The Go-Go's formed in Los Angeles around 1978, starting as The Misfits with Belinda Carlisle, Charlotte Caffey, and Jane Wiedlin. Gina Schock and Kathy Valentine joined soon after, making up the five-piece lineup that would become familiar. They played local clubs while labels hesitated over their mix of pop and punk elements.
In 1981 they signed with IRS Records and put out their first album. Songs like "We Got the Beat" and "Our Lips Are Sealed" caught on quickly, and the follow-up record Vacation gave them "Head Over Heels" and the title track. Those tunes defined their sound for a lot of listeners in the early '80s.
They recorded four studio albums together before splitting in the mid-'80s. The group has reunited periodically since then, but those first few years are what most people remember.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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