says they are still married.

Did Jane say she left over royalties? I thought the big issue was that Jane wanted to sing on one song she wrote on Talk Show, and Belinda insisted she had to sing every note of every song as that was her sole purpose in the band.

I learned what a cokehead was because of Belinda.

R213 What did you think Julie McCoy was doing?

It only works because of Belinda - it doesn't matter if she didn't write or have a great voice. She's the reason they blew up. She deserves song writing royalties/publishing because of that. Otherwise, there would be a bunch of great songs and with nowhere to go.

[quote]What male musicians are held accountable for sexual assaults in their rockumentaries? I'll wait.

Thanks for waiting.

Belinda in 2013

WHO THE HELL STOLE MY PURSE?!

R212 according to the documentary, it wasn't just Belinda, it was all of them who were against Jane singing.

I wonder if the fact that she'd already done that duet "Cool Places" with Sparks had something to do with it. Bands can get weird when one member steps out and does something outside the band, especially if it's a success. And even though it barely scraped into the top 50 nationally, it was a big hit and all over the radio in L.A. They might have perceived that as a threat to the group, or as breaking some sort of unspoken understanding they had with each other. Like, bitch, you already stepped out of line once, now we have to put you back in your place.

Yup - from Kathy's book

Still, I fantasized what the band would sound like if things could get switched up a little sometimes. Char had played bass in her previous band and could tear it up on piano. Her keyboards slayed in “Head Over Heels” and added great effect on “Forget That Day,” a song I’d played lead guitar on. What would it hurt if we moved around a little? It might make the band more dynamic, I reasoned—only to myself, certain no one would go for the idea. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one fantasizing about loosening up the format of the band.

Except Jane didn’t keep it to herself. She asked to sing “Forget That Day,” a track that had turned out to be an epic favorite of all of ours. It was personal to her: her song, about her life. The four of us gathered to discuss Jane’s request and shot it down immediately. How the hell would that work? What if it became a single—wouldn’t it be confusing? What if everyone wanted to sing a song? And what would Belinda do while Jane sang her song? It was decided. Everyone had their role, and Belinda sang.

Jane didn’t take the rejection well. The rigidity of the band angered her. Without telling any of us, she left—just got on a plane and left the record, left the country.

I like Jane’s solo stuff. Fur and Tangled are great pop albums.

Rush Hour was a hit and the title track of Tangled was on the Pretty Woman soundtrack which sold millions and I am sure Jane got some nice royalty cheques from that.

Kathy Valentine wrote in her deleted twitter biography that they met Melissa Gilbert through Rob Lowe and she was such a ravenous cokehead the band referred to her as "Half-Gram."

What was the name of Belinda’s racehorse, book reviews says she doesn’t even name it there?

R217 Listening to that I kept thinking, who speaks this way? who speaks this way? Then I realized, it’s Dan Levy.

Meanwhile, Tanya Donnelly (Breeders, Belly, Throwing Muses) did a kick ass version of one of their songs w/some classical music types.....

I've never cared much about The Go-Go's, but I've had a hard time getting "Our Lips Our Sealed" out of my head since watching the documentary. One has to admit that chubby Bitchlinda brought a lot of charisma to the video!

Jane's vocal during "Our Lips are Sealed" is one of the best parts of the song so I don't know why the band had a problem with her singing lead on one song.

The Beatles, the Bangles, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, The Cars, the Rolling Stones, Smashing Pumpkins released songs on their biggest albums with other members singing lead vocal.

R227 Wasn’t Beth Kiss’ biggest hit?

The GoGo's first album was packed with good tunes...Our Lips Are Sealed, We got the beat, This Town, Automatic, Lust to Love come to mind.

R266 Why during Jane’s solo at 1:40 is Belinda hiding on the bench seat? Was that to keep from getting a parking ticket as long as someone was in the driver’s seat? And was the fountain diving before or after Friends?

Was anyone else on this thread there with me for the Go-Go's Walk of Fame ceremony in August 2011?

Belinda had great, catchy pop songs, and she's still able to pack theaters all over Europe as a solo artist.

Please. Belinda had 4 good songs over the course of 2 years. She could barely pack a high school auditorium.

I saw them at the Greek in 1982. Their "sell out" concert. I was 15 and bought one of their t shirts, and I was hanging out on Melrose wearing it and got called a "poseur" by some gnomish looking guy with spikey hair. Pretty funny memory.

Was Suicide Blonde about Belinda or Kylie Minogue?

Belinda's done successful 30th anniversary tours of her albums all over the UK and Europe.

Kylie, r235. As if Michael Hutchence would write a song about Berlimpa.

You can hire Jane to marry you.

Belinda and Michael Hutchence dated for years

And years...

R239 Well that’s once and done. I’m guessing for a green card?

Belinda gettin that Hutchence dick

Belinda did Sandy in a local LA production of Grease. She got hilariously bad reviews.

R244 Was she Stockard Channing levels of too old when she did?

You be the judge, R245.

Belinda didn't date Michael Hutchence for 10 years. She dated him briefly, but (a) she was playing the field, including dating some baseball player with a huge dick and (b) she married Morgan Mason in 1986.

Aren't Morgan and Mason two of Jiminy Glick's sons?

Belinda's son is gay.

"Please. Belinda had 4 good songs over the course of 2 years. She could barely pack a high school auditorium. "

But, she actually could/can pack venues. It's pop music. It doesn't take more than a couple songs, and she had those songs. 4 good songs is more than enough to sustain a career.

Besides Band of Gold, what other covers is she known for doing?

R249 Yes, we've known about her for a while.

I didn't really think Morgan Mason seemed hot in pictures, but seeing him interviewed during Belinda's Intimate Portrait and I get it.

Belinda’s 4 hit songs and the Go Go’s 3 hit songs means she can fill out a set list with a few less familiar favorites and still have a nice one hour concert set.

I liked Belinda’s French album.

I like a lot of Belinda's solo stuff. Runaway Horses is a great album and Heaven on Earth has some pop gems.

The thing is, Belinda never seemed liked she enjoyed being a pop star. She doesn't seem like a happy person.

Belinda was and is a size queen, so....

....ha, wonder if James Duke is, too? LOL

[quote] She doesn't seem like a happy person.

That, I sadly agree with. And although I am not now a fan, I loved her when the band started, and it makes me sad that she was not able to enjoy it. It seems like she alienated herself from family, friends and her fellow band mates. And sometimes still does.

Belinda is miserable because she's a fat girl in a thin girl's body.

Look at her when she was young. She was that pretty, big-boned girl who you knew was going to blow up to 200-plus pounds someday.

To her credit, she didn't let that happen...but at what cost?

Beauty is pain.

