If you like: ‘80s new wave staples like The Motels, The B-52’s, and Missing Persons–or if you’re simply a connoisseur of “We Got The Beat”–you need a (copy of) Vacation.
About: The Go-Go’s were the most popular all-female band to emerge from the punk/new wave explosion of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, becoming one of the first commercially successful female groups who weren’t controlled by male producers or managers. While their hit singles–“We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” “Head Over Heels”–were bright, energetic new wave pop, the group was an integral part of the California punk scene. And they did play punk rock, even if many of their rougher edges were ironed out by the time they recorded their first album, 1981’s Beauty and the Beat. Despite becoming America’s darlings, the Go-Go’s lived the wild life of rockers, swallowing as many pills and taking as much cocaine as possible, trashing hotel rooms, and just generally being bad. More importantly, their earliest music–now collected on Return to the Valley of the Go-Go’s–was raw and rocking; it may not have directly inspired the female alternative rockers and riot grrrls of the ‘90s, but it certainly foreshadowed them.*^{Stephen Thomas Erlewine}
A favorite track: Cool Jerk