Original musical girl group performs for second or third generation of fans

Amelia Calvert, reno.com
October 8, 2007

"Isn't it nice to see women on stage who aren't taking their clothes off?" asked Go-Go's bassist Kathy Valentine, from her place on the stage during a break in the show at the Silver Legacy, Oct. 6.

Indeed it was.

In fact, in this day and age, it is still rare to see an all-female band with all-original members who write their own music, play their instruments and perform live instead of lip-synch.

Women performers either strike out as solo artists to develop their own music and be taken seriously, or like most, end up selling their songs and their musical souls with sexed-up dance routines, performing to over-produced, sample-heavy electronic soundtracks.

I found the Go-Go's refreshing. I'll pass on most of the ladies of today: Give me the stripped down, real guitar sound of musicians at work.

I am old enough to remember the Go-Go's from their first time around, not quite their earliest stuff when they got together in 1978, but a little later, when they did the big '80s break-out. I loved the songs - I danced to "We Got the Beat," with my friends and watched the gals on MTV. Little did all of America know there was a darker side of the pop princesses; the high-jinks, naughty behavior, sexcapades, drugs and trouble among the ladies, as the VH1 Behind the Music would later reveal. Their proverbial lips were sealed at the time, and I was just a kid who was none the wiser.

The first time I saw those babes rolling around California in their cool convertible, splashing around in the fountain, I saw in Ms. Carlisle a lady I could grow up to be. With her fresh face, vintage/thrift-store BoHo style, and her voice, she was more life-like than Cyndi Lauper and less shocking and slutty than Madonna. Plus, Carlisle sings like a woman, not like a belting broad, not like a wailing banshee and not like a whispery, wimpy little prostiteen. She SINGS - and thankfully, her style is minus the au courant vocal gymnastics en vogue.

I still love the punk-pop style, the energy and personality that comes through in the writing of talented pixie Jane Wiedlin and rocking Charlotte Caffey. I loved it at 10, I loved it more in my 20s and I still love it in my 30s. The timeless tunes of the Go-Go's have been there for me every step of the way. They make me feel good, happy, energized and positive. I am so glad there was a Go-Go's for me, and for generations of little future Go-Go's.

When will all-female groups like the Go-Go's stop being a novelty and start being taken seriously? Follow-up groups like Hole (oops, they had a male guitarist, and songwriter, if you believe songs were ghost-written by Cobain) and the Donna's be more than just a chick band? I don't know how many times I have seen a female musician perform only to be denigrated by the comment, "Not bad for a chick."

Triple-threat female stars who write, record and perform are few and far between in the pop genre; you can probably name the ones who reached superstardom on one hand.

I am waiting for the music scene to wear itself out on the teen-to-25-age range sexpots who dance about with their girl parts dangling out and sell themselves with more sex appeal than talent. Bring back the women who can really rock.

Anyone who disses the Go-Go's as pop girly music hasn't got a clue about the lasting imprint these talented ladies have left on rock.

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