[quote]That, I sadly agree with. And although I am not now a fan, I loved her when the band started, and it makes me sad that she was not able to enjoy it. It seems like she alienated herself from family, friends and her fellow band mates. And sometimes still does.

I've seen her live in the UK a couple of times and she has no stage presence or charisma when it comes to performing. But seeing her with the Go-Go's it's like watching a different person. Maybe it's the cocaine, but she enjoys herself when she's with the others. Maybe it's the music - I love the Rick Nowels stuff but she can't dance around to it.

Yeah, there is definitely a difference when she is solo and when she is with the Go-Go's. I bought all those deluxe reissues a few years ago of Belinda's solo albums (by the way, nicely done by Edsel). There was a bonus concert from the Heaven on Earth tour on the accompanying DVD. Belinda gave an adequate performance, but she seemed to only come alive when she performed a Go-Go's song.

It's kind of the same for Beyonce. She seems more fun when she's part of Destiny's Child.

[quote]Belinda's done successful 30th anniversary tours of her albums all over the UK and Europe.

She played 40 concerts in 2019, most of them part of the Runaway Horses tour.

You can see her setlists on the link below, she generally does about 15-20 songs a night and there are the obvious favourites but she throws in album tracks from time to time. The first time I saw her live she sang Emotional Highway.

They REALLY should be in the RRHOF. That's some bullshit that they're not.

^I agree with that. Jann Wenner is such a cunt.

Watched the documentary last night, very interesting. A couple of things I’ve noticed: Both the VH1 “Behind the Music” and the Showtime doc related the story of how the band approached Jane and wanted to split the songwriting royalties five ways, even though Belinda and Gina didn’t write anything, and Jane was angry that they wanted the split immediately, not with the next album, as Jane proposed. But I’ve never heard of Charlotte’s reaction to this royalties proposal.

It was also interesting to see them discuss the situation where Jane asked to sing lead on a song for “Talk Show” that she’d written and had a lot of personal meaning for her. The band shot down the idea immediately. Gina made a point in the doc of pointing out that it was not a unanimous decision, and they all said they regretted their snap decision that meant so much to Jane.

I agree with the posters above that Belinda doesn’t seem like a very happy person.

Really interesting saga.

Gina was in a band with Vance DeGeneres, Ellen's brother. I wonder what Gina thinks of Ellen.

Sandra Bernhard and Belinda are good friends ..I wonder what they talk about?

[quote] Sandra Bernhard and Belinda are good friends ..I wonder what they talk about?

They talk about Madonna, Sandra’s favourite topic.

So, DLers who have read Kathy's book is it a good read? I read Belinda's book. How do the two books compare?

I love this band and all the shit they've gotten into.

[quote]Gina was in a band with Vance DeGeneres, Ellen's brother. I wonder what Gina thinks of Ellen.

Especially since Gina dated Jodie Foster, and Jodie married the woman Ellen dumped in a nasty way after meeting Portia.

[quote]Especially since Gina dated Jodie Foster, and Jodie married the woman Ellen dumped in a nasty way after meeting Portia.

Lesbian merry go round. Did Gina ever date Sophie B Hawkins?

R265 I think "The band" was actually Belinda. I can't imagine anyone else in the band having an issue with Jane, one of the major songwriters, singing lead on ONE fucking song. Carlise herself said in the doc that she needed some humbling, which she got after her label dropped her. I give her kudos for being honest about that.

I still think punk started in NYC but flourished in the UK.

At what point does doing that much coke just ruin your dopamine receptors in your brain? I would think for many exaddicts they’ve destroyed their ability for happy feelings so Belinda’s affect might be part of that?

A few things I learned/saw from this documentary:

Belinda: I always assumed she was a pretty, spoiled rich girl who tried singing in a band for fun. Had no idea she was from a poor family, bad homelife, involved in the punk scene, and had massive body / other issues. She became such a beauty in the Mad About You video - it's really astonishing. I can see why she has a prickly personality.

Jane: I thought she had always written most of the songs - turns out it was just the last album mainly. She had the most solo success IMO - Sparks song, Our Lips are Sealed with Fun Boy 3, small acting roles, and her own solo hit song and album. They act like she had no other successes - 100% the opposite.

Charlotte: I feel like this doc was meant to be about her. Her heroin issues, her writing the songs, classical background. She got the lionshare of attention in this film - which was interesting, but she's always been a non-entity in my opinion. She never interested me and never thought she looked like she belonged in the band.

Gina: Wow - I thought she would come off a bit tougher, but she's just a Baltimore party girl who seems affable but not particularly bright. I thought she had some previous success in another band? And why no mention of Jodi Foster or any lesbian affairs?

Kathy: Snooze. Forgettable. Never made an impression on me before and still didn't in the doc.

Lastly, the documentary made me SO NOSTALGIC for the 80's punk/alternative band scene. Everything - music, fashion, speed - seemed so new and different and fresh. The topics in song lyrics were different and aggressive and straight forward. A lot of DIY. And it was still relatively inexpensive to see bands. Seedy and cheap clubs to go to where all the new music was played - and one of the only places to hear it.

Now? Huge ticket prices, every photo of a band is designed and perfected with makeup/lighting/clothes, and there's no 'grit' or edge.

Sandra outed Belinda as bi in one of her shows.

Jane never gets the credit she deserves. I still remember when she was on The Surreal Life and that fat cunt Da Brat called Jane a "has been". WTF has Da Brat accomplished?

I enjoyed all of Jane's solo albums, just as much as I enjoyed Belinda's. Maybe Belinda feels a bit threatened by Jane because she is a singer and songwriter. Belinda really isn't a songwriter.

I can't stand Jane's little girl speaking voice. Nails on a chalkboard.

I forgot about her stint on The Surreal Life, R275.

^ Ooops, Jane was on season 4 not season 3!

Gina also dated Sara Gilbert.

R269 Her book is actually better than Belinda's - really well done

Jane was invited to Kathy Griffin's Christmas party which aired on "My Life on the D-List" and Jane loudly complained that no one at the party "wants her vagina."

Belinda's more animated when talking about her earlier years including the days before the Go go's hit it huge. From what she has said in interviews, I don't think she's ever been comfortable with being famous. She just wanted to sing, make money and party all the time. Plus she was away too much from her kid when he was growing up, and she has said that's been her biggest regret was that she wasn't a stay at home parent.

R269 Kathy's book was very, very good. It's not all about the Go-Go's but more than anything else, it helped me understand their story.

I've liked her since she's been on Twitter but have to admit she was in the background for me during their active years....but the book is very compelling.

[quote] Charlotte: I feel like this doc was meant to be about her. Her heroin issues, her writing the songs, classical background. She got the lionshare of attention in this film - which was interesting, but she's always been a non-entity in my opinion. She never interested me and never thought she looked like she belonged in the band.

