Customer Reviews

Beauty & The Beat

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Back in 1982 we were all dancing to the beat and enjoying the decade known as the 80s. Disco was dead, punk was deader and pop was becoming a staple in everyone's tape collection. The Go-Go's were at the forefront of that movement.

Hot off of their #2 single, We Got the Beat, Beauty and the Beat spent an unprecedented amount of time at the top of the charts. Going double platinum this album quickly became one of the top sellers of 81/82.

Filled with some of their most memorable tracks including, Our Lips Our Sealed, Lust to Love, This Town and How Much More, the album also includes some gems. Tonite is an awesome song, an ode to sticking to your guns. Automatic takes the low hum of Charlotte's guitar and dabs in an echo of Carlisle's pitch and finds a sweet eerie song. You Can't Walk in Your Sleep if You Can't Sleep shows the girls fun side with fun lyrics and supersonic speed music.

Beauty and the Beat is one of those albums that might sit in the back of your collection but one that makes the round into the player. The album remains a must have of the 1980s and still holds up almost 20 years later!

I still think this 1981 record is one of the great pop albums ever. My interests have taken another direction in recent years, but I still listen to it a few times a year and admire its beat, catchy tunes, spunk and tremendous innovation. There had been nothing like it before, and not much like it since!

The Go-Gos started as a punk band in Los Angeles in 1978, but went through some major changes by the time of this album, which defined the all-woman "power pop" genre, gave new wave a new direction, and blazed a trail for other all-woman bands in the 1980s and after.

The Go-Gos really got their chops touring, especially in the UK, where they had a minor hit with their demo version of "We Got the Beat", probably the most famous track on this record. They eventually attracted the attention of Miles Copland, the head of IRS Records and the manager of The Police (in which his brother Stewart was the drummer).

With IRS, for my money the most important label of the new wave era, the Go-Gos put together this gem of an album. Backed by the smash hit singles "We Got the Beat" and "Our Lips Are Sealed," it went to number 1 on the Billboard charts and stayed there six weeks.

The IRS Records affiliation opened some big doors for the Go-Gos. I remember seeing them in 1982 when they were opening for The Police on the mega "Ghost in the Machine" tour. They also had their own major tours, of course, and are still touring today.

This is where Belinda Carlisle got her start, and here her vocals, like the music, have an edge, but not an overly hard one. Carlisle's mid-range vocals are offset beautifully by Jane Wiedlin's domination of the higher vocal registers. (Jane Wiedlin is still one of the coolest music people around today, and she was great as Joan of Arc in the cult movie classic "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.")

The Go-Gos' sound is underpinned by the driving drums of Gina Schock, the driving bass of Kathy Valentine, and Wiedlin's driving rhythm guitar. Did I mention it was driving? Then there is the lead guitar of Charlotte Caffey, at times light and airy, and at times more... well, driving. They don't call this record "Beauty and the Beat" for nothing -- it really is beat-driven. But it's not just mindless beat, it's combined with great melodies and a positive but still edgy attitude.

The highlight of the record for me is "Our Lips Are Sealed", one of the greatest pop songs ever, written by Wiedlin and Terry Hall, who was at the time the lead singer of the UK ska band "The Specials". Hall later did a dark and brooding version of the song with his Specials break-away band, Fun Boy Three. But this version is definitive for the song, I think, especially with Wiedlin's angelic-sounding middle-eight vocal.

This music is great for dancing, listening and cleaning the house!

In 1981 the Go-Go's took the world by storm with the release of their debut effort "beauty and the beat". The album was destined for the history books and became the first #1 album by an all-girl group (who wrote and performed their own material). Of course the Go-Go's were MUCH more than just an all-girl group and they were certainly NOT a novelty or a gimmick. In an era of new wave synth-pop, the Go-Go's kept rock n' roll at the top of the charts!

There's so much more to the Go-Go's than just "we got the beat" and "our lips are sealed", as you'll soon discover when you listen to the other nine tracks. It's obvious the Go-Go's were influenced by the pure and simple approach of 50's and 60's era rock, which helped them to become a lighting rod for a youthful energy and cool rock beat that had been dormant throughout most of the 70's. Along with the Knack, Romantics, Stray Cats and other groups of the late 70's and early 80's, the Go-Go's helped to usher in one of the brightest and most enjoyable eras of Rock n' Roll!

In the 90's, many groups who enjoyed fame in the 80's had to downplay their success and "80's image" to survive in a new "grunge ridden" landscape. Desperate critics and other "rock authorities" who seem to think that a group of "nice" girls will not be taken seriously, always play-up the punk card and stress the groups early "punky" beginnings. An example of this pathetic exercise in trying to harden the Go-Go's image can be seen in the Amazon Editorial review by Beth Bessmer, who compares the Go-Go's to Courtney Love and Hole. Another method to supposedly add more credibility is to bring up various drug related issues and group turmoil, thus proving how REAL the group was. Of course, all of this extraneous information has ZERO bearing on what caused these girls to sell millions of albums. The Go-Go's presented an image of pure fun and innocence, and it's that simple ROCK 'N ROLL FANTASY that had music fans falling in love with them. The music of the Go-Go's possessed the same youthful magic that was found in the music of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the early Beatles. In my opinion, that's certainly nothing to have to apologize for. It's also an image that need not be altered or hardened so that they can seem cool to a modern, jaded music audience.

