POP-A-LOOZA: The Go-Go's, "Surfing And Spying"

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is my Other Side Of The Hit B-side appreciation of "Surfing And Spying" by The Go-Go's.

This past weekend, my wife and I watched Showtime's fascinating new Go-Go's documentary. We've both been Go-Go's fans for decades, of course, and we remain puzzled why the group has never even been nominated for induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The group's credentials are strong: the first (and, thus far, only) self-contained all-female group to place an album at # 1 in Billboard, a feat accomplished with 1981's Beauty And The Beat. All but two of the songs on Beauty And The Beat were written by members of The Go-Go's; "Our Lips Are Sealed" was co-written by guitarist Jane Wiedlin with Terry Hall of The Specials, and "Tonite" was co-written by guitarist Charlotte Caffey with Wiedlin and Peter Case of The Plimsouls. It's one of my favorite albums, and the group's subsequent work (Vacation and Talk Show in the '80s, the reunion single "The Whole World Lost Its Head"  in 1994, God Bless The Go-Go's in 2001, and the fabulous new single "Club Zero") maintained a standard of excellence. 

This is an impressive body of work, well worthy of recognition and celebration. It continues to vex and confuse me that The Go-Go's remain so chronically underrated. The Go-Go's rock.

I've written previously of how I discovered the music of The Go-Go's, and the commentary from This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's Go-Go's Featured Act show in 2016 serves as the foundation for the "We Got The Beat" chapter in my eventual book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). TIRnRR will continue to play The Go-Go's right alongside our other Fave Raves for as long as we have a radio show.

But right now, we play a B-side. "Surfing And Spying" by The Go-Go's is the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.

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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

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Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 155 essays about 155 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).