Charlotte probably has the broadest resume and songwriting credits of anyone in the band. She's written many other songs, was involved in other bands (she contributed a song and some arranging to one of the Hole albums).

R283, I spoke to Kathy on Facebook back when BB King died, which made me like her even more. She always seemed engaging with her fans. I will definitely check her book out.

I do have to give Jane and Belinda credit for their work with animals.

R285 I've chatted with her a few times on Twitter. She's very nice.

I've always admired Jane's commitment to animal rights.

In that one pic of Kathy they kept showing during the story about how she learned all the Go-Gos bass lines on a 3-day coke bender, I thought she resembled Shirley MacLaine at a similar age.

R274---Are you familiar with an LA band called The Brat? Latino group with a youngish girl singer. They made one EP then broke up before they could make it big. They were associated with X--note Exene's calligraphy on their EP cover. Give em a listen, great energy, lyrics, attitude. Too bad they never had more of a chance.

Is it just me or does Charlotte REALLY resemble Ellen?

Jane used to be a professional dominatrix. Is she still? Oh, and her vocal likeness to Jennifer Tilly is uncanny.

Charlotte seemed like the most straight of the group...she looked like a girl from the suburbs but damn she was fucked up.

They all talk about having problems with Belinda, but Charlotte supported Belinda's solo career instead of staying with band and no one ever directly says anything negative about her.

R292 - she always looked like a suburban soccer mom. But she's one of 13 kids. Her dad was a pretty successful director. I can imagine feeling lost in the shuffle with 12 other kids and Dad being in Hollywood.

Two of her siblings are also in the music industry, so I assume she has quite a bit of contacts.

Charlotte even went with Belinda on her first solo tour.

Belinda was the front of the group, and of course got the big solo career, so she was going to feel the resentment much more.

Caffey wrote 9 of the 10 songs on Belinda's Real album.

Goodbye Day, One With You and Big Scary Animal are the closest Belinda's come to doing Go-Go's type music.

It's a great, broad-based story that encompasses the individual stories. No matter who you like or don't like, it's just really interesting, engaging material, IMO. Enjoyed the doc.

For no real reason, here's a timeline of Go-Go's and Go-Go's adjacent album releases over a 20 year period

1981 - Beauty And The Beat 1982 - Vacation 1984 - Talk Show 1985 - Jane Wiedlin 1986 - Belinda 1987 - Heaven On Earth 1988 - Fur 1989 - Runaway Horses 1989 - Perfect View 1990 - Tangled 1991 - Live Your Life Be Free 1993 - Real 1996 - A Woman And A Man 2000 - Kissproof World 2001 - God Bless The Go-Go's

Fucking formatting

1981 - Beauty And The Beat

1982 - Vacation

1984 - Talk Show

1985 - Jane Wiedlin

1986 - Belinda

1987 - Heaven On Earth #

1988 - Fur

1989 - Runaway Horses

1989 - Perfect View

1990 - Tangled

1991 - Live Your Life Be Free

1993 - Real

1996 - A Woman And A Man#

2000 - Kissproof World

2001 - God Bless The Go-Go's

More than any other Go-Go's or Belinda songs, I hear "Heaven is a Place on Earth" the most playing in grocery stores and gas stations.

Our Lips are Sealed is one of the best pop songs of all time. And Jane’s contributions are a major factor.

[quote]Jane never gets the credit she deserves. I still remember when she was on The Surreal Life and that fat cunt Da Brat called Jane a "has been". WTF has Da Brat accomplished?

Were they both mad because they each wanted to be the only stud in the house?

Does Belinda still live in Bangkok? Does she still have a home in LA and France?

I was surprised at Kathy's beach bod in the Palm Springs pictures, but she used to be an aerobics instructor and did that Cinemax Album Flash interview on a home exercise bike.

The key change during the last chorus of Heaven is a Place on Earth is pure bliss. It's literally like heaven on Earth. Even though she's lip synching here, I still LOVE this performance and her energy (and even the mom jeans).

"Jane never gets the credit she deserves. I still remember when she was on The Surreal Life and that fat cunt Da Brat called Jane a "has been". WTF has Da Brat accomplished?"

I know DL hates rap/hip-hop, but Da Brat did accomplish plenty. Two platinum albums, one gold. 6 Top 40 singles; and two more that were 44 and 56. All of these were higher on the R&B and Hip hop charts. Lots of guest appearances on high charting collabos.

So yeah, the comment is super shitty, and really by the Surreal Life, Da Brat was basically a has been as well. But, she did accomplish a lot when here career was at its peak.

I hate Heaven is a Place on Earth.

Madonna was right to snark about it.

Da Brat was also in Glitter.

She's a legend!

Jane looks amazing for 62 or whatever she is. Excellent work.

Heaven Is A Place on Earth is catchier and a better piece of pop music than anything Madonna has ever put out.

Mariah knows DaBrat.

Please, True Blue shits all over HOE r310

Just curious, did they ever cover Wake Me Up Before you Go-Go?

True Blue shits diarrhea.

It's so odd to think that they're all early to late 60s.

Even though I was only nine when their first album was released, I associate them with my teens for some reason. And, I never realized that the youngest member is slightly closer to my parents' age than she is to me. The oldest member is much closer to parents age.

I always think of them as "youthful" in terms of vibe and energy.

Don’t piss Belinda off she just wants to sing her fucking song!

Belinda outside Disgraceland where they lived on Cassil Place behind the Hollywood YMCA.

Does Belinda vote Republican like her husband?

Plus that picture R241 posted was taken at the Delinquents film premiere where Hutchence and Kylie made their official debut as a couple.

It's funny because there were always these rumors about them that were stated with fact back in the 80's - how they just started playing at a party and it took off, how they were rich daughters of industry execs (that one also was said about the Bangles), etc.

But they were mainly working class and authentically from the punk scene. I remember watching Decline of Western Civilization by Penelope Spheeris - that 1981 film documented the 79/80 punk scene really well.

One thing you have to remember - it was one thing for young guys to look edgy/punk, but for women to have shaved hair and strange punk clothes was REALLY against the grain. You can't compare it with the mid-80's when it became more mainstream. To be a punk chick in the late 70's took a lot of balls and a lot of abuse. I'm sure they have a lot of stories.

I really miss that independent, DIY and fuck you attitude of that whole time.

After watching this documentary, I'm curious to discover how most bands divvy up royalties! I've been watching a ton of music documentaries lately and most recently watched one about Gene Clark from The Byrds and the issue of royalties came up, too. Apparently it caused a big rift in the band when Gene got a $47,000 royalty check and the other members got $4,000 after their first album. It reminded me of the Go-Go's drama. How do most bands deal with the disparity and not hate each other? Does it become an even split?

