Beauty and the Beat
Encyclopedia
Beauty and the Beat is the debut album from Californian all-female band The Go-Go's
. Released in 1981 on the IRS Records label, the album was preceded by the single
"We Got the Beat
," which became a massive club hit in Europe and, later, the United States. When the album was eventually released, it steadily climbed the Billboard 200
chart, ultimately peaking at number one
, where it remained for six consecutive weeks. The L.P. sold in excess of three million copies and reached double platinum
status, making it one of the most successful debut albums of all time. It is now widely considered as one of the cornerstone albums of 1980s new wave music. It was the first, and is the only, album entirely written and performed by an all-female band to top the charts.
The title is a play on the European fairy tale
Beauty and the Beast
.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 413 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
. This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com
's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005. The album opener, "Our Lips Are Sealed," has been covered
over the years by numerous artists, and remains a staple of '80s playlists. It is frequently cited as one of the Top 100 and Top 50 songs of the '80s. Rolling Stone magazine has named it one of the Top 100 Pop Singles of all time. "We Got the Beat" has been named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
The album gained a deluxe remastered compact disc when EMI released the Beauty and the Beat 30th Anniversary Edition on May 17, 2011. Disc one features the remastered original album while disc 2 offers an entire live show, recorded at the Metro Club in Boston on August 20, 1981. Both Vacation (1982) and Talk Show (1984) were previously issued in remastered CD form in 1999.
The Go-Go's
The Go-Go’s are an all-female American rock band formed in 1978. They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts....
. Released in 1981 on the IRS Records label, the album was preceded by the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"We Got the Beat
We Got the Beat
"We Got the Beat" is a song recorded by the American rock band The Go-Go's. Written by the group's lead guitarist Charlotte Caffey, the band recorded the song in 1980 and it was released in May as a single in the UK on Stiff Records. The song's single release brought the Go-Go's underground...
," which became a massive club hit in Europe and, later, the United States. When the album was eventually released, it steadily climbed the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, ultimately peaking at number one
Chart topper
Chart topper may refer to:*Record chart, a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time**Billboard charts, a ranking of the relative popularity of songs or albums in the United States...
, where it remained for six consecutive weeks. The L.P. sold in excess of three million copies and reached double platinum
Double Platinum
Double Platinum is a 1999 musical telefilm starring Diana Ross and Brandy.-Plot:The story begins with a scene featuring star singer Olivia King leaving her daughter Kayla, who was an infant at the time. It is revealed that Kayla was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but in her later years, she would move...
status, making it one of the most successful debut albums of all time. It is now widely considered as one of the cornerstone albums of 1980s new wave music. It was the first, and is the only, album entirely written and performed by an all-female band to top the charts.
The title is a play on the European fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 413 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005. The album opener, "Our Lips Are Sealed," has been covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
over the years by numerous artists, and remains a staple of '80s playlists. It is frequently cited as one of the Top 100 and Top 50 songs of the '80s. Rolling Stone magazine has named it one of the Top 100 Pop Singles of all time. "We Got the Beat" has been named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
The album gained a deluxe remastered compact disc when EMI released the Beauty and the Beat 30th Anniversary Edition on May 17, 2011. Disc one features the remastered original album while disc 2 offers an entire live show, recorded at the Metro Club in Boston on August 20, 1981. Both Vacation (1982) and Talk Show (1984) were previously issued in remastered CD form in 1999.
