Virtual stars: Go-Go's still got the beat

Still got the beat: The Go-Go's performed 'virtually' one of their 
hits from the early 1980s on The Today Show last week

They were one of the seminal US bands of the early to mid-1980s, and broke ground as an all-women group who wrote their own songs, played their own instruments and had massive commercial success.

The Go-Go's star shone bright and furious for a few years in the first half of the '80s, but the band has continued to regroup throughout the past four decades, and their early hits have remained memorable and fresh.

The full classic line-up returned two years ago when bassist Kathy Valentine resumed her role after a five-year absence.

And not even the Covid-19 pandemic has been able to keep them down. They've managed to perform songs "virtually" by hooking up online from their homes and gardens - and the results are a masterclass in rocking pop that transcends the passage of four decades.

Some would argue The Go-Go's contribution to popular music has been overlooked. It's certainly a mystery why they've not been inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame. 

At their best it was always been about catchy, upbeat songs played in a rocking style. Last week, they performed a virtual version of We Got The Beat on The Today Show in the US. 

How many other groups, who had their heyday almost 40 years ago, can knock out performances like this even when the band members are miles apart? You go Go-Go's.

VIDEO: The Go-Go's perform We Got The Beat virtually on The Today Show

Music from the '80s still rules at airports

That 1980s vibe: Hollywood-Burbank 'Bob Hope' Airport is among
the airports where music from the Eighties holds sway

At airports I tend to notice the background music (or muzak) that is being piped through the sound system. Increasingly, those ambient sounds are songs from the 1980s, with perhaps the odd one or two from the decades either side of the Eighties.

So what gives? Why does music from the 1980s hold sway in airport departure terminals. What is it about that era that continues to see its songs given preference in such settings?

It could be that many of the people passing through the terminal will identify with the music they personally experienced earlier in their lives. But that theory only holds true for so many travellers, there are plenty of others using the airports who belong to a generation untouched by the Eighties.

I say it has to do with the clarity, simplicity and feel-good combination of the songs. That is what those providing the background music are seeking to provide travellers -  unobtrusive tunes that float around on the periphery of most people's hearing. In addition, for some folk the songs will bring a touch of reminiscence for times past and happy memories.

As a lover of music I enjoy tuning-in to any background melodies. At airports I have particularly noticed the 1980s musical playlists at Hollywood-Burbank 'Bob Hope' Airport, JFK International Airport in New York, and Boston Logan International Airport.

It's not only airports; shopping malls are another venue that often delve into the tunes from the Eighties. What does this say about music? Were the 1980s truly the peak years for timeless, enjoyable mood and ear-friendly music?

Who knows, but I like it.

Tiffany is on song revisiting '80s hit

Joy reflected: Tiffany has re-recorded  I Think We're Alone Now,
which was a worldwide hit for her as a teenager 32 years ago

From the slightly unruly hair, to the worn and ripped denim jacket, Tiffany blends in with those around her as she strolls through the sand and along the promenade at Venice Beach, California.

Passersby go about their business seemingly unaware that in their midst is the former teenage pop star who recorded one of the most recognisable songs of the 1980s.

It is more than 30 years since she first shone. Now she is back with a re-recording of her smash hit, I Think We're Alone Now. The accompanying video shows her walking around Venice Beach and other parts of Los Angeles, and in England singing at the recording studio of The Kinks' Ray Davies.

The song, a bubblegum pop hit in 1987, is instantly recognisable to the older generation and even to some who were born later and have come across it in other places, such as in the 2012 movie Ted.

I Think We're Alone Now was written by Ritchie Cordell and dates back to 1967, but Tiffany's cover version is its most successful iteration.

Tiffany was very much part of the spirit of the second half of the '80s, and with the new recording and video she continues to exude positive vibes. The feelings are the same, but her voice is stronger.

Denim was her signature clothing back in the '80s and the video recalls this, although pointedly exhibiting the passage of time as she no longer wears crisp, fresh denim, instead it is a faded jacket complete with rips and frayed collar.

Tiffany appears happy and  comfortable revisiting the song from her youth. It is almost like a statement to old friends who have travelled through those same years and decades: "How are you doing? Hasn't life been a blast!"

Not only does it reflect the passage of time, this new version proves how this simple song has staying power.

Video: Tiffany's 2019 version of I Think We're Alone Now

Tom Petty's many moments of brilliance

Modern classic: Tom Petty at Ventura Boulevard, San Fernando Valley, in
the 1989 video for Free Fallin'. The song mentioned many "Valley" locations

Tom Petty was one of the great modern singer songwriters of America. His output around the late 1980s and early 1990s was stunning, and it is this period that I most associate with his music.