I think Jon Bon Jovi gets all royalties and pays his band mates a regular salary from what I recall.

Belinda is a much cooler girlfriend than Kylie Minogue.

Damn, they're early career is really interesting. I love how they got big in the UK. Opening for Madness The Specials in LA, who both loved them and spread the word.

I like all these punkier or more acoustic versions of some of their well known songs.

I would have loved to have seen The Go Go's open for The Police.

I would have loved to have seen The Go Go's open fire on The Police.

r326, I would have loved to see The Police live.

I saw The Police, Berlin, The Fixx, and Thompson Twins – 1983 Hollywood Park. Fun day!!!

[quote] I still LOVE this performance and her energy

Cocaine

[quote] the most important aspect of the argument is that the 80s ushered in music video. You get a catchy video and it overrode the music. That's why the GoGos image and videos were so important. Without it, there would have been no success

“We Got the Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed” are great singles that would have held up without any visuals.

[quote]After watching this documentary, I'm curious to discover how most bands divvy up royalties!

The Spice Girls agreed to split co-writing royalties equally, despite Geri being more involved than the others in the creative process.

Bananarama shared equal writing credits up until the Pop Life album where Sara Dallin was the sole credit. Curiously when Young At Heart appeared on the Deep Sea Skiving album it was credited to Dallin/Fahey/Woodward, but when the Bluebells had a #1 hit it was credited to Fahey only.

The Bangles would credit whoever wrote the song, whether they co-wrote with each other or outside writers, like Hofffs did with Steinberg/Kelly on In Your Room and Eternal Flame and Belinda's album track I Need A Disguise. Hoffs' version of Something That You Said is on YouTube, originally planned for her solo album but it became the lead single for the Bangles comeback album Doll Revolution where Charlotte Caffey and Vicki Peterson got a credit. No idea who wrote it originally but the Bangles version is so superior maybe Hoffs & Caffey wrote it originally and Peterson got the credit for rewriting it.

There used to be a thing called "Change a word, take a third" where songwriters would be considered for major albums, and the artists would get a credit to make it look like they were part of the process. I'm sure Lady Gaga was accused of this by a lesbian who said she contributed nothing to Diane Warren's demo on that rape song.

If my memory serves--which it probably doesn't--I believe Cobain got 50 percent and Christ and Dave got 25 percent in Nirvana.

R318 Her husband doesn't. I follow him on Twitter, and he is a major left Dem. His days working for the Reagan administration are long gone, as is Reagan and his administration.

I’d watch a series set in the earlier days of the punk scene in L.A. can we get Millie Bobbie Brown to gain some weight to play a Belinda like doppelgänger?

I bet Belinda knows her way around a bottle of poppers.

[quote]I bet Belinda knows her way around a bottle of poppers.

Following the success of Cher and her Believe single and album, so many divas seemed to do a carbon copy, known in my clique as poppers anthems. Tina did When The Heartache Is Over (the subject of a ridiculous plot-line in Ally McBeal where Ally is picked over Elaine to be Tina's backing dancer) and Diana did Not Over You Yet.7

Belinda did her poppers anthem All God's Chidren to launch her second Greatest Hits cd of the 90s, and despite its INCLUSION and DIVERSITY message, no one liked it much.

R337 ha ha! We called them the Stance and Prance songs but yes, every producer of every middle aged diva seemed to churn those out for a while.

It was the production team of Metro that was responsible for those songs.

Cher still works with one of the members. He produced her ABBA covers album.

The video for "We Got the Beat" is just live footage.

They did a good job explaining the entire backstory leading up to the release of Beauty and the Beat. Cool that they included the ex-members. I felt sorry for the original manager - she seemed like a big asset. Great that they have her ample screen time.

The Specials, Madness, the Police - all loved them. Stewart Copeland and Sting can be notorious cranks so I love that they respected the Go Go's. And seeing the live footage, I'm hugely impressed how good they sounded live. Pop doesn't always transfer well to the stage without technological help like backing tracks. But, as Stewart Copeland said, they were really good at setting a groove and being "tight." And Belinda's vocals, and the backing vocals, were really good - she might not have huge range (which I think is an overrated thing for singers) - but she stayed on key and in pitch and didn't clip a lot of the vocals - which happens a lot when transferring songs to from studio to stage.

That new song they were putting together at the end and played over the closing credits is really solid, if not spectacular.

Did you guys realize the Go Gos were the first to record "Johnny, Are You Queer?"

Here's that very grungy, punk club version:

Counting down the BEST EVER Go Gos Covers of ALL TIME starts with the grunge rockers Everclear and their meaty version of "Our Lips Are Sealed."

Coming in at #20 is the VERY grungy, harder-rocking "We Got the Beat" from Poison Idea.

If you don't know the Soup Dragons from their 1990 cover of the Rolling Stones' "I'm Free," your life is not complete.

Turns out they covered the Go Gos, too and the results are some very groovy, classic R&B sounds with adorably scratchy vocals. Here's "Our Lips Are Sealed" for #19:

In fact, "Our Lips Are Sealed" is the most-covered Go Gos song of all time and I must admit, it's one of the best.

Coming in at #18 is The Hippos' faster-rocking version. Bonus points for the circus organ riffs!

#17. Speaking of keeping it punk, the Vindictives' cover of "How Much More" is very thrashy, old-school punk goodness:

Disney darling Debby Ryan brings us #16 on the countdown. Go Gos covers are ALL OVER children's movies, and Debby's version for the soundtrack 2012's RADIO REBEL combines the Go Gos' irresistible rock with house and dance music sounds:

One of the things that makes a great cover is reinventing the song with a totally different style and tempo in a compelling way.

Here's Isha's boogie-woogie jazz version of "Head Over Heels" for #15:

On that slowed-down, "easy listening" note, #14 brings us Jessica Manning's acoustic guitar version of "Our Lips Are Sealed."

It has a lovely, country twang. And I just know the lesbians on this thread are going to love that mellow, "lesbian singer in the coffee shop" vibe:

Covers queen, check out the Tanya Donnelly version of Automatic

Speaking of lesbian appeal, there's a Spanish Suzi Quatro imitation band called "Suzy y los Quattro," who do a fierce cover of "Vacation" for #13.

I know you ladies are going to love it because Suzi is such an Uzi:

Interesting, r351.

I hope the Glee version of We Got The Beat starring Lea Michele will feature in this countdown

I love this screechy, punk-out version of "Our Lips Are Sealed." Coming in at #12, here are the Peppermint Creeps!

I just love this country-flavored "Can't Stop the World" by Chapel Hill indie rock icons Superchunk. #11!

#10. You've probably heard Nouvelle Vague cover every '80s hit with some '60s jazz sound. If that's your thing, you might enjoy this Serge Gainsbourgy version of "Our Lips Are Sealed."

