$\"Drum$ <\/a>
Photo: Ron Baker<\/p><\/div>\n

If I asked you to hum a song by The Bangles<\/strong>, you could probably do it, right? Perhaps this one<\/a>. What about Bananarama<\/strong>? This<\/a> might pop into your head. What about The Go-Go\u2019s?<\/p>\n
Perhaps you can think of a song, in which case: good work! Gold star. But over and over again I\u2019ve found that people know nothing about them, even though they were one of the most successful girl groups of all time and – quite frankly – better than the other two. (I warned you\u2026)<\/p>\n

Here are my top reasons why I love The Go-Go\u2019s and you should too:<\/p>\n

1) Perfect pop<\/h3>\n
Just listen. My favourite is Head Over Heels<\/strong><\/a> (I like to think of it as the voice of the girl in Devo\u2019s Out of Sync<\/strong><\/a>) but other hits include Our Lips Are Sealed<\/strong><\/a>, We Got The Beat<\/strong><\/a> and Vacation<\/strong><\/a>. Stupendously catchy choruses, simple lyrics, they\u2019re like a revved-up 60s girl group. I guarantee you, one of these tracks will be stuck in your head all day.<\/p>\n
Sorry for the terrible sound quality by the way \u2013 I thought you\u2019d like to see the videos. There\u2019s another great video for Vacation<\/strong> but the sound was too awful so you\u2019ve got the karaoke version instead.<\/p>\n
2) They played their own instruments and<\/em> wrote their own songs<\/h3>\n
I\u2019m not dissing The Bangles or Banarama, I love them too. I\u2019m just saying they\u2019re The Monkees to the The Go-Go\u2019s Beatles.<\/p>\n
3) For all your 1980s style needs<\/h3>\n
Think The Bangles or Bananarama have the last word on 80s fashion? Think again: The Go\u2013Go\u2019s may not have had as much hair but they did have VOLUME<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At one point they even looked a bit moody ‘n’ punk<\/a>. Check out the braces! (Early on they toured with Madness…)<\/p>\n

And guitarist Jane Wiedlin has sported some amazing looks:<\/p>\n

\n
Anticipating the 1990s with fairy dress and pixie crop<\/a><\/li>\n

Dungarees!<\/a><\/li>\n

Top hat!<\/a><\/li>\n

…Russian folk chic?<\/a> She has cool red tights, anyway.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
4) Retro ironic album and single covers<\/h3>\n
$\"The$ <\/a>Wheeeee! Anne Taintor<\/a> eat your heart out. <\/p>\n

5) Kicked ass in the charts<\/h3>\n
As someone with a lot invested in her ‘alternative’ identity (and a diehard contrarian) this doesn\u2019t matter much to me. What I find surprising is that they aren\u2019t better known given their chart success<\/a>. They had a number one album and four Top 20 singles in the US. I read somewhere that they were the first all female group – who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments – to reach number one in the Billboard chart.<\/p>\n

6) Better pop patron<\/h3>\n
$\"The$ <\/a>I may lose some friends over this one. While The Bangles’ biggest hit, Manic Monday<\/strong>, was written for them by Prince, The Go-Go\u2019s first hit, Our Lips Are Sealed<\/strong>, was co-written by Terry Hall of The Specials. I know who\u2019s cooler. And I think, in your heart, you do too.<\/p>\n
7) They get geek points<\/h3>\n Because Jane Wiedlin played Joan of Arc<\/a> in Bill and Ted\u2019s Excellent Adventure<\/strong> and Communications Officer Trillya<\/a> in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home<\/strong>. Win.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t understand why The Go-Go\u2019s are so often overlooked. Hopefully there will soon be an end to this injustice as they’ve been recently been given a star<\/a> on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, right outside The Masque club where they played their first gig. They\u2019re also doing a reunion tour, celebrating the 30^{th<\/sup>
anniversary of
their first
record,
Beauty and the
Beat<\/strong>.<\/p>\n}
Of course it doesn\u2019t matter which was the best 80s all-girl pop group1<\/a><\/sup> – the important thing is that they were all there, blazin\u2019 a trail for the next generation to follow. If you\u2019re interested in the history of women in pop and rock I recommend reading Lucy O’Brien’s She Bop II<\/strong><\/a>, and if you\u2019re interested in what\u2019s happening now head over to the cracking Wears The Trousers<\/a> music blog 2<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n
It was The Go-Go’s [↩<\/a>]<\/li>
Ed’s Note: Should you need further encouragement, our very own Rhian’s assistant ed over there, too. So really you can’t go wrong, eh. [↩<\/a>]<\/li><\/ol>

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No, not that one. Or that one. I\u2019m talking about The Go-Go’s.<\/p>\n

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