Wednesday

CULT RECORD: GO-GO'S: "BEAUTY AND THE BEAT"

The Go-Go's were a culture club, a band who never would've sat together in the high school cafeteria. There were two sassy punks (Jane Wiedlin, Kathy Valentine), two blonde Real-Girl cheerleaders (Berlinda Carlisle, Charlotte Caffey), and an East Coast metalhead tomboy named Gina Schock. And in "This Town," they busted their cliques to salute their true audience: "We all know the chosen toys/ Of catty girls and pretty boys just kept their mouths shut and preened, while the catty girls took center stage to make up that face, jump in the race, and get dressed up to get messed up, whether flashing their underwear in public fountains or prowling by night. The Go-Go's eventually developed a knack for songs about men ("Turn to You," "Yes or No"), but their grand theme was always femme bonding: we rule the streets tonight, this town is our town, our lips are sealed.
Beauty and the Beat is the Go-Go's at their brashest, a record that broke out of the late-'70's L.A. hardcore scene to define the California mystique of the Square Pegs era. Gina Schock's drums flesh out the music's Buzzcocks/Ramones fixation with her own libidinally propulsive beat, making up for Carlisle's quavery voice. Jane Wiedlin establishes herself as the hyphen in the Go-Go's: their punk conscience as well as their most charmingly tuneful melodist. "Fading Fast" and "Skidmarks on My Heart" bookended many a breakup tape in 1982. while the heartbreaking "How Much More" celebrates the thrill of thwarted obsession. In "Our Lips Are Sealed" (at least the version not sung by Fun Boy 3) two catty girls roam the streets of Guyville getting hassled by jerks, but they strut proudly, they don't answer back, and when they look at them, they look right through them. Bells ring, cymbals crash, Jane chimes in with a seraphic lullaby, and you never doubt for a second that they're sticking together.

1 comments:

Giassou Nakis, me leve Chrysovalanti Walters and I am an independent music coordinator at Platform One Entertainment, a music and event marketing company based out of Chicago. I wanted to introduce myself and let you know I was a fan of IndieRider. I was hoping we might be able to hop on a quick call some time this week for me to introduce myself and see how we might be able to collaborate.
There are several artists that we work with that we felt would fit in well with the IndieRider community, but I specifically wanted to let you know about one of our new alternative/ pop bands out of Nashville, Fools for Rowan. The leading single off of their new album, “Twisted. Tied Up. Tangled” is “Burnt around the Edges,” and would love to hear your thoughts!
http://www.myspace.com/foolsforrowan
Even, if Fools for Rowan aren’t your style I would still love to chat and see if there are any other artists that might fit well with your site.

In the mean time I invite you to check out our website at www.platform-1.com

Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you!My e mail evai cwchrystip@gmail.com
Oh k melao ta puo polla Ellinika k ta katalabevo av theleis va mou melisis sta Ellinika anti ta Aglika.

Best,

Chrysti

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