Or you might think their schtick is growing old!

But I'd rather watch the classic lineup of KIDS INCORPORATED perform "Our Lips Are Sealed" with Martika's ever-sassy vocals! #9:

#8 comes from the Go Gos themselves.

"Cool Jerk" was originally recorded by the Capitols in 1966. But 9 years after the Go Gos rockin' version from their debut album, the Go Gos reinvented the song for a more electronic age. "Cool Jerk '90" is almost B-52's-meets-Information Society:

And here's that Capitols original version of "Cool Jerk," FYI and a '60s, Motowny soul:

We're down to #7 and the covers are getting good!

As a child of '90s alternative rock, One Eighty's riot grrrl vocals and ska-punk version of "Vacation" win me over:

Here’s a long distance dedication to the countdown queen. Fuck off.

Roll over in your grave, Casey!

Is Kasem even buried yet? He's got bigger problems to worry about.

Now here's a really haunting, electronic jazz version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" done by Poe for the GOSSIP thriller soundtrack.

Love that spooky vibe and spoken-words for #6:

#5 is a gnarly, Industrial Rock version of "We Got the Beat" by Bile:

The Vacation pictures were taken at the old Charlie Chaplin stages where the "We are the World" video was filmed and Madonna's "Who's That Girl" video.

#4. I never in a million years thought I would enjoy ANYTHING recorded by Hillary and Haylie Duff for the CINDERELLA STORY soundtrack.

But their version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" actually rocks harder than the Go Gos!

Speaking of KIDS INCORPORATED, some castmates went on to form Wild Orchid, a not-so-cookie-cutter girl band through the '90s.

Their cover of "Our Lips Are Sealed" is a very original take with a funky synth bass, unique riffs and a Dee-Liteful breakdown in the middle! For # 3, here's what Fergie Ferg was doing between KIDS INC and the Black-Eyed Peas:

#2. If you don't like Johnny Aloha's "Vacation" á la Jimmy Buffet, you can just waste away in Margaritaville!

The most famous Go Gos cover of all time has to be Fun Boy Three's version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" for the TRAINSPOTTING soundtrack.

Coming in at #1 are those danceable post-punk grooves:

Which lever do I pull to be crushed by a safe?

Fuck off covers queen, no one cares.

Sorry, r354, neither GLEE cover of the Go Gos holds any charm over me.

Their "We Got the Beat" and "Vacation" didn't do anything original enough with the music. If GLEE had done one of their all a-cappella versions, that would be something. But sadly, they're just karaoke.

The STARGIRL version of "We Got the Beat" is also too derivative of GLEE and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. They need their own ideas.

VALLEY GIRL 2020's version of "We Got the Beat" also shit the bed with lack of originality, fakeness and that dropped pie-faced loser Logan Paul:

See what I mean?

I 😍 Countdown Queen ... and this thread ...

R374 Shit the bed? Are you the same person as that new foam mattress, I shit on it thread?

Thanks, Cover Countdown guy. That was fun.

The "Cool Jerk" from "Greatest" is much better than than the album version, IMO.

I really like the Fun Boy Three cover.

I really liked the Poe version. Very Siouxsie.

Wasn't the cover of their debut album considered to be a joke by the band and those who knew them? You had these upscale ladies sitting in a spa with cold cream on their faces, when it reality they were hardcore, loose party girls who supposedly lived in squalor.

R381 According to that outdoor Belinda interview, it was solely her idea stealing the title from an earlier 60s album and choosing the inexpensive, but timeless image of body and head wrap towels and face cream that wouldn’t read as if was from any particular decade as otherwise clothes would be date it.

I never understood why they were considered punk when all their music sounded pop.

Because of their immersion in the punk scene and their earlier music in their pre Go Gos bands; even early Go Gos songs before they got signed.

Besides, I think many more people consider them pop than punk. Some have split the difference and called them pop punk.

You can hear the punk underpinnings in a lot of the songs - the straight forward, simple, repetitive chords, the driving beat. Punk and pop aren't really polar opposites.

Punk was very niche and punk artists went nowhere. The GoGos were dirt poor and wanted to make $$$ so they altered their sound to pop which guaranteed they would have a shot at mainstream success. Can't blame them one bit.

[quote]The Vacation pictures were taken at the old Charlie Chaplin stages where the "We are the World" video was filmed and Madonna's "Who's That Girl" video.

Part of Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation long form video was filmed there too. During that period it was known as A&M Studios, and A&M was Janet’s first label.

Jane would have made more money from Talk Show if she had split royalties five ways since she didn't write "Head Over Heels" which was the most successful song from the album.

"Charlotte was so out of control that Ozzy Osbourne threw her out of his dressing room. That's pretty fuckin bad."

I’m Baltimore born and raised. One of my longtime friends used to talk about how his older sister knew Gina, and that he once hung out with all of them.

Those covers posts were deadly dull and endless — thank God for the ‘Block’ option!

I love all of Jane’s solo work, especially the Frosted album, Cold.

I love Poe! She was so cool.

R101 Duran Duran had always shared the songwriting as well, no matter who writes what, who thinks of it first, etc - the band members share the songwriting profits and all their names on the as writers of the songs. Whatever issues they had in the 80s and 90s it wasn't due to songwriting royalties, personal issues, creative differences, sure but not money, which is probably why, aside from Andy Taylor who left again, when they reunited with all the original bandmembers, it stuck and they've stayed together. Money problems really always seem to be the worst to overcome.

One Artist who did not share songwriting credits with his bandmates - Sting.

r385 doesn't know JACK SHIT.

The Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, the Clash, Blondie, Billy Idol, Talking Heads, The Cars, Joan Jett, The Ramones, Green Day, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt, Goldfinger and many others found massive, international success over the last 45 years.

Not to mention all the punk-derived alternative acts of the '90s like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, the Chili Peppers, etc.

Just zip it.

I'm sure r590 is the life of the party.

i.e., I'm sure r390 is the life of the party.

Bea Arthur was in The Go-Go's?

Why are so many female rockers lesbians?

Can’t believe no one has yet mentioned how attractive the young Miles Copeland was. Very sexy.

And Stewart Copeland still looks good.

Yeah, some bands share songwriting, but plenty don't. I guess there's a case for both.

"The Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, the Clash, Blondie, Billy Idol, Talking Heads, The Cars, Joan Jett, The Ramones, Green Day, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt, Goldfinger, and many others found massive, international success over the last 45 years.

Not to mention all the punk-derived alternative acts of the '90s like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, the Chili Peppers, etc."

This just shows how broadly the label "punk" can be applied and how it can mean something particular or nothing at all. It's a sound, it's an aesthetic, it's even a "way of life" - DYI and independent.

