AFTER almost three decades of bonding, disbanding, and reforming, the Go-Go's are used to the hard way. Though they have not recorded any new music since 2001's "God Bless the Go-Go's," a CD recently hailed by Steve Van Zandt on his "Underground Garage" radio show, they have toured at least six weeks every summer for the last eight years. Now living separate lives as wives, mothers, solo artists, hit songwriters, reality TV stars and music industry players, the "First Ladies of the '80s," as the Go-Go's are sometimes called, reconvene at casinos, benefits and lucrative gigs for Yamaha and Microsoft. "The Go-Go's earn more now as a touring act than they did in the 1980s," says Brett Steinberg, their rep at Creative Artists Agency. They remain the world's most successful all-female rock 'n' roll band. Ever.
The Go-Go's
After decades of bonding, disbanding and reforming, these women have nothing left to prove. They're comfortable with themselves and with who they are as a group: the world's most successful female band.
MUSIC
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday July 15, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 77 words Type of Material: Correction
The Go-Go's: An article in Friday's Calendar on the Go-Go's said that the band's song "Our Lips Are Sealed" was used in a Kmart ad this year and that "We Got the Beat" was used in an ad for Pizza Hut. "Our Lips Are Sealed" was used for Old Navy and "We Got the Beat" for Papa John's. In addition, the caption for a photo of the band in the 1980s identified Gina Schock as Elissa Bello.
Descending from American girl groups and beach boys of the '60s with a dash of '70s British rock glam, the Go-Go's -- Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock, Kathy Valentine and Jane Wiedlin -- were the first L.A. band to spin punk and pop into solid gold. Their sunny hits, "We Got the Beat," "Our Lips Are Sealed," "Head Over Heels" and "Vacation," took early 1980s dance rock out of the Hollywood clubs and onto the national charts. This year alone, the songs have popped up in national TV commercials for, respectively, Pizza Hut, Kmart, Pantene and Priceline. "Vacation" also appeared in Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Schock has a theory about the Go-Go's recent surge in popularity. "The world is so hateful these days," she says, "it needs the Go-Go's now more than ever to remind people of something good." The Go-Go's are taking appropriate measures. Following Hilary Duff's 2004 cover of "Our Lips Are Sealed," the band struck a deal with Disney to create the Po-Go's, a kiddie combo that will record and perform new Go-Go's songs and selections from their endless-summer repertoire.
Tonight at the Greek Theatre, the hometown heroines really have something to celebrate: For the 25th anniversary of their quadruple platinum debut, "Beauty and the Beat," they will perform all the songs on the record for the first time.
