The Daily Swarm - Go-Go's touring without Jane Wiedlin...replacement learned all the songs in 24 hours...

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February 08, 2008

Go-Go's touring without Jane Wiedlin...replacement learned all the songs in 24 hours...

When the Go-Go’s released Beauty and the Beat in 1981, they couldn’t have predicted how successful, and influential, the album would become. On the strength of the hits Our Lips Are Sealed and We Got the Beat, the Go-Go’s became the first all-female band to top the Billboard charts, inspiring young women around the world to rock out themselves. The group went on to score the hit Vacation, its video becoming an MTV sensation back when music videos still mattered.

Nearly 30 years later, the Go-Go’s have still got the beat. Lead singer Belinda Carlisle—on her cellphone en route from Austin to Dallas—talks to us about posing for Playboy, how the band has stayed together all this time (with a few breakups in between) and the performance Friday at the Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater. (Note: Founding member Jane Wiedlin recently was forced to drop out of the tour because of her mother’s failing health).

Q: First off, I’m sorry to hear about Jane’s mother.

A: Thank you. It was a shock to all of us, but within 24 hours we found somebody great to take [Jane’s] place: Eve Monsees, a 23-year-old guitar prodigy from Austin. She learned all the songs in 24 hours. Though Jane is irreplaceable, we were really lucky to find someone so good.