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

Beauty and the Beat is the debut album by American rock band the Go-Go's. It was released on July 14, 1981 by the I.R.S. Records label.<ref name="FMQB"/>

Bolstered by its two Hot 100 hit singles "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got the Beat", Beauty and the Beat reached number one on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart in March 1982, and eventually ranked second on BillboardTemplate:'s 1982 year-end albums chart. The album sold in excess of two million copies, and was RIAA-certified double platinum,<ref name="RIAA"/> qualifying it as one of the most successful debut albums of all time. Critically acclaimed, it has been described as one of the cornerstone albums of American new wave music.<ref name="Songwriter"/>

The title is a play on the European fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast".

Background

In the late 1970s, Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, and Margot Olavarria met while attending punk rock shows in California.Template:Sf The three attended the Sex Pistols' final performance in San Francisco in January 1978, and afterwards were inspired to form their own band.<ref name="MixOnline"/> Although none of them actually knew how to play instruments, they quickly learned, and began playing in Hollywood nightclubs under the name the Go-Go's.<ref name="MixOnline"/> Carlisle was the singer, Wiedlin played rhythm guitar, Olavarria played bass and the newly added Elissa Bello played drums.Template:Sf A few months later, Charlotte Caffey joined the band as the lead guitarist since she had experience writing music with other groups like the Eyes.Template:Sf The Go-Go's developed a reputation within the Hollywood punk scene and were invited to open for the band Madness on a UK tour. While on tour, the Go-Go's recorded an extended play for Stiff Records.<ref name="MixOnline">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

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.<ref name="MixOnline"/> Around this time, the Go-Go's began to move toward a more pop rock-driven sound, influenced by the burgeoning new wave genre.Template:Sf Although their reputation continued to grow, they were unable to attract attention from major record labels. At a special showcase for A&R representatives at the Starwood, the Go-Go's did not get a single offer.Template:Sf Carlisle believes this was because record executives were sexist and did not want to sign an all-female band.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore.</ref> 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."<ref name="AV Club">Template:Cite web</ref> On April 1, 1981, I.R.S. cofounder Miles Copeland III signed the Go-Go's.Template:Sf

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."<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> 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.<ref name="AustinChronicle">Template:Cite news</ref>

Release

Beauty and the Beat was released on July 14, 1981 by I.R.S. Records.<ref name="FMQB">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In the United States, "Our Lips Are Sealed" peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> while "We Got the Beat", an earlier recording of which had previously been issued by Stiff Records in 1980,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> reached number two.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> After a long and steady climb, Beauty and the Beat reached number one on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart dated March 6, 1982,<ref name="Billboard200">Template:Cite magazine</ref> the week before "We Got the Beat" entered the top ten of the Hot 100. The album stayed at the top for six weeks,<ref name="AllMusic"/> and ranked second on the Billboard year-end albums chart for 1982 (behind the self-titled debut album of Asia).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

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",<ref name="ChristgauCG"/> while Jon Pareles in Rolling Stone called the album a "solid, likable debut" and said that with "their joyous harmony vocals and insistent 'we,' they've got a communityTemplate:Nbsp... and enough self-reliance and sass to take romance as comedy, not tragedy."<ref name="RS1981"/> The album placed 10th in the annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll in The Village Voice for 1981.<ref name="PazzJop">Template:Cite news</ref>

The album has since gained in regard. Rolling StoneTemplate:'s Warren Zanes said that the Go-Go's "showed that elemental pop rock & roll remained as viable as ever",<ref name="RS2004">Template:Cite magazine</ref> 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."<ref name="AllMusic"/> Reviewing its 2011 reissue, Eric Allen of American Songwriter called Beauty and the Beat "one of the 1980s cornerstone albums of American new wave" and found that it "still holds up surprisingly well thirty years later, which is a testament to the energetic spirit captured in this musical zeitgeist of the 80s", whose success "the Go-Go's were never able to equal or surpass".<ref name="Songwriter"/>

NPR MusicTemplate:'s Hilary Hughes credited the quintet with perfecting pop-punk's formula through Beauty and the Beat. Though she saw that bands like Blondie and the Ramones showed that pop and punk music "[weren't] mortal enemies", she claimed that the Go-Go's showed the "certifiable success" of the two's fusion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

"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!'"<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Legacy

In 2003, Beauty and the Beat was ranked number 413 on Rolling StoneTemplate:'s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and it later placed on updates of the list at number 414 (in 2012)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and at number 400 (in 2020).<ref name="RS2020">Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Our Lips Are Sealed" has been covered over the years by numerous artists and remains a staple of 1980s playlists. It appeared in Rolling StoneTemplate:'s 2000 list of the 100 greatest pop songs.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> "We Got the Beat" was named one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Capitol and I.R.S. released a 30th anniversary deluxe edition of Beauty and the Beat digitally and on CD on May 17, 2011.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

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<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

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

• Ginger Canzoneri, Mike Doud – art direction
• Mike Fink – design
• George DuBose – photography
• Cindy Marsh – illustrations

Charts

Album

Chart performance for Beauty and the Beat

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	27
Canadian RPM100 Albums<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2
Swedish Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	20
Billboard 200 (US)<ref name="Billboard200"/>	1

Singles

Chart performance of singles from Beauty and the Beat

Year	Song	US Hot 100	US MSR	US Dance	UK singles	CAN singles	AUS singles
1981	"Our Lips Are Sealed"	20<ref name="US singles" >Template:Cite web</ref>	15<ref name="US singles" />	10<ref name="US singles" />	47<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	3<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2<ref name="auchart">Template:Cite web</ref>
1981	"We Got the Beat"	2<ref name="US singles" />	7<ref name="US singles" />	35<ref name="US singles" />	-	3	29<ref name="auchart"/>

Accolades

Accolades for Beauty and the Beat

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
The Village Voice	US	The 1981 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll<ref name="PazzJop" />	1982	10
Rolling Stone	Germany	Albums of the YearTemplate:CN	1982	No order
Spin	US	Top 100 Alternative Albums<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	1995	91
Rolling Stone	US	Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2012	34
KCPR DJs	US	Top 100 Records from the 80sTemplate:CN	2002	59
Rolling Stone	US	The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time<ref name="RS2020"/>	2020	400
Blender	US	500 CDs You Must Own Before You DieTemplate:CN	2003	No order
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die	US	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	2005	No order

References

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Beauty and the Beat (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)