The Go-Go’s Gave the World the Gift of Jane Wiedlin

Were the Go-Go’s a punk band or were they a pop band? Did their music change the game for female bands? Is the world a better place with Jane Wiedlin in it? Does Jane Matter today? Is Jane Wiedlan a great song writer and musician as well as an actor and, activist, and a comic book superhero? Yes.

For Gen X, the Go-Go’s need no introduction. They are, however, one that many Gen Z youth I have spoken with do not have as much knowledge of. But when I tell them about the Go-Go’s, their accomplishments, and play a few songs, they love it!

The Go-Go’s are the first all woman band to have a number 1 album on the Billboard Hot 100. It is important to note that the Supremes were the first all woman group to have a number one album in 1966. They did it with their 9th studio album (wait for it….wait for it) “The Supremes A’-Go-Go”! The distinction here is the word band. The Go-Go’s wrote their songs and played instruments.

In 2021 The Go-Go’s would be the first all woman band to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame. They were the 5th all woman group, but the first all woman band. The distinction matters. I’ve heard Joan Jett in many interviews say that in almost every town in America there is an all girl band playing their asses off. In an industry that still does not give the proper attention to women bands (did the 90’s teach the industry nothing?) inspirations like the Go-Go’s matter.

7 million records sold, 2 top ten records, 2 top ten singles, a triple platinum album and a gold record. The possibility that this can happen in the male dominated sexist record industry full of predators that devour and sometime enslave women artists, possibilities exist.

For the musical historians, their beginnings also had Margot Olavarria and Elissa Bello. In the end they had, for a brief time, Paula Jean Brown.

But the names most people know are Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey, Gina Schock, and Kathy Valentine.

Jane is my favorite and also one of the founding members.

Co-founder Jane Wiedlin had a life full of curves from a young age. Undiagnosed Bi-Polar Depression had a hold on her. At the age of 15 she attempted suicide. Today, according to the American Psychiatric Association, 20% of teens are reported to have thought about suicide and it is the 2nd leading cause of deaths of teens in America.

When you do not have the proper tools, you need something to inspire you and give you something to live for. A young Jane Wiedlin had discovered the punk scene in London. It excited her and inspired her. She discovered that LA, where she lived, had a local punk scene. In punk there was a place for everyone. Man, woman, gay, straight! Anyone could start a band and you did not have to be classically trained or even great at your instrument or have the purist vocals.

There was a DIY ethos that is often used as a descriptor in punk, but it means so much to those in the punk scene. DIY means that you get to do the thing. You book the show, you create the clothing, you write the zine, you grab the instrument. You have a place and you are equal and you can matter. So many people found a place in punk because you could just do it without gatekeepers stopping you from expressing yourself.

This is what Jane needed. The punk scene in LA was small and everyone knew everyone…or at least knew of everyone. Belinda Carlisle and Jane would meet and form a band together. They played in the LA punk scene, then went to England where the scene was different and not as welcoming to them, but they held on, persevered, and came back to LA and started making a name for themselves that could not be ignored.

A teenage girl trying to survive found a tribe, a space to express herself, and met others like her.

Not everything in London was horrible. The song “We Got the Beat” was released as a single and got noticed in London and LA. This would eventually lead to their record deal. Jane had a complicated romantic relationship in England that led to the co writing of a future hit for both her and her former partner, “Our Lips Are Sealed”.

Their debut album, “Beauty and the Beat” still had echoes of their punk roots, but they were shifting towards being a pop band. The album would, in short time, hit the top of the charts, become a triple platinum album, and launch their career to a new level. “We Got the Beat” would climb to #2 on the charts, and though “Our Lips Are Sealed” would only make it to #20, the music video for the song would expose them to a new audience that was hungry for this new medium of music videos.

It was there that I would discover Jane Weidlin.

In 1983 I left an abusive home life to live with my grandparents. Initially I had no social network, but I had books, comics, music, and MTV. “Our Lips Are Sealed” was the first Go-Go’s music video I saw. One part of the song and the video stuck out to me. In most of the video the band is driving around in a convertible. At one point it is just Jane by herself in the car. The entire song changes in this moment and her higher register voice than Belinda Carlisle’s voice changed the whole vibe of the song for a few moments.

“Hush, my darling
Don’t you cry
Quiet angel
Forget their lies”

It is vulnerable, melodic, and beautiful. It was a contrast to the rest of the song’s melody that just worked. This was how I was introduced to the Go-Go’s and Jane Wiedlan.

The same week, possibly the same day, I saw their other video, “Vacation”. I was hooked.

Around this time, my grandfather got me a Walkman and a membership to a record club where I got to pick out ten cassettes. 2 of those were the Go-Go’s. “Beauty and the Beat” and “Vacation”. A few weeks after getting the cassettes, I got both albums on Vinyl as well. They were that good to me. But Jane was the center for me.

Even though The Go-Go’s were not cool for boys in my middle school to listen to, I loved the music. In my time of depression, trauma, and suicidal ideations, the uplifting pop was something I needed to feel good.

The only thing I did not like about the albums was there were no other moments like “Our Lips Are Sealed” with Jane Wiedlin on vocals.

Despite that I had some favorite songs on the 2 albums. Our Lips Are Sealed, Automatic, and He’s So Strange were my top three songs. Reading the liner notes I realized what they had in common. They were written by Jane Wiedlin!

In every interview with the Go-Go’s on the radio, television, and magazines I paid attention to her. She was animated, seemed full of joy, and embraced life and music.

While I was in high school, the Go-Go’s broke up. But in 1985, Jane released her first solo album.

