We’ve Got the Beat... of LA! By Chris Cassone
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any say the musical face of LA is The Doors, Van Halen, Guns and Roses, CSN or the Beach Boys. While their body of work is not as all encompassing, I am going to nominate the Go-Go’s for that position. Yes, the Go-Go’s—the most successful female rock band of all time. Say that again and let it sink in. Their first LP, “Beauty and the Beat,” sold north of three million copies and cemented them in their meteoric rise to the top. Thirty years later, almost to the day, they got their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, coincidentally next to the site of their first gig. This meteor peaked with their 2021 inclusion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The five girls have done it all, but mostly, they spoke for and about their hometown with more emotion than many. The Go-Go’s. The most successful female rock band of all time. We at Discover Hollywood want to shine a light on Los Angeles’ true face of music. Randy Newman might “love LA,” but to the Go-Go’s, this was their town.
This town is our town, This town is so glamorous, Bet you’d live here if you could, And be one of us. — This Town Charlotte Caffey featured on lead guitar and keyboards, Belinda Carlisle on lead vocals, Gina Schock on drums, Kathy Valentine on bass and Jane Wiedlin on rhythm guitar. They wanted to be punk rockers, dress that iconic punk style and play punk clubs but—in reality—they couldn’t suppress their power pop inclinations. Good thing, because the angst-ridden LA teen scene needed a band they could bounce to, dance to and sing to. When they returned from their brief England tour opening for the Specials and Madness, they were well-honed, much like the early Beatles returning from Hamburg. And they would sign with an LA label, I.R.S. Records, cut their first official album and within a year have the No. 2 song in the country, We Got the Beat. The album Beauty and the Beat topped the Billboard album chart No. 1 at that time, and remains the only girl band that wrote its own music and played its own instruments to do so. That was the Go-Go’s formula. Simple songs, with power arrangements, and tight harmonies. Their effervescence was their calling card. They had that new wave bounce in all their moves. 8 DISCOVER HOLLYWOOD / WINTER 2024
One reviewer even said Wiedlin bounced around the stage like she was on a “new wave pogo stick.” And while they talked a big punk game, when push came to shove, they aban- Th ey ma doned their punk desires de the cover and even jettisoned their last of The Rolling punk remnant, bassist Margaret Stone! Olavarria who wanted to remain true to the cause. When they did return from England and had their live performance down, they signed with Miles Copeland from I.R.S., a subsidiary of A&M Records. Copeland hired producer Richard Gottehrer, who had his hands in such monster pop hits as My Boyfriend’s Back, I Want Candy, and the ever-huge, Hang On Sloopy by the McCoys. Gottehrer brought Rob Freeman onboard to co-produce and engineer, fresh from his success with Blondie and the Ramones. This is where this story gets interesting because I was chief engineer at Jon Voight’s and his brother, Chip “Wild Thing” Taylor’s studio in White Plains in the 1980s and who brings a new band in to record while the Go-Go’s are top of the charts? Rob Freeman. I reached out to him for inside scoops on what it was like back then. “They were amiable, funny, hard-working, and determined,” Rob offered, reminding me that this was their first recording experience. “Like many young bands hearing themselves on excellent control room monitors for the first time, I think they were surprised—and clearly pleased—by what they heard, marveling
