3. The Go-Go’sBeauty and the Beat
This is the first album that I bought with my babysitting money. It was my first purchase at all with money of my own. I took it home, and I remember holding it and looking at the cover, and staring at them the entire time I was listening to it for the first time. And really falling in love. Every day after school I put that album on. Every single day. Just listened to it over and over and over. And danced. I feel like that album gave a kid like me permission to dance, and lyrically I was fascinated by everything they were saying. And musically, the songs are just gems. Every single one is this perfect little pearl. I I think it’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to having a Teen Beat experience, of just diving into each individual personality. I was so interested in them as people as well as a band. That actually continues to this day. They’re having a renaissance here. People are becoming much more vocal about how much they meant to all of us. Their guitar sound and style, and the direct very tight melodic parts, they had a huge influence on me. And I think also, aside from the permission to dance, they gave me that feeling that pop music’s nothing to be ashamed of. There’s nothing wrong with verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. This is a very moving tool, a moving song shape. So that also was attractive to me, because I’ve always been drawn to that.
