The Go-Gos -- We Got the Beat

Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to another Reminiscings of Youth where I go for some of the songs from my adolescence. The Go-Gos were just one of the many acts that awakened my interest in pop music. As I mentioned in the ROY for their "Vacation", I was awfully tempted to get their 1981 album "Beauty and the Beat" when it was playing over the speakers at the record corner of the local Hudson's Bay department store back in my high school days. Strangely enough, I was passing by the now-closed down Bay store earlier today as it was being prepared as a liquidation base for another store. I could see the old LP corner off in the back.

Along with "Our Lips Are Sealed", "We Got the Beat" was another Go-Gos hit that hit hard with Gina Schock's drumming rolling in like a Mac truck at full speed. Until Belinda Carlisle and company suddenly showed up on television screens everywhere, I hadn't known any girl bands before armed with full instruments, so listening to these two songs were a revelation as they rocked it out. And apparently, they partied as hard as they worked. I saw one YouTube comment stating that even Ozzy Osbourne had dropped his jaw at how the Go-Gos went medieval on his tour bus (not sure how they would have met, but the band was punk back in those days).

Speaking of punk, I didn't know until yesterday that there had been an original version of "We Got the Beat" that came out as a single in May 1980. From the few times I've listened to this one, the rock and punk roots show more prominently here. The 1982 single version hit No. 2 on US Billboard for three weeks while in Canada, it peaked at No. 3.

Well, for some reason, I ended up putting up the Top 10 Oricon singles chart for September 8th 1980 instead of the one for May 9th and I've already gone to the trouble of getting the relevant Top 3 postings for the comparative Japanese singles. Ah, heck...too tired to change back.

1. Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi -- Junko （順子）

2. Seiko Matsuda -- Aoi Sangoshou （青い珊瑚礁）

3. Toshihiko Tahara -- Aishuu Date （哀愁でいと）

The Go-Gos -- Our Lips Are Sealed

 

One of the first ROY articles that I had done in 2019 was even before I officially came up with Reminiscings of Youth as a KKP Label. Basically, I did some retrofitting with The Go-Gos' "Vacation" which had been just something that I really wanted to write about as also a fan of the 80s music in my neck of the woods. It wasn't the first ROY though; I think that honour goes to Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together".

Anyways, I felt that it was time to bring back The Go-Gos after nearly four years and I'm feeling a little sheepish right now since this California band was a group that was one of my first attractions getting into pop music in earnest and perhaps I should have brought it up a whole lot earlier. I'm unsure whether it was the official music video above or one of their performances on shows like "Solid Gold" or passing by the local department store's record section where I first heard "Our Lips Are Sealed" which was the 2nd single by the band and their first single from their debut album "Beauty and the Beat" from July 1981. Its cover of the ladies wearing just bath towels and face packs was quite daunting at the time and I was tempted to buy it but I was wondering how I was going to explain that to my parents.

Hearing it again for the first time in a while, "Our Lips Are Sealed", which was released in June, has had me swooning once more for the heady days of musical discovery. It was all about Belinda Carlisle's slightly Valley Girl delivery, the jangly guitars and Jane Wiedlin's soft and adorable vocals in the bridge. All that nostalgic goodness crammed into less than three minutes. "Our Lips Are Sealed" went all the way up to No. 3 on Canada's RPM while in the United States, it reached No. 20 on Billboard.

So, according to Oricon, what was hitting the top three ranks for June 1981?

1. Seiko Matsuda -- Natsu no Tobira （夏の扉）

2. The Chanels -- Hurricane （ハリケーン）

3. Akira Terao -- Ruby no Yubiwa (ルビーの指輪)

The Go-Gos -- Vacation

Yesterday, I had a rare Monday off so I took the opportunity to catch "Spiderman ~ Far From Home" which was a refreshingly breezy continental superhero romp after the epic "Avengers: Endgame". I did like it much better than "Homecoming". If I were to use a meme to describe Marvel's final movie for this year though, it would be ILLUSION: 100!.

As was the case with "Homecoming", the ending credits for "Far From Home" engaged plenty of artistic imagination with a style that once again reminded me of the 1980s. Not surprisingly, the ending theme was also of that decade, The Go-Gos' catchy "Vacation". And for me, The Go-Gos including Belinda Carlisle and Jane Wiedlin was the first all-woman band that I'd ever seen on TV in my life, and they had a lot of great hits such as "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got The Beat". I was almost tempted to get their album "Beauty and the Beat" at the neighbourhood Hudson's Bay when it actually sold LPs, but never got around to it. Hopefully, I may find it at an old record store someday.

But of course, with "Kayo Kyoku Plus" being a Japanese pop music blog, I will do here again that I did with my article on Captain & Tennille back in January this year, and provide the appropriate singers and songs. "Vacation" came out in June 1982 so allow me to feature the Top 3 songs for that same month on Oricon. Actually found the information here.

1. Hiromi Iwasaki -- Madonna Tachi no Lullaby

2. Seiko Matsuda -- Nagisa no Balcony

3. Kumiko Yamashita -- Sekido Komachi Doki