Beauty and the Beat (The Go-Go's album)

In the late 1970s, Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, and Margot Olavarria met while attending punk rock shows in California. The three attended the Sex Pistols' final performance in San Francisco in January 1978, and afterwards were inspired to form their own band. Tensions between band members resulted in Bello and Olavarria leaving the Go-Go's and they were replaced by drummer Gina Schock and bassist Kathy Valentine. The only label that expressed interest was the indie label I.R.S. Records. In a 1982 Rolling Stone interview, Valentine said: "IRS was where you went if you couldn't get a deal with a real label." On April 1, 1981, I.R.S. cofounder Miles Copeland III signed the Go-Go's. In the 2020 documentary ''The Go-Go's'', Carlisle claimed to have come up with the idea for the album cover, saying she wanted something "timeless" and "incognito." The towels the band used for the shoot were returned to the Macy's they were bought from earlier that day. Initially the album was released with a peach colored cover but the band was displeased with the look and later pressings were released with a blue cover. ==Release==

Beauty and the Beat was released on July 14, 1981 by I.R.S. Records. In the United States, "Our Lips Are Sealed" peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, while "We Got the Beat", an earlier recording of which had previously been issued by Stiff Records in 1980, reached number two. After a long and steady climb, Beauty and the Beat reached number one on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart dated March 6, 1982, the week before "We Got the Beat" entered the top ten of the Hot 100. The album stayed at the top for six weeks, ==Reception==

Beauty and the Beat was released to positive reviews that preceded its eventual summit of the album charts. Robert Christgau wrote in his column for The Village Voice that "unlike so many groups who live and die by the hook, this one's got hooks", The album has since gained in regard. Rolling Stones Warren Zanes said that the Go-Go's "showed that elemental pop rock & roll remained as viable as ever", and AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the album "is infectiously cheerful pop, so hooky it's sometimes easy to overlook how well-written these tunes are, but it's the sturdiness of the songs that makes Beauty and the Beat a new wave classic." Classic Rock History critic Emily Fagan rated four songs on the album as being among the band's best – the two hit singles plus "Lust to Love" and "How Much More". "When I was about seven, I discovered the Go-Go's," wrote American actress and author Drew Barrymore in an essay for the magazine V. "I went out and bought their album Beauty and the Beat, and as the vinyl twirled, my whole world changed. I stared at the girls on the cover like they were a gateway to cool. The fact that they were girls made me feel not only invited but more important – like I could be a badass too. I looked over to my Pippi Longstocking poster on the wall and thought, 'Yes! I like girls who rock!'" Legacy In 2003, Beauty and the Beat was ranked number 413 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and it later placed on updates of the list at number 414 (in 2012) and at number 400 (in 2020). "Our Lips Are Sealed" has been covered over the years by numerous artists and remains a staple of 1980s playlists. It appeared in Rolling Stones 2000 list of the 100 greatest pop songs. "We Got the Beat" was named one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Capitol and I.R.S. released a 30th anniversary deluxe edition of Beauty and the Beat digitally and on CD on May 17, 2011. Disc one features the remastered original album while disc two contains an entire live show, recorded at the Metro Club in Boston on August 20, 1981. Both Vacation (1982) and Talk Show (1984) were previously issued in remastered CD form in 1999. In 2016, Edsel Records reissued remastered deluxe editions, all with bonus tracks, of the first three Go-Go's albums. ==Track listing==

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Band members • Belinda Carlisle – lead vocals • Charlotte Caffey – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals • Gina Schock – drums, percussion • Kathy Valentine – bass guitar, guitar • Jane Wiedlin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Our Lips Are Sealed" bridge Production • Richard Gottehrer – production • Rob Freeman – production, engineering, mixing • James A. Ball, Ted Blechta, Darroll Gustamachio, Eric Korte, John Terelle – assistant engineering • Gray Russell – assistant mixing Design • Mike Doud and Ginger Canzoneri – art direction • Mike Fink – design • George DuBose – photography • Cindy Marsh – illustration ==Charts==

Album Singles ==Certifications==