- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- The Go-Go’s was the first all-woman rock band who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to reach the top of the album charts.
The Go-Go’s – Beauty and the Beat (1981): Besides being a landmark #1 new wave album, the Go-Go’s was the first (and, to date, only) all-woman rock band who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to reach the top of the album charts. The Go-Go’s was formed in 1978 and was originally called the Misfits, with Belinda Carlisle (lead vocals), Jane Wiedlin (guitar, vocals), Charlotte Caffey (lead guitar, keyboards), Margot Olaverra (bass), and Elissa Bello (drums). Gina Schock replaced Bello on drums in 1979; after Olaverra became ill one night, Kathy Valentine took her position in the band. Jane Wiedlin thought up the name “the Go-Go’s”.
The band was signed to I.R.S. Records in early 1981 and started a lucrative tour with the Police, before returning shortly thereafter with their own headlining tour. Beauty and the Beat includes the band’s two biggest hit songs, “We Got the Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed”; but every song is great. I played this album so much that I pretty much know it by heart.