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Belinda Carlisle on punk, cocaine, body image and Buddhism: ‘I was born a little bit of a rebel’
Guardian ^ | Mon 28 Jun 2021 | Emine Saner

Posted on 07/03/2021 4:16:51 PM PDT by nickcarraway

It hardly matters – who really cares about these things? – and yet it does. This year the Go-Go’s will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and earning a place at the museum in Cleveland, Ohio, for all its naffness, is still a mark of influence and recognition. “I always said: ‘**** them, I don’t care,’” says Belinda Carlisle, the band’s lead singer. “But when it actually happens, it’s: ‘Oh, this is not so bad.’”

The Go-Go’s have had a reappraisal in the past year, thanks mainly to a documentary by the film-maker Alison Ellwood. It tells the story of how these scrappy young LA punks put together a band (the lineup shifted until arriving at the current five members) and made history – incredibly, they are still the only female band who write their own music and play their own instruments to have reached the top of the US album charts. That was in 1982. As with many female artists, belittled for years by the male-dominated music industry and press, the recognition feels long overdue.

The documentary also refocuses perceptions of Carlisle. After leaving the Go-Go’s, she became a glossy pop star, but I love seeing the older images of her wearing a bin bag dress, or facing down sexist thugs while on an early UK tour supporting Madness. On the phone from her home in Bangkok, Carlisle, now 64, is warm and unguarded. She laughs at the memory, but also adds it was “very intimidating. We would come off stage crying.” But that tour, and the kudos they had earned on the US new wave scene for touring Britain’s ska clubs, was the turning point for the band. “It exploded after that,” she says.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: 80s; belindacarlisle; music; punk; ska
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He husband of 25 years held five different positions under Ronald Reagan in the 80s.
1 posted on 07/03/2021 4:16:51 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
One of the prettiest music icons of the 1980s, without a doubt!


2 posted on 07/03/2021 4:20:55 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("And once in a night I dreamed you were there; I canceled my flight from going nowhere.")
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To: nickcarraway

Gotta’ love Belinda..


3 posted on 07/03/2021 4:21:26 PM PDT by rexthecat (nks!)
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To: nickcarraway

She’s great. Jane Wiedlin also. To some extent the Go-Gos were packaged as a frivolous “Girl Group” but they were much more than that.


4 posted on 07/03/2021 4:22:24 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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To: nickcarraway

Without having followed either one closely, I thought Fanny was a pretty good “girl band”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zspd9hFRtkw


5 posted on 07/03/2021 4:27:51 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s.....you weren't really there..)
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To: Alberta's Child

Definitely


6 posted on 07/03/2021 4:29:03 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Unbelievable that they would include the Go-Gos while Blue Oyster Cult is still not in it.


7 posted on 07/03/2021 4:29:24 PM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents)(Know Islam, No Peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: Lurkinanloomin

I don’t know why they even have it,


8 posted on 07/03/2021 4:30:02 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
R&R Hall of fame huh? As if there is still any rock and roll anymore.

The Go-Gos were new wave not punk. And they were so stoned and drunk during most of their heyday I don't think any of them can be counted upon to give an accurate account of 1981-1982. Talk about hard-partiers.

Hall of fame is so stupid.

9 posted on 07/03/2021 4:37:33 PM PDT by corkoman
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To: corkoman

Unlike other musicians of any style of music...


10 posted on 07/03/2021 4:40:15 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: Lurkinanloomin
The Blue Oyster Cult doesn't need the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. They've been immortalized in the iconic "More Cowbell" skit on Saturday Night Live ...

In Memoriam ... Gene Frenkle (1950-2000)

LOL.

11 posted on 07/03/2021 4:42:43 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("And once in a night I dreamed you were there; I canceled my flight from going nowhere.")
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To: nickcarraway
All the kids just getting out of school
They can't wait to hang out and be cool
Hang around 'til quarter after twelve
That's when they fall in line

They got the beat
They got the beat
Kids got the beat
Yeah, kids got the beat

12 posted on 07/03/2021 4:42:56 PM PDT by SamAdams76 (Give me a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer)
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To: SamAdams76

Never part of the punk scene - they were the industry’s attempt to mainstream punk and were just a girl band. A sanitized version of the Runaways.


13 posted on 07/03/2021 4:46:36 PM PDT by JMS
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To: nickcarraway
It hardly matters – who really cares about these things? – and yet it does. This year the Go-Go’s will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

They had one hit and Carlisle had a very short so-so solo career. Hall of Fame? I think not. But then again the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame is nothing but a commercial venture.

14 posted on 07/03/2021 4:51:31 PM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel.d)
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To: corkoman

“She says she knew she was in trouble with drugs “from the very beginning”. “I always had that little voice: ‘What are you doing?’” In the early days, she was “an acid head. But when I was introduced to coke, I thought: ‘Oh my God, when I get money, I’m going to buy lots of this.’ And I did.” She laughs. Three years after their album hit No 1, Carlisle had spent most of her money on drugs, clothes and, of all things, a racehorse.”


15 posted on 07/03/2021 5:03:29 PM PDT by Mr Rogers
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To: JMS

Urgh A Music War

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaZiYv5Chio


16 posted on 07/03/2021 5:17:36 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Lean on Joe Biden to follow Donald Trump's example and donate his annual salary to charity.)
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To: JMS

The Runaways kicked ass. They were breaking new ground and original.

No comparison to Carlisle and her pop schlock run. Hey, she cashed in.
Good for her.


17 posted on 07/03/2021 5:20:25 PM PDT by romanesq (TRUSTY THE PLAN! ChiCom Joe is the Plan? Que magnificent! 👹)
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To: nickcarraway

For what the Go Go’s were, they were good. But it seems odd they’re being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. A small handful of hits in the 80’s....and?


18 posted on 07/03/2021 5:22:35 PM PDT by simpson96
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To: JMS
The Slits were a real punk girl group.
19 posted on 07/03/2021 5:24:58 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Alberta's Child

She cleaned up nicely. It could have had a bad ending.


20 posted on 07/03/2021 5:26:21 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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