I found out about the Go-Gos by going to a Police concert in early 1982 where the Go-Gos were the opening act. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it seemed that half the time I went to a rock concert, the opening band outshone the main event, and this was easily one of those times. A third of a century later, I can still remember how “Our Lips Are Sealed” kicked ass that night at the Cap Center.
Within weeks, everybody knew who they were, of course, but for once, I had the feeling of knowing about a great band before the whole world did.
And Beauty and the Beat was a very good album. Besides the songs that got a lot of airplay, songs like “Can’t Stop The World,” “This Town,” and “You Can’t Walk In Your Sleep (If You Can’t Sleep)” are still in the continual playlist in my head.
After that, they faded pretty fast, but that one good album sure was something.
The Bangles - well, honestly, I’m not the person you want to talk to about the Bangles. There should be a category for “artists/bands you loathed because of their first song that you heard,” and for me, the Bangles are in that category*.
The song in their case was “Manic Monday” which I continue to loathe. Let’s see: a three-minute whine, no ‘manic’ energy, hell kinda listless really, and an incredibly stupid refrain that would have been an OK bit of writing for a fourth-grader, but a middle-schooler should have been seriously ashamed of.
Green Day’s “Basket Case” comes to mind as a comparison, because it (a) at least has the honesty to open up with “do you have the time to listen to me whine?” and (b) has the energy that the word “Manic” of “Manic Monday” implies, but that “Manic Monday” totally lacks.
I’ll admit that “Walk Like an Egyptian” is a fun song, but it’s the only thing I’ve heard of theirs that I like. Admittedly, that only covers three songs, but “Egyptian” definitely was the exception in those three. (“If She Knew What She Wanted” - tolerable but not that great - was the other one, and the second one I heard, so by the time I heard “Egyptian” it registered with me as being atypical of them, so no reason to investigate further.)
Their respective sex appeal never really entered into it for me. I didn’t watch much MTV or VH1 back in the day, and even now, if I listen to a song on YouTube, odds are that the video detracts from my experience of the song more than it adds to it. Either the music’s good or it’s not, and the only sexiness that counts for me is in the vocal delivery itself.
*Another band in that category would be the Gin Blossoms. They eventually overcame the horrendous first impression they gave me with “Hey Jealousy,” but it took most of the time between then and now for it to happen.
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