And who cares about mainstream success, bands like the Dead Kennedys, Sonic Youth and Black Flag had their own followings big enough to sustain themselves for a while. All I care about is that the music moves me, and if punks like the Go Gos can have a huge hit, fine.

Is the bitch that hijacked the thread with her tedious countdown done, now?

Are we back?

Oh, good.

R289 I loved The Brat and saw them a few times - I grew up in LA.

I actually became friends with Exene Cervanka (I was a cool teenager at the time) and she gave me this backstage perma-pass for X shows.

We can't all make valuable contributions like yours, R403.

I had no ideas how hard the Go-Gos worked and that they started as a punk band.

I actually feel they are sort of a meh band with some meh songs, most of which would have been forgotten soon enough

R406 you have now exceeded usage of the word 'meh'

R407, just two meh's allowed?

R405 preferably zero

Based on the bootleg posted here, Broadway's Head Over Heels was complete slop

Well didn't they try to work Head Over Heels with Greek Mythology. Jesus

Are any Go-Go's and Bangles enthusiasts also fans of Californian Sisterly Britpunky combo VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE?

Let It Bee was great, Honey Lingers their masterpiece (a fine companion to Live Your Life Be Free and Tangled) and Sex & Misery also great.

Still amuses me that they had to change the lyric from "I get it every night" to "I see him every night" when I Say Nothing was released as a single.

The like Go-Go's they didn't have much time for awful journalist, like the charming Jaswinder Bancil

No, r401, it's an outlook and a scene — a scene that used to be more thriving and regular but not instantly Top 40 like some prisspots here seem to expect from their music.

I can't believe there are people dissing punk rock on a Go-Gos thread and touting pop or Top 40 as something a musician has to attain to be good.

It was punk rockers, freaks, rebels and outcasts in grungy rock clubs that first accepted, nurtured and supported the Go Gos before they could rise to the attention of radio. If Madness and the Specials hadn't have asked the Go-Gos to tour with them, they never would have gotten the exposure to attract radio stations or an international fan base.

The Specials gave them their big break with a big audience, basically. And we're supposed to think punk is bad?

Is overproduced pop sap from some princess born rich like Taylor Swift whose parents can buy instant success the proper way?

Please. The people commenting here really need to watch the documentary.

And wrong, all the Go-Gos music does NOT sound pop. It's very hard-rock-based, even their poppier songs like "Head Over Heels."

Belinda Carlisle's solo stuff was highly pop-sounding.

That may be true of some GG's music, but Head Over Heels? That's pretty much pop. Hard-rocked-based? Because of the crunchy guitar strum throughout? That's not common in pop.

Do you ever get the impression that a thread is primarily composed of one person arguing with herself?

What queen is saying the Go-Go’s have a hard rock sound? Mary, you don’t know rock.

If "Turn to You" and "I'm the Only One" were sung by Green Day, people would say they are rock songs.

R412, that interviewer was a snatch!

[quote]Is overproduced pop sap from some princess born rich like Taylor Swift whose parents can buy instant success the proper way?

Oh, you can hate that shit and also hate punk.

I always thought punk was juvenile garbage and completely tuneless and unappealing to the ears.

[quote] The most famous Go Gos cover of all time has to be Fun Boy Three's version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" for the TRAINSPOTTING soundtrack.

It might have been on the Trainspotting soundtrack, but it was recorded in 1983. Terry Hall co-wrote the song with Jane Wiedlin and this is his take on it.

"That may be true of some GG's music, but Head Over Heels? That's pretty much pop. Hard-rocked-based? Because of the crunchy guitar strum throughout? That's not common in pop. "

I meant "not uncommon."

Because of the HARD ROCK LEAD AND BASS GUITARS, r415.

e417 clearly doesn't know music.

R420 Okay, grandpa

r425 I wasn't even born yet when punk started.

R426 Well, you are grandpa at heart

Punk is still shit r427.

I love punk / pop

R428 Well, who knows shit better than you?

No one r430. And punk was always juvenile, tuneless garbage. The punk acts who got record contracts were totally re-tooled by the record companies to make their music palatable.

R428 A: No, they weren't. B: Every single band had/s a record contract C: You don't know what tuneless means

Yes they were, and tuneless describes punk very well. The GoGos were always more pop than punk.

Whoever wasn’t born when punk began is a CHILD!

R433 Then go listen to your overproduced, plastic, zero talent, polished pop music, you preppy wuss

Woa, dude. Check 'em out from just the other day. Like, they just performed together virtually a few days ago. These chicks are like 62-68 years old! Fuckin' incredible magic goin' on here!

^ That's Kathy Valentine on the right? Looks like Catherine O'Hara in a Christopher Guest movie.

After watching the doc, I looked up Terry Hall to find out more about him. He was abducted when he was 12--by his teacher--in France and was sexually abused by a pedophile ring for several days. Jesus!

I've been trying to keep up with this thread, so sorry if this has already been mentioned and I missed it.

Well, that sucks! Who IS Terry Hall?

R412 Me! Let it Bee is a favorite of mine.

439 One of the Specials and Fun Boy 3. He also discovered Bananarama.

r28 / r41 still doesn't know shit about punk. The Sex Pistols and the Clash never had to "retool" their music for anybody and they produced hits.

The Go-Gos are a punk band and their music is punk rock, r428.

If you don't like punk rock, why are you trolling a Go-Gos thread? Fuck off.

Anyone who likes the Go-Gos' music has a bunch of "niche," "tuneless juvenile" punk rockers to thank for supporting them in the beginning before r428 / r431 ever discovered them or deigned herself to embrace such undesirables.

Along with The Clash, Billy Idol, Gwen Stefani, Blondie, the Talking Heads, Rancid, Green Day, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and tons of other "garbage" that "went nowhere."

Come on, Billy Idol, Gwen Stefani, Rancid, Green Day suck terribly. And Gwen Stefani and Pearl Jam have nothing to do with punk

Some of those bands aren't punk

Anyway... Here's Belinda rehearsing for Grease.

R447 What song are they singing from Grease?

Sounds like it's "All Choked Up," which wasn't in the movie.

I wonder how fucked up Belinda and Charlotte were while doing this!

Can you hear them?

"Split Ends has split up and since the split....." - Charlotte Caffey

Apparently not so fucked up that she can't tackle a tongue twister

R450 Wow, Belinda has the worst speaking voice. I’m surprised she chose a Robert Palmer video as one of her “favorites.” I read that the GoGos opened for Palmer and he was rude to them, only speaking to them to ask if they had any drugs. In retaliation, Belinda squeezed out some blood from her tampon and smeared it on the collar of the jacket Palmer wore onstage that night.

^ Sounds distinctly witch crafty to me, baby!

