This Saturday, October 30, the go-gos will conclude their long journey from the punk scene in Los Angeles to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
The final step on the quintet’s emblematic path to fateful immortality is long overdue. Although the band qualified for 2006, 25 years after their debut Beauty And The Beat shocked the new wave and pop scene; it took 40 years before they hit the halls.
Speaking to him recently on Zoom, vocalist Belinda Carlisle suggested. That the band might still not have been selected without Alison Eastwood’s 2020 documentary, titled The Go-Gos.
But thanks to documentation and longevity, The Rock Hall’s Sunday the band was finally introduced this Saturday by longtime friend and fan Drew Barrymore. With a class that included Carol King, Tina Turner, The Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Todd Rundgren. And Kraftwerk Early Influence Award winners Charley Patton and Gil Scott-Heron and Music Excellence Award winners Randy Rhoads, Billy Preston, and LL Cool J.
In late 2021 they will celebrate with a short tour, and “Head Over Heels,” The Rock Hall’s Sunday a musical based on their catalog. Will be released in November and December at the Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles. Ultimate was the band to be the first. And sadly still the only girl band to write their songs and play their instruments. Making rock history to reach number one on the Billboard album charts for their place in history being honored by rock.
I spoke to Carlisle about honor when he tried to get Freddie Mercury’s autograph at a Mexican punk rock show. And why after all these years, he has a new appreciation and respect for his teammates.
Steve Baltin: Where are you today?
Belinda Carlisle: I live in Thailand. I was in France for 24 years and then in Thailand for five years. And I’m in Mexico City now. We’re just waiting for the porridge to clear. I don’t know if they will because the country is in such bad shape. So we are expected to return to Thailand at the end of the year. I haven’t lived in the United States since ’94.