The Great 80s

Belinda Carlisle

Belinda Carlisle (born August 17, 1958 in Hollywood, California) is an American singer and the lead vocalist and founding member of all-female new wave band The Go-Go's.

Carlisle's first venture into music was a brief stint as drummer for the punk band The Germs, under the name Dottie Danger, although illness (specifically mononucleosis) prevented her from ever performing with them live. Soon after leaving this band, she founded The Go-Go's (originally named The Misfits), with friend and fellow music novice Jane Wiedlin. With bassist-turned-guitarist Charlotte Caffey, guitarist-turned-bassist Kathy Valentine, and drummer Gina Schock, the Go-Go's became one of the most successful American bands of the early 1980s, helping usher new wave music into popular American radio, and becoming the first all-female band in rock history to ever achieve a #1 album, who also wrote their own music, and played their own instruments. The Go-Go's recorded two more studio albums (including 1982 Vacation, which went gold thanks to the title track). "Head over Heels," from their 1984 album Talk Show, made it to #11, but they never repeated the success of their 1981 multi-platinum debut, Beauty and the Beat, which featured the hits "We Got the Beat" and "Our Lips Are Sealed".

The Go-Go's broke up in 1985, and Carlisle embarked on a solo career (although she continued to work with fellow Go-Go Charlotte Caffey). Carlisle's first album, Belinda, was released on I.R.S. Records, in 1986. This album was successful in North America and was certified Gold in the U.S. and Platinum in Canada. Her summer hit "Mad About You" peaked at #3 in the U.S. and topped the Canadian Singles Chart. "Mad About You" was followed by the Motown-influenced single "I Feel the Magic", and by a cover version of the Freda Payne song "Band of Gold". All three songs were included on her debut album. The single Since You've Gone was used only for promotion.

During this time, Carlisle also had songs featured on movie soundtracks, notably "In My Wildest Dreams" from the movie Mannequin, as well as "Dancing in the City" from the Whoopi Goldberg movie Burglar.

Carlisle changed her hairstyle significantly for her second solo album, giving up her California Girl blonde bob for a long auburn style for 1987's Heaven on Earth. The musical style eschewed the 1960s-influenced pop of Carlisle's first album in favor of slickly produced 1980s power-pop, and was released in the United States through MCA, and in the United Kingdom through Virgin. The album became a Top 5 bestseller in the UK and Australia, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The album's producer, Rick Nowels, previously worked with Stevie Nicks, and would later collaborate with Kim Wilde, Jennifer Rush and Madonna.

The first release from Heaven on Earth was "Heaven Is a Place on Earth", which topped the single charts, not only in the U.S., but also in the UK and in several other countries (the dance mix of the song also topped the dance chart). The radio-ready song was further propelled by a video, directed by Academy Award-winning American actress Diane Keaton. The second single from the album was "I Get Weak", which shot to #2 in the U.S. and #10 in the U.K. The song was written by Diane Warren. The third single from the album was "Circle in the Sand," another Top 10 hit in the U.S., the UK, and Germany. "World Without You" was another British hit, followed by 1988 low-charting ballad "Love Never Dies", making this her fifth single from the album in the UK. In the U.S., the fourth and last single, "I Feel Free," a cover of the Cream classic, failed to reach the Top 40.

Carlisle's follow-up to the success of Heaven on Earth was Runaway Horses, released on October 23, 1989. The album hit the Top 5 in both Australia and the UK, certified double platinum in Australia and platinum in the UK and in Canada, but failed to reach similar success in the U.S. The first release, "Leave a Light On", peaked at #11 in the U.S., and became another Top 5 smash in the UK, Australia and Canada. The song features a slide guitar solo by George Harrison (see 'Collaborations'). The second U.S. single, "Summer Rain", reached #30 in early 1990. The song, which Carlisle noted was the most difficult song she had ever sung up to that point, peaked successfully at #6 in Australia, where it has maintained popularity, and the tune saw a cover version, in 2004, by the Australian group Slinkee Minx. It was the final release from Runaway Horses in the UK where it was released as the album's sixth single in December 1990, peaking at #23 in January 1991. Whereas in the U.S. Carlisle's success was decreasing, her popularity remained big in Europe and Australia. In 1990, further singles from the Runaway Horses album were successful as well: the title track, the summer mood influenced "La Luna", a Top 10 in Switzerland and top 20 hit in Germany and Australia, and "(We Want) The Same Thing", remixed from a country-styled release into a massive Pop hit, reaching #6 in the UK.

Wikipedia contributors. Belinda Carlisle. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. February 27, 2009, 13:15 UTC. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belinda_Carlisle&oldid=273647348. Accessed February 28, 2009.