No Doubt started out as Ska. Green Day is definitely punk/pop. Pearl Jam is grunge.

Gina has always been the most easy-going and least dramatic member, but she is photogenic and always turned it on for promo photos. She knew exactly what vibe the photographer was looking for.

Did anyone here ever go to the Masque? What was it like?

FAKE NEWS @ r445 who's completely uneducated about music.

Why don't you ask Gwen Stefani and Pearl Jam if they have nothing to do with punk? Why don't you ask who their influences and idols are? Did you think it was Madonna or Michael Jackson? Name their influences. Tell us which pop musicians are more worthy, while you're at it.

And you can poo-poo Billy Idol, Gwen Stefani, Rancid and Green Day with your prisspot sensibilities all you like.

The hits and the numbers don't lie. Those artists have the love of the critics and a combined net worth of $313 million. Combined, they have produced 39 Billboard Top 10 Hits including 15 #1 hits.

All of this is solar systems-removed from anything the prisspot @ r445 will ever achieve. If you can't appreciate or respect punk rockers, then stop liking the Go-Gos.

Dear Uneducated Twat @ r455,

Ska is a sub-genre of Punk. The brand that No Doubt performs is much different from classic Jamaican ska in that it involves loud, electric guitars, sociopolitical themes and was supported by a punk rocker audience in a punk rock scene.

Punk pop is still punk. Green Day were self-made from a punk rock scene. Their themes are still not Your Mother's musicians and Taylor Swift or Beyonce Knowles or even Lady Gaga do not have the balls to say what they say, do not rock hard like Green Day, nor have an audience of punk rock lovers.

And what the fuck do you think grunge is? A SUB-GENRE and outgrowth of punk. They're both alternative rock, the same audience or types of audiences and that's why Eddie Vedder says his influences include the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and Black Flag.

If you're too precious to enjoy punk rock music, then you can embrace Belinda Carlisle's solo career, as she embraced a wholly synthetic sound.

Squeaky clean and mainstream pussy music with no edge. Belinda will provide all of that for you.

But when she's with the Go-Gos, she rocks.

I worked for Ark21, The label Miles Copeland started in the 90s after IRS was shut down.

The label’s roster was primarily former IRS acts and/or artists that Miles had managed. Most of these acts couldn’t get a record deal anymore because of their behavior. One of these performers was Belinda.

We distributed A Woman and a Man, her 1996 album, in the US.

At the time, Belinda was living in Europe and didn’t want to return to the US to do anything-unless it was a Go-Go’s reunion tour, which was easy money. That’s why her solo career tanked in the US in the 90s.

Belinda was practically forced to do press and the promotion for A Woman and a Man in the US. One of the few print interviews she did was with the LA Times, in which she proclaimed that she hated California and the USA and never wanted to live there again.

She was booked to appear on several talk shows , including Rosie O’Donnell. She refused to appear at the last minute, leading Rosie to personally make a menacing phone call to my boss, ordering Belinda to get her ass to the studio.

She did the interview and performance reluctantly, then left the US and refused to do any other press or promotion of the album.

What happened here? Why is so important that the GGs are punk? They are to some degree, but how does it make them better or worse?

Anyway, fantastic documentary, even if you're unfamiliar with their music. I've always enjoyed their music - I like the harmonies, fun crunchy guitars, and slamming drums. I've seen them on tour and really - a very high-energy show.

Belinda, How many songs did you write?

I am enjoying this thread so much! I had the time of my life gong to see bands for nothing in little seedy clubs back in my teen days, and the footage of them playing in their early days brought back great memories. I think of The GoGos as being power pop, a cuter version of seventies/eighties bands like Rockpile or The Flamin Groovies. Whenever anything underground enjoyed mainstream success, they and their fans would be labeled “sellouts.” Do any of you LA natives that lived through that era know if their peers at the clubs disowned them when they became popular? I wonder if they were friends with bands like X. I would enjoy an LA punk thread, I was a big fan of that Penelope Spheres movie. I lived in just a little southern city during that time and we all looked up to the LA scene as the most exciting place to be.

Surprised it took so long before anyone mentioned Jane's 90s band FroSTed (capitalized because of Star Trek).

They played a lot around Hollywood and LA at small coffee houses and independent record stores.

R458 Yeah, cause that's totally what punk rock is about. Making millions of dollars and being well received by critics and massive populations

R459 "Ska is a sub-genre of Punk" Oh come on, you must be trolling, you can't be this stupid. Ska is the style of Jamaican music, that started in the late 1950s. It has absolutely zero to do with punk rock. Just like No Doubt have zero to do with real ska

Anyone know any details re Jane's claim of having been "abducted by aliens and injected with nano technology?" She chronicals this experience in her comic book.

"[R459] "Ska is a sub-genre of Punk" Oh come on, you must be trolling, you can't be this stupid. Ska is the style of Jamaican music, that started in the late 1950s. It has absolutely zero to do with punk rock. Just like No Doubt have zero to do with real ska "

I agree, R468 - but we're talking about a musical scene. No Doubt did know, hang out with, play next to, punk acts. Like I said before - there's "punk" the musical genre, but there's also "punk" the attitude, DIY lifestyle. So, "being punk" doesn't necessarily equate with a clear punk sound and backwards as that may seem.

[quote]The Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, the Clash, Blondie, Billy Idol, Talking Heads, The Cars, Joan Jett, The Ramones, Green Day, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt, Goldfinger and many others found massive, international success over the last 45 years.

R395, most of those bands DID NOT achieve "massive" success as punk bands:

The Sex Pistols - achieve massive notoriety, put out exactly ONE studio album, made very little money for the band members by their own admission, and completely imploded with 3 years - they are very important in the history of music but even they admit that they had little actual success.

The Buzzcocks - massive sucess!? The average person couldn't name ONE song they ever did.

The Clash - Absolutely! Massive! Love them.

Blondie - achieve massive success, yes, but only after they went, as Johnny Rotten said, "Disco" with Heart of Glass and Call Me and Rapture and The Tide is High; you could hardly consider those "punk" songs.

Billy Idol - didn't achieve massive success with his punk band Generation X but did achieve massive success when he joined the US hair band movement that included Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt, Warrant -- hardly punk rock.

The Talking Heads - much too musically eclectic to be labelled a punk band. Their greatest success was also after they moved into a wholly unique style of music all their own.

The Cars - Punk!?!? Puh-leeze!

Joan Jett - see Billy Idol

The Ramones - Punk, definitely, but by their own admission they had NO hit records and, while they were a popular touring band with a small but loyal fanbase, they were not would you could call household names until VERY late in their careers.

Green Day - Pop Punk, the stupidest most self-contradictory musical term ever coined. I thought they were laughable. They were like a tribute band with original songs doing the moves of groups 20 years earlier but what they were doing seemed artificial and phony because that time had passed; Green Day is to punk what Lenny Kravitz is to 60s Rock.