Petty, 66, died in Santa Monica on Monday after a heart attack. Here are two personal vignettes relating to Petty and his music.

The catchy melodies and lyrics of his biggest hits, particularly the two I rate most highly, Learning to Fly and Free Fallin', were firmly etched in my mind by 1995 - the year I enrolled for a semester of study at a Los Angeles college in the San Fernando Valley.

The relevancy of that is Petty's own connection to "The Valley." For many years he lived in the neighbourhood of Encino, and some of his songs and videos show or reference places in the San Fernando Valley - the vast metropolitan sprawl that is separated from downtown Los Angeles by the Hollywood Hills.

On my twice daily route to college through the neighbourhood of Reseda, or anytime I travelled along Ventura Boulevard (which passed one block away from the college), I could not help but hear Free Fallin' playing my head. Reseda, Ventura Boulevard and nearby Mulholland are all mentioned in the song, which was only a few years old at that time. The song's lyrics created a degree of comforting familiarity with my immediate surroundings, even though I was 7,000 miles from home.

Watch for the UFO: Tom Petty in the classic video for Learning to Fly

Rewinding eight years to 1987, and an October evening just outside the city of Birmingham, England. I was at the National Exhibition Centre to see a sell-out concert at the immense indoor venue.

Of the three artists on the bill I was familiar with two; the headliner Bob Dylan and the opening act Roger McGuinn, the former lead singer and guitarist of The Byrds. Sandwiched between the two was a group I'd never heard of called Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I was there to see Dylan. The fact that McGuinn was also on the bill was a bonus. And I figured if Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were touring with Dylan and had been given a higher billing than McGuinn, then they must be pretty good.

McGuinn was on form, although his short set barely allowed him time to play more than a few of the jangle pop hits that made The Byrds famous in the 1960s, one being a cover version of Dylan's Mr Tamborine Man. This contrasted with Dylan, who barely lit up the stage with his disconnected performance.

Which brings me to Petty. That evening I had no expectations and so the surprise turned out to be all the greater. He and his band gave a performance between McGuinn's set and Dylan's that turned out to be the most enjoyable of the night. The rock-pop songs soared with an energy that seemed to bounce off the walls. Petty was having the time of his life performing on the same stage as two of his musical idols, and he was doing all he could to share some of that zest and fun with everyone in the audience of 15,000 - and succeeding.

At the time, the songs I consider to be Petty's finest had yet to be recorded, but during the next few years he would release I Won't Back Down, featuring George Harrison and Ringo Starr (Starr was only in the the video), the aforementioned Learning to Fly and Free Fallin', and was a founding member of the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys, along with Dylan, Harrison, Roy Orbison and ELO's Jeff Lynne.

The Traveling Wilbury's two albums spawned hits such as Handle With Care and End of the Line. It is fitting that Petty became a founding member of that short-lived group filled with musical legends, because he came to the world of music first and foremost as a fan. Just before his eleventh birthday he shook hands with Elvis Presley, then two years later he watched the US television debut appearance of The Beatles, at which point he decided he wanted to pursue a career as a musician in a band. It wasn't until the late 1970s that Petty and the Heartbreakers secured a contract with a major record label, but they quickly rose to success and reached a creative pinnacle in the late 80s and early 90s.

Petty was on the cusp of his greatest success when I saw him in concert in 1987. In the years that immediately followed I watched out for his records, and that proved to be perfect timing to catch the richest treasures of his career. Many of his American rock-pop classics have endured for a quarter-century and will last much longer.

Farewell Mr Petty, and thank you for the music.

Below: The official videos for Free Fallin' and Learning to Fly.





Further reading: An interview with the girl from the Free Fallin' video (and what she is doing now), can be found on this blog

Love the song #4: Vacation

The Go Go's at The Greek ampitheatre in Griffith Park, Los Angeles in
1984, exemplifying the carefree, fun music that was their hallmark.

While the 1980s was a diverse decade musically, there are some songs that can be described as capturing the zeitgeist - at least in part. The Go Go's Vacation is one.

A number of the Go Go's other hits, and indeed the band themselves, could equally be declared as defining the mood and spirit of the first half of the 1980s.

They are one of the most successful all-female groups in history that wrote their own songs and played their own instruments. Although it is also true that their success was overwhelmingly American-centric, and less all-conquering in other countries. Britain is a prime example, for while the Go Go's cut their musical teeth in the country's rough and ready punk and ska scene of the late 70s and early 1980s, in the history of British pop culture they are largely a minor footnote. Their biggest global hit Our Lips Are Sealed is generally not associated with them in the UK, but rather with the Fun Boy Three who took their version into the British Top 10, and whose Terry Hall co-wrote the song with Go Go Jane Wiedlin.