Track listing
| # | Title | Composer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Our Lips Are Sealed Our Lips Are Sealed "Our Lips are Sealed" is a song written by Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin and Specials and Fun Boy Three singer Terry Hall. It was first recorded by The Go-Go's as the opening track on their 1981 album Beauty and the Beat and served as their debut American single... " |
Wiedlin, Hall Terry Hall (singer) Terry Hall is the lead singer of The Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas. He has released two solo albums and has also collaborated with many artists including David A... |
2:45 |
| 2. | "How Much More" | Caffey, Wiedlin | 3:06 |
| 3. | "Tonite" | Caffey, Wiedlin, Peter Case Peter Case Peter Case is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, who has had a wide-ranging career ranging from new wave music to folk rock to solo acoustic performance.-Early career:... |
3:35 |
| 4. | "Lust to Love" | Caffey, Wiedlin | 4:04 |
| 5. | "This Town" | Caffey, Wiedlin | 3:20 |
| 6. | "We Got the Beat We Got the Beat "We Got the Beat" is a song recorded by the American rock band The Go-Go's. Written by the group's lead guitarist Charlotte Caffey, the band recorded the song in 1980 and it was released in May as a single in the UK on Stiff Records. The song's single release brought the Go-Go's underground... " |
Caffey | 2:36 |
| 7. | "Fading Fast" | Caffey | 3:41 |
| 8. | "Automatic" | Wiedlin | 3:07 |
| 9. | You Can't Walk in Your Sleep (If You Can't Sleep)" | Caffey, Wiedlin | 2:54 |
| 10. | "Skidmarks on My Heart" | Caffey, Carlisle | 3:06 |
| 11. | "Can't Stop the World" | Valentine | 3:20 |
Band
- Charlotte CaffeyCharlotte CaffeyCharlotte Irene Caffey is an American rock and roll guitarist and songwriter, best known for her work in the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat."...
– lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals - Belinda CarlisleBelinda CarlisleBelinda Jo Carlisle is an American singer who gained worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female bands and the first such group whose members wrote their own songs and played their own instruments...
– lead vocals - Gina SchockGina SchockGina Schock is best known as the drummer in the all-girl punk/pop band The Go-Go's....
– drums, percussion - Kathy ValentineKathy ValentineKathy Valentine is the American bass guitarist for the all-girl rock band, The Go-Go's....
– bass, backing vocals - Jane WiedlinJane WiedlinJane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and actress. She is best known as the rhythm guitarist of the all-female New Wave band The Go-Go's.-Early life:...
– rhythm guitar, vocals
Production
- Rob Freeman: production, engineering, and mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
- Richard Gottehrer: production
- James A. Ball: assistant engineer and mixing assistant
- Ted Blechta, Darroll Gustamachio, Gray Russell, John Terelle: assistant engineers
- Stuart Furusho, David LeonardDavid Leonard (producer)David Leonard is a Grammy Award-winning American record producer and audio engineer.-Production discography:* 1981: Chaka Khan - What Cha' Gonna Do for Me - co-engineer* 1981: The Go-Go's - Beauty and the Beat - mixing assistant...
: mixing assistants - Doug Schwartz: remixRemixA remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ing - Greg Calbi: mastering
Staff
- Ginger Canzoneri, Mike Doud, Mick Haggerty, Vartan: art direction
- Mike Fink, Mick Haggerty: designDesignDesign as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
- George DuBose, Mick Haggerty, Cindy Marsh: photography
- Cindy Marsh: illustrationIllustrationAn illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
s
Album
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
Certifications | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 27 | — | |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 2 | Platinum | 200,000+ |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 1 | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000+ |
Singles
| Year | Song | U.S. Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
U.S. MSR Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
U.S. Dance | UK singles UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
CAN singles Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
AUS singles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | "Our Lips Are Sealed Our Lips Are Sealed "Our Lips are Sealed" is a song written by Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin and Specials and Fun Boy Three singer Terry Hall. It was first recorded by The Go-Go's as the opening track on their 1981 album Beauty and the Beat and served as their debut American single... " |
20 | 15 | 10 | 47 | 4 | 2 |
| 1982 | "We Got the Beat We Got the Beat "We Got the Beat" is a song recorded by the American rock band The Go-Go's. Written by the group's lead guitarist Charlotte Caffey, the band recorded the song in 1980 and it was released in May as a single in the UK on Stiff Records. The song's single release brought the Go-Go's underground... " |
2 | 7 | 35 | - | 3 | 29 |