Gwen Stefani, No Doubt - started as a Ska band and became a pop band, never punk rock.

Goldfinger - WHO!?!

Punk came and went fairly quickly, but it's given more attention and significance than it merits because it was a bunch of white kids (influenced by reggae's political aspects). Hip Hop, which started among poor black kids, was a real movement because 40 years after its emergence Rap and Hip Hop are still here, still on the charts, still influential, still of the moment. Black people created Rock and Roll and 30 years later created something to rival Rock and Roll. As much as white people may hate it, including old ass punks, Hip Hop was the lasting movement punk wanted to be. Yes, it has its crass purveyors, but it has also had great political and social purveyors as well. Take this for what it is, the opinion of an old white guy who used to write for underground music papers in the Bay Area.

BTW, my reference to Goldfinger as "WHO!?!" was me doing an impersonation of most of the world when they hear their name. I've listened to Goldfinger but I doubt you could meet many people who've ever even heard of them if they're not directly in that scene, which hardly translates to "massive international success."

I’m surprised that no one has brought up Elvis Costello as a punk artist.

R230 I, too, wondered why Belinda was bent over in the front seat during Jane's solo. According to Kathy Valentine, Belinda just "couldn't be bothered" to get out of the car. Sounds about right to me.

God knows why, but I watched a couple of their's on YouTube and I have a question for you aficionados. When did they add an intelligible second verse to "Our Lips Are Sealed"?

"Careless talk through paper walls We can't stop them Only laugh at them Spreading rumors so far from truth Dragged up from the underworld Just like some precious pearl"

I've never heard this verse on any recording of "Our Lips Are Sealed," where did it come from??? Has it always been there?!

This is a really great thread and one of the reasons why I still like Datalounge.

Reading some of the posts, especially r461, I find I like Belinda a lot less than I did before this thread started. She really does come off as miserable and lazy. It's like her solo career was a fluke. She really seemed to give up by the early '90s. But kudos to her, I guess, because she knows how to work the nostalgia aspect.

Belinda sings the hits people want to hear and works when she feels like it. She travels frequently and as she says, she is enjoying the fruits of her labor. She isn’t trying to compete with twenty somethings. She even had Jane rewrite the lyrics to ‘Sun’ to make them more age appropriate. Madonna could take a note from her.

Growing up in LA, Belinda was so photogenic in her 20s, 30s and 40s she probably could have worked successfully as an actress had the band not taken off.

For some reason I never noticed Belinda's solo career much, except for "Heaven is a Place on Earth." Thanks to this thread "Mad About You," has become my song of the summer 2020. Yes, 35 years too late... but what can you do?

Mad About You is a pop gem. She looked gorgeous in the video.

How much was the difference in pay between the band mates? I know that they others were awed by how much Jane and Charlotte were being paid for their writing - that's where the big bucks come from in the music business - publishing. Such a shame that they broke up so soon after coming to prominence. I remember them well - being played in constant rotation via MTv.

R479, she is truly at her peak in beauty there and it’s a wonderfully shot video ...simply stunning ...

Youth is fleeting ...

Mad About You---Full glam treatment for Belinda, really looking her best ever here. The song however, is overproduced and still sounds like cheap, trebel-y and weak synth pop.

If Belinda is really a true rebel and punk at heart, which seems to be the case, then no wonder she's miserable.

Her entire solo career consisted of light, frothy, superficial pop, written for her by others.

It made her lots of money, and allowed her to continue to succeed at the highest level of the music industry throughout the 80's, but her heart was never in it.

Deep down, she probably felt like a total sellout. She turned into exactly what the Go-Go's set out to destroy.

So Gina is a lesbian, Belinda and Jane are bisexual, and Charlotte and Kathy are straight?

[quote]I would have loved to have seen The Go Go's open for The Police.

I saw them open for The Police at Madison Square Garden. They were pretty good, not great. I got some great photos of both bands.

The Police were always excellent in concert. I saw them way too many times to count and not one concert was bad. The Police were excellent musicians, especially live. Even when they played small venues, the sound was amazing.

I know I am late but their new song kicks ass!

I finally got around to watching this. It's amazing these women are still alive, look so good and haven't lost their energy considering the enormous amounts of drugs they consumed in their youth.

I always found it strange that Susannah Hoffs didn't achieve the massive solo success that Belinda enjoyed. They were both seen as the stand-out beauties/talents in their respective bands, but Susannah kind of flopped as a solo artist. I would've thought she'd become a major star.

I think Susanna waited too long to go solo and when she did, she just didn't have the right songs.

Belinda had radio-friendly pop songs and had great videos, along with striking album covers.

R299 You forgot House Of Schock ('88), The Graces ('89 I think) & some Kathy Valentine stuff.

Also Jane's group Frosted in the late 90s..

Finally saw this. I really liked the first half, learning about their origins in the punk scene, and their transition into a pop group.

But then it seemed to lose focus in the second half, giving short shrift to both Belinda and Jane's solo careers. The weird thing about the film is that it seemed to do to Jane what the band itself did to her when she left - it completely dismisses her. The doc shows a clip of Belinda being interviewed around the Runaway Horses period, and the interviewer asks her how she has been the only successful solo Go-Go's member, which is not true since Jane had a hit with Rush Hour.

The film also, weirdly, doesn't document how the reunion came about. There seems to still be lots of simmering tensions underneath.

I thought the money issue was interesting. Seems like this is a bone of contention in every band in which only one or two people write the hits and earn more money. If I was in a band and wrote the material by myself, I wouldn't want to share credit either. It's my artistic work. At the same time, I sympathize with Gina for putting in the work as their drummer and not being paid as well. It's a tough situation.

Yeah, the songwriting/royalties aspect is a tough one when it comes to a group. I think it's only fair that Coffey and Wiedlin get the lion's share since they actually wrote the songs. And they also knew how to write hits, so they made good coin off their compositions. Belinda barely writes or co-writes anything despite being the lead singer and, sadly, Gina also is not a songwriter. And I'm guessing Coffey and Wiedlin were not open to the others writing a lyric or two just to put their name on a co-write for some royalties.

[quote] But then it seemed to lose focus in the second half, giving short shrift to both Belinda and Jane's solo careers. The weird thing about the film is that it seemed to do to Jane what the band itself did to her when she left - it completely dismisses her. The doc shows a clip of Belinda being interviewed around the Runaway Horses period, and the interviewer asks her how she has been the only successful solo Go-Go's member, which is not true since Jane had a hit with Rush Hour.

I thought it was fine to not cover their later years in detail. The significant part of their story is their rise and original success as an all girl band, not their solo careers and nostalgia reunions.