Enjoy the innocence found in the music of the Go-Go's! They really did manage to recapture a very special spark that had been lost in Rock n' Roll since the mid 60's.

The Go-Go's released two follow-up albums before disbanding. Vacation (1982) and Talk Show (1984). Both are top notch efforts that will not disappoint. They have also released numerous HITS packages, most notably the 1994 release "beyond the valley of the Go-Go's", which contained 3 new tracks (and various early and unreleased songs). The Go-Go's finally released a fourth studio album in 2001 titled "God Bless the Go-Go's", a very strong addition to the Go-Go's legacy.

Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Gina Schock have all released solo projects;

Belinda Carlisle: Solo
Jane Wiedlin: Solo / Frosted
Charlotte Caffey: The Graces
Gina Schock: House of Schock
Kathy Valentine: Delphines / Solo

-JM

The Go-Go's combined a punk sensiblity with a pop sheen and road it all the way to the top of the charts. They had a public image as the sweet and innocent girls next door, but in reality were hard partying punk rockers. The music has the same enigmatic quality. On the surface, it sounds upbeat and bouncy, but underneath is a darker and harder meaning. They sing about about love triangles, unfaithful men and other travails with extremely catchy hooks. The pulsating beat in "We Got The Beat" just begs you to get up and dance and the jangling "Our Lips Are Sealed" is a perfect radio hit. "This Town", "Skidmarks On My Heart", "How Much More" and "Tonite" could have all been hits. There isn't a song on the album that you won't find yourself bobbing your head to and singing along with.

Never before had an album written and played by an all-female rock band hit #1 on the charts. But the Go-Go's astounded the pop establishment and seized the moment in 1981 with this their debut album. For fledging American new-wavers desperate for some good clean tuneful fun, "Beauty and the Beat" was a godsend. Sly lyrics, radiant melodies and intoxicating rhythms more than made up for the relative musical inexperience of these five women. Though producer Richard Gottehrer may have muted their twangy and buzzy surf-guitars just a tad too much, the prominent drums and polished harmonies assured commercial appeal for this reformed L.A. punk band. With energy and moxy enough to yank listeners out of their chairs, "Beauty and the Beat" helped define the new sound of the early 80's while paving the way for other American acts -- male AND female. For a brief time the Go-Go's were, hands-down, the coolest. But they will ALWAYS be the first.

Go-Go's is love of my life.Simple but true.They've given me a huge kick to my dreamer's soul.With every their album.But this one was the first I heard.It was like discovering a new wonderful land.My feelings and visions may be a little strange for other listeners but...When I was listening to B&tB for the first time I flew away."We got the beat" took me to sunny big city's streets,"Fading Fast" on an empty bridge when a night falls,"Automatic" through a dark forest,"You can't walk...", "Skidmarks...","Can't stop the world" and "How much more" -on a fast ride through fields, "Tonite"(my absolutely FAVOURITE one),"Lust to love" and "This town" brought shadows of crazy and divine punk-style nigthlife."Our lips are sealed" - the biggest hit is for me the weakest track on the LP,but sure I loved it too! Now while listening to B&tB and Girls singing: "bet you'd live here if you could and be one of us" I always want to answer YES YES YES !!!

When is this album going to be remastered? The other two are. What are they waiting for?

What can I say? I love hard rock and punk. Way back, when I owned "Beauty & The Beat" on cassette, I hid it from my friends; I was ashamed. Now, just shy of forty years old, I bought it on CD, and I'm proud to say, "I listen to the Go Go's, and I'm not a pathetic, sniveling idiot."

Who can think of the eighties music genre, without recalling the Go Go's? This is fun music. It's catchy. You bop around to it. There's nothing deep or meaningful here. This is the only CD of the Go Go's that I will own. It's the only one worth owning; it's that simple.

I probably should give the CD five stars, but it does have its slightly weak moments. One can only take so much...

For nostalgia, it's a must have.

Two years ago, I thought Belinda Carlisle was one of the best singers around. I knew her hits form her solo career, but I didn't know the Go-Go's (this album went out when I was 7 and I had almost forgotten the melody from 'Our lips are sealed'). I saw the video accidentally, I liked what I saw and I gave this album a try. Bang !!! I lay down on the floor... this album is so impressive, a perfect mix of happy punk rock and intense melo-dramatic melodic pop song. It's good from beginning to end, even the singles don't stand out because the rest of the songs is so powerful. Now I know who the Go-Go's are and I think that Belinda is the best singer around.

Okay, Beauty & The Beat, the debut and quissessential disc by the Go-Go's does have this release on CD by IRS Records but while their next two albums 1982's Vacation and 1984's Talk Show got a huge remastering treatment on their releases, this album lacks the sound quality of those discs. Why I ask you Why??? Most definitely the best of the Go-Go's albums, this launched their career and took us all by storm in 1981, "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got The Beat" were the big singles but that's only the surface of this gem packed full of high energy poppy new wave. "Skidmarks On My Heart" is a hilarious walk through the mind of a girl whose boyfriend spends more time working on his cars than on her, "Lust To Love" could be the story of my life, "This Town" is one of the all time best songs about Hollywood ever performed, "Can't Stop The World" is highly kinetic energy in all of its glorious 3 minutes and even when they turn the beat down a bit on "Automatic" it's still highly energetic. All in all, a very very excellant CD and one that should get IRS off their butts and do it right. Let's see the Stiff singles and the Fast Times songs... but most importantly a full on remastering.