You remember the Go-Go's, don't you? Well, if you don't, you should. A breath of fresh air in the musically depressing 1980s, the Go-Go's were an all-female rock band from Los Angeles that played their own instruments and wrote their own songs. They were, in a phrase, the female Beatles.
So it's ironic that, when they broke up in 1985, lead singer Belinda Carlisle - the one member pf the group who did not play an instrument and a member with a paltry few composer credits for their songs - would have the biggest solo career.
As a member of the Go-Go's, Belinda Carlisle enjoyed hit singles such as "We Got the Beat," "Our Lips Are Sealed," and "Vacation," songs that were as much inspired by songs from old-time "girl groups" such as the Shirelles and the Shangri-Las as by songs from Lennon and McCartney. They opened doors for women in rock who wanted to play and write as well as song, though, in the MTV age, those doors would soon be slammed shut by a new generation of insubstantial, video-friendly pop divas who didn't have much aptitude for playing or writing . . . or singing.
Belinda Carlisle, however, persevered. She embarked on a solo career that got her some solid power-pop hits like "Mad About You" from 1986 and, from her 1988 Heaven On Earth album, "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" and "Circle In the Sand," both written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley. The former song got ruined in an annoying insurance commercial; the latter is probably Belinda Carlisle's best solo single ever.
She had fewer hits in the nineties and beyond, but she did take part in a couple of Go-Go's reunions and even tried her hand at musical theater, performing in a production of Hairspray in England in late 2009. She's still musically active, though, living in Thailand and having released an album of world music, Wilder Shores, in 2017 as a result of her interest in Eastern mysticism and in yoga. (George Harrison would have been proud.)
Whatever she does, Belinda Carlisle will always find a way to go forward.
Fun fact: She's married to political activist and film producer Morgan Mason, son of the late British actor James Mason. Their son is named James Duke Mason.
She had fewer hits in the nineties and beyond, but she did take part in a couple of Go-Go's reunions and even tried her hand at musical theater, performing in a production of Hairspray in England in late 2009. She's still musically active, though, living in Thailand and having released an album of world music, Wilder Shores, in 2017 as a result of her interest in Eastern mysticism and in yoga. (George Harrison would have been proud.)
Whatever she does, Belinda Carlisle will always find a way to go forward.
Fun fact: She's married to political activist and film producer Morgan Mason, son of the late British actor James Mason. Their son is named James Duke Mason.
No comments:
Post a Comment