The caveat to the above is that after launching a solo career, lead singer Belinda Carlisle became an undisputed global star with hits including Heaven Is A Place On Earth.

But back to the Go Go's. Our Lips Are Sealed, Head Over Heels, and We Got The Beat, could all easily have been my choice for this "Love the Song" post, the fourth in a occasional series where I highlight a song that particularly inspires, uplifts or simply grabs me.

However, I chose Vacation. For me it captures the carefree essence of this brand of 80s pop, which the Go Go's peerlessly produced. It was written on a plane journey by bassist Kathy Valentine as she flew to Los Angeles to join her bandmates. While it has its own little story of holiday romance, it also evokes in words and tone the joy and adventure of a vacation, and the uplift that comes from breaking away from routine and being somewhere different.

From 1981 to 1985, the Go Go's perfectly captured the spirit and feeling of the moment. Sure, it was mostly a slice of Americana, but it was a time when the imagery of 80s Americana was, through music and movies, a driving force far beyond the shores of the US. If you had any doubts about whether or not life was good, you had only to tune into the Go Go's music to get an unambiguous, reassuring "yes."

And the zenith moment for the band was captured in glorious, colour-saturated 80s fashion at an outdoor show at The Greek ampitheatre in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. It was August 1984, the band were at their peak and still a few months away from the first fractures appearing. The Go Go's split the following year, and while they have undergone sporadic reunions throughout the past three decades (Valentine left for good in 2012) - it is this concert, fortuitously filmed in full, that best captures the joy and fun of the Go Go's and their music.



It is hard to pick a single song and concert moment, so I've included two clips from the concert. The first, above, is Vacation - including a moment when an inflatable beach ball hits songwriter and bassist Kathy Valentine as she sings, and Belinda Carlisle misses a line as she laughs. The second video, below, is We Got The Beat - because it rocks.

A tale of two movie theatres

It was a strange experience - going to see two films, on separate occasions and at different cinemas, with one of the theatres empty and the other a sell out.
To add to the bizarreness, the film at the empty theatre was the brand new release, Chappie, while the movie with the packed audience was the 30 years old The Breakfast Club.

It was a case of "pick a seat, any seat" at the afternoon matinee showing of science-fiction movie Chappie, the latest offering from director Neill Blomkamp, who also made the acclaimed District 9 and Elysium (blog post here). Despite the popular location of the theatre in downtown Santa Monica, there was not another sole in the auditorium to see this entertaining, action-packed adventure featuring an armour-plated police robot with artificial intelligence.

The film had some roughness around the edges, but it was enjoyable and certainly deserving of more than an empty theatre. As Heather and I departed the cinema I did wonder if having the film poster accidentally back-to-front outside of the theatre might have harmed its audience-pulling potential.

And so to The Breakfast Club, which didn't even get to have a poster outside the shopping mall cinema where it was being shown.
So how did anyone know it was on? The trailer above helped to spread the word, as did a number of newspaper articles that tied in with the 30th anniversary of the film's release in 1985.

For two nights only the restored film was shown at 430 theatres across the US. I discovered there was a one-off 30th anniversary showing nearby when I read the newspaper that morning. The theatre was all but sold out for the re-run of John Hughes' classic teen film.

On entering the auditorium the affection that many people hold for The Breakfast Club was clear. The audience consisted of a wide cross section of people, some of whom had obviously returned to see a film they remembered watching first time around, when they too had been teenagers. And then there were audience members much younger who had probably not even been born when the film first hit the silver screen. They appeared to be the same age as the characters in the film, but a generation removed from the music and sensibilities of the 1980s.

Not that that mattered one jot, because The Breakfast Club has a timelessness, and it is graced with universal themes that resonate across the ages. It is the story of five very different high school students - the punk, the princess, the brain, the jock and the basketcase - who are thrown together to serve a Saturday detention in the school library.

I've long admired the films of the late writer-director John Hughes. He was gifted in his ability to make teen movies and coming-of-age films that showed empathy with the lives of young people, capturing truths through memorable moments.

Two of the film's stars, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy, attended a re-showing of the film last month at the South by Southwest Film Festival, in Austin, Texas. Ringwald told USA Today that the Millenials generation "totally get it".  She said: "It hits on universal themes that resonate for each generation. Now The Breakfast Club is a touchstone, in the way JD Salinger books were for me growing up."

Watching the film on the big screen I was taken back to my younger days and recollections of seeing the film long ago, and also memories of being at school and recognising in others the archetypal character-types from the film. In truth, we probably all carry a portion of each within our identities.

It was wonderful to be in a full house watching such a touching classic. As the Simple Minds' song Don't You Forget About Me played out at the climatic end of the film it was time to go, but in the knowledge that I'll revisit this memorable film again as the years roll by.