Even zeitgeist-grabbing success, during which The Go-Go’s were dubbed ‘America’s Sweethearts’, didn’t protect them from rampant sexism. The band were delighted to land a prestigious spot on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1982, but several members were less thrilled when the issue hit newsstands. The magazine had added a suggestive strapline, “Go-Go’s put out,” to the band’s shoot with revered photographer Annie Leibowitz that wasn’t meant to be sexy: “We were used to that kind of thing – that’s just what happened back then,” Caffey says sanguinely. “Obviously today things would be very different.”
Sadly, The Go-Go’s’ imperial phase didn’t last as long as it might have done. The band members have often said they wish they’d taken longer to record their second album, Vacation, which came out just six months after their debut reached number one, and didn’t sell as well. Loraine points out that they only released two singles from Beauty and the Beat – far fewer than a band would today – and says standout album tracks such as Lust for Love could easily have become hits as well. During their original run, the band recorded just one more album, 1984’s Talk Show, which embellished their classic pop-rock sound with more keyboard parts and yielded the sparkling singles Head Over Heels and Turn to You.
The following year, the Go-Go’s split after hitting the same roadblocks that have halted so many bands: creative differences, drug addiction and tensions over songwriting royalties. Because Caffey and Wiedlin had written the lion’s share of Beauty and the Beat, they made a lot more money than Valentine, Schock and Carlisle. Over the years, they’ve often reformed for summer tours of North America and, more sporadically, to record new music. The 1994 compilation album Return to the Valley of The Go-Go’s yielded the band’s first ever UK top 40 hit, a gloriously tongue-in-cheek pop-punk nugget called The Whole World Lost Its Head. Then in 2001, they reconvened for their first album in 17 years, God Bless The Go-Go’s, which featured a searing lead single, Unforgiven, co-written with Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, a longtime fan. A brand new Go-Go’s song, Club Zero, will drop on 31st July – the same day the documentary premieres on US network Showtime.
"original" - Google News
July 23, 2020 at 02:00PM
https://ift.tt/2Df3Na8
How The Go-Go's pioneered Girl Power - BBC News
"original" - Google News
https://ift.tt/32ik0C4
https://ift.tt/35ryK4M
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "How The Go-Go's pioneered Girl Power - BBC News"
Post a Comment