The Go-Go’s ‘Beauty and the Beat’ Turns 40

‘Beauty and the Beat’, the debut album for California’s The Go-Go’s was released 40 years ago on 8 July 1981.

The Go-Go’s were Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey, Gina Schock and Kathy Valentine. While The Go-Go’s were shortlived, Carlisle went on to have a successful solo career, including a no 1 US hit with ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’.

The Go-Go’s formed after Carlisle and Wiedlin met at the final Sex Pistols show in San Francisco in January 1978. They took their name from The Miracles hit ‘Going to a Go Go’, which they also covered in their set in the early days.

The Go-Go’s only recorded three albums before breaking up in 1985, reforming for one more album in 2001.

‘Beauty and the Beat’ was a surprise number one album in America for The Go-Go’s. It spent six week atop the Billboard chart, eventually selling over 2 million records.

Their first hit ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’ was written by Jane Wiedlin and Terry Hall of Fun Boy 3. Its biggest chart position was no 2 in Australia.

A second hit ‘We Got The Beat’ was written by Charlotte Caffey.

After their third album ‘Talk Show’, The Go-Go’s were plagued with personality issues and drug problems. Wiedlin was first to leave in October 1984. She was initially replaced with Paula Jean Brown. The new line-up debuted at Rock In Rio in 1985 but soon after Carlisle and Caffey also quit and the band disbanded.

The story of The Go-Go’s was told in the 2020 documentary ‘The Go-Go’s’.