Her self titled debut solo album did not do very well in sales or on the charts. I really liked Blue Kiss, Modern Romance, and I Will Wait for You. Lyrically and vibe wise, I felt it was a better solo album than Belinda Carlisle’s, but it just felt like I was the only person jamming to it. And that did not really matter to me. This was my music collection and my jam, but I did want it to be on the radio and all over MTV.

But there was something about the mid 80’s sound to it that I did not connect with. The words? Yes. Her? Yes. But there was something I could not place my finger on in the composition that I did not like.

Looking back I think I was wrong. The sound of the album is very mid 80’s, but it is a good pop album and her voice’s unique register and lilt are always pleasant. In 1988 she would make a record that me and my girlfriend loved.

In 1988 I was working at a clothing store in a mall. I was dating a girl who worked at the Orange Julius smoothie stand at the same mall. We had a circle of friends who worked at various stores in the mall that we hung out with.

The girlfriend was Cassie and I have written about her and women artists she loved in the ‘Cassie Trilogy.’ While we were dating we used to go to her house near the mall and play records, eat junk food, and make out since her aunt worked late. We were in love and this was a great album to be in young love with.

Cassie loved the opening track, “Inside a Dream”. It was about life being hard and the dreams getting you through. If you do read the trilogy you will understand why this song was important to her and spoke to her and offered hope. “Rush Hour” was the only song from the album that made it to the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and it was a great song about being in love, especially new love.

It is infectious, still puts a smile on my face to this day, and I am not too proud to admit that we may have been cheesy and emoted and lip synched to each other when it was on the record player or radio. We were 18! Cut us some slack!

Those were the top faves, but so many of the songs were just great songs about love and that is the task of the troubadour and has been their service to the world for centuries. In the middle of hell and trauma, 2 teens dared to laugh, to love, and to enjoy each other and our friends. Jane Wiedlin’s album would be a part of the soundtrack of a special time in my life.

The album also had it’s title track. Jane was making a statement about not wearing animal fur. Activism in music. This is something I have always respected and appreciated. I do not consider a musician to be an authority on a matter, but their activism makes me curious. It is because of activist music that I am a feminist, an anti racist, a queer ally, and take matters like neutering, puppy mills, and cruelty to animals seriously.

Art can make you aware of things that matter. Many people do not want to be challenged and want artists to just shut up and sing (how?), shut up and act, paint, etc.

An artist makes us feel because their life is about expression and feeling. Sometimes those feelings include causes and pain and politics. If an alpha snowflake cannot handle that, then he is gonna have to burn his Nugent and Kidd Rock albums and deal with the fact The Chicks, Joan Jett, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and others have opinions too. And not one can of beer was shot as they sing of acceptance and kindness and rights and put their money and time where their prose is.

Jane Wiedlin gave a young woman a song to inspire her in rough time, a young man something to think about, and a young couple a few happy moments and a couple’s song. That shit matters and makes for a hell of an album.

As a creative spirit, Jane has explored other aspects as an artist.

Acting! In the movie Clue we saw her appear as a singing telegram that does not live long. She briefly appears as a Starfleet Officer in Star Trek IV, and she is Joan of Arc in the movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

In reality television she spoke candidly about her interest in things like kink and bondage.

She has done voice over work in things like Batman animated adventures and even a character in a more recent incarnation of Scooby Doo!

But my favorite artistic adventure that was not a song or songwriting? A comic book superhero! Lady Robotika! Image Comics created the adventures of Wiedlin abducted by aliens, experimented on in her sleep, and transformed into a cyborg. She becomes Lady Robotika, learns to control the nano bots inside her, and uses her powers to fight oppressive forces!

The last few years Jane Wiedlin has continued her work in animal rights, but has also been speaking openly about her Bi-polar diagnosis, mental health, and surviving 2 suicide attempts and years of daily ideations. As someone who survived my own attempt with decades of daily ideations, voices like hers are so important and every celebrity that speaks openly on this issue will always have my respect, love, and gratitude.

Her presence on social media features delightfully irreverent memes about religion every Sunday and is chock full of progressive anti Maga material. But it is not just about what she opposes, you also get to see what she and her community are for. And it is goodness and art and life!

Finally, I would be remiss in speaking about her if I did not speak about her music. Since 2016 her and a friend and musician named Pietro Straccia are a 2 piece band called Elettrodomestico! I wish I could describe it well. I think I heard her in an interview compare them to a synth and slightly demented version of the Mama and the Papa’s. It is fun, you should check it out, and they just dropped a cover of “Low” by Cracker! It is phenomenal!

Gen X Watch currently has about 3,000 readers a month clicking away over 16,000 times a month at our articles. In the modern world, that is a blip on the radar. I have this secret dream that like a message in a bottle, every woman I write about on Fem Fridays gets to read what I write about them. If she were to read this, I would hope that her takeaway is this:

I am so glad you found punk. It kept you alive and your coping skill and expression gave us you and so many of us are better for you being in this world. I choked up a few times writing this thinking about the young boy who escaped hell and found your music and the teen who had discovered love and your album was a part of it. The middle aged man stands here grateful for your voice in regards to mental health and feels the world needs to stop being cruel to our friends who lack opposable thumbs. Thank you for you!

To my readers. I hope that in the Fem Fridays, you take another look at these wonderful women I write about. I hope you are moved and that you use this as an opportunity to rediscover the voices that kept you going when you were young and invest some time in discovering what is inspiring the young people around you.

Dedicated to Erika

Every Feminist Friday is Dedicated to my friend Erika!

Erika died on Christmas leaving behind a family that has immediate needs.

Click here to read the story of how Erika saved my life when we were teenagers.

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