The Go-Go's 8 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jane Wiedlin

Jane solely wrote "Living at the Canterbury" during The Go-Go's early years as a punk-rock band. Of the 13 never-released songs on the album and its two singles, Jane has solely written two and co-written six, perhaps while living at the Canterbury apartments during their early years; therefore, Jane contributed the most by composing 37% of the "new" lyrics on the retrospective album.

In the lyrics, Jane reminisces living at the Canterbury as in a dormitory with roaches; however, "We can do what we want...We can say what we please...We can be who we want...Being poor's okay by me."

Answer: Donald Storball

The Go-Go's cover the song "Cool Jerk"; however, Donald Storball wrote the lyrics and The Capitols originally released the song as a single in 1966 and later the same year on their album "Dance The Cool Jerk With The Capitols."

Cool, Cooler, Coolest! The Go-Go's have released three versions of their cover song. In 1982, The Go-Go's released their most recognizable version on the album "Vacation." In 1990, The Go-Go's released a smoother, more harmonious version on their compilation album "Greatest." In 1994, The Go-Go's released their very first cover of this song off their five-song studio-demo from 1979 on the retrospective album "Return to the Valley of The Go-Go's."

Answer: Jane Wiedlin

The FunClue alludes to Jane's song "Our Lips Are Sealed" from their previous album "Beauty and the Beat." Of the 13 songs on the album "Vacation" and its four singles, Jane earned 45% of the lyrical credits, Charlotte and Kathy each wrote 18%, Belinda 8% and Gina 4%. Someone was not on Vacation.

Answer: Beatnik Beach

Who wouldn't vacation on a beach?

On 26 Jun 1982, The Go-Go's were the first band in the US to release a single on cassette tape, aka a "cassingle," and this magnetic milestone was "Vacation" backed with "Beatnik Beach" to promote their album "Vacation."

Speaking of B-sides, while with The Textones in 1980, Kathy Valentine originally wrote the lyrics to "Vacation" but not only was her song relegated to the B-side of the single "I Can't Fight It" written by Tom Petty, Kathy's 105-second ditty also shared this B-side with "The Time Is Right."

While with The Go-Go's in 1982, Charlotte and Jane added another 74-second tingle and "Vacation" went from being commingled to being cassingle'd to becoming a worldwide jingle on 11 music charts: #6 US Cash Box Top 100, #8 US Billboard Hot 100, #13 US Billboard Mainstream Rock, #17 US Billboard Dance Club Songs, #18 Sweden Top List, #23 Canada Top Singles RPM, #31 Netherlands Single Top 100, #39 US Cash Box Year-End, #43 Australia Kent Music Report, #76 American Top 40 Year-End and #87 US Billboard Hot 100 Year-End.

Answer: Johnny Are You Queer?

Bobby and Larson Paine wrote the lyrics and Josie Cotton originally recorded "Johnny Are You Queer?" as a single in 1981.

However, during their early years at punk venues throughout Los Angeles, The Go-Go's performed this song long before Josie Cotton. Their live recording of "Johnny Are You Queer?" on the retrospective album "Return to the Valley of The Go-Go's" is at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco on 1 Aug 1979, which is two years and four months before Josie Cotton's single.

Due to a falling out with the band, the Paine brothers forbade The Go-Go's to perform this song and according to Setlist.fm, The Go-Go's had last sung it on 15 Mar 1980 at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood.

Thirty-four years later in 2014, however, The Go-Go's reminiscently performed "Johnny Are You Queer?" nine times during their Replay America Summer Tour.

Answer: Return to the Valley of The Go-Go's

The compilation album "Return to the Valley of The Go-Go's" contains this booklet with members' reflections and anecdotes of their favorite songs.

The booklet also contains a candid photo of The Go-Go's frolicking BEHIND the banner of their PETA Naked Ad campaign from four years earlier in 1990. According to the PETA website in 2020, "The 30-year campaign began in 1990 when rock icons The Go-Go's posed in the buff for a 'We'd Rather Go-Go Naked Than Wear Fur' poster, which they sold at concerts to raise money for PETA."

Answer: Ride into the future

Lyric: "Ride a sonic superslide into the future." Women are as powerful as the universe for "We are solar sisters...Here to make you shine // Ignite a Revolution...Feel it in the air...You can stop Evolution...Changes everywhere."

Based on your preferences for empowerment, you may also like the songs "Can't Stop the World," "Club Zero," "Fading Fast" and "Get Up and Go."

Answer: One in a Million

The Go-Go's did not release "One in a Million" on any album or single. Guns N' Roses released "One in a Million" on their album "G 'N' R Lies" in 1988.

FunNumbers! If you add The Go-Go's enumerated songs together, the sum will be 101: 100 + One + Zero = 101. The 101st day of the year is in April. What happened during an April for The Go-Go's? On 1 April 1981, The Go-Go's signed with I.R.S. Records!

If The Go-Go's had covered the song "'39" by Queen from the album "A Night at the Opera" (1975), The Go-Go's enumerated sum would advance to 20 May: Jane's birthday!

Answer: Beauty and the Beat

The Go-Go's released "We Got the Beat" from the album "Beauty and the Beat" in 1981 and this single had ranked on eight music charts: #2 US Billboard Hot 100, #3 Canada Top Singles RPM, #7 US Billboard Mainstream Rock, #25 US Billboard Top Pop Singles Year-End, #29 Australia Kent Music Report, #32 Canada RPM 100 Year-End, #35 US Billboard Dance Club Songs and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 500 Songs to Shape Rock and Roll.

Answer: We Got the Beat

Each of the four choices mentions a specific dance in its lyrics, but "We Got the Beat" on the album "Beauty and the Beat" bobs, "Go-go music really makes us dance...Do the Pony puts us in a trance...Do the Watusi just give us a chance...That's when we fall in line."

For the next dance, The Go-Go's will fall in line again to "Limbo down...Hit the ground" during the song "Beatnik Beach" on the album "Vacation," and an earlier song from their punk-rock years "Fashion Seekers" on the retrospective album "Return to the Valley of The Go-Go's" pretentiously poses, "They dance the Hustle in Italian boots."

"Can you do the Cool Jerk," mack daddy? Also on their album "Vacation," The Go-Go's cover the song "Cool Jerk" from The Capitols' album "Dance the Cool Jerk with The Capitols" (1966). Although "Cool Jerk" is a dance, its title is derivative of the once popular Jerk and originally was to be named "Pimp Jerk" because of how pimps, being too "cool" to dance the Jerk in the Detroit nightclubs, would instead lewdly strut and groove to songs specifically written for the Jerk: "Can You Jerk Like Me?" (The Contours), "Come on Do the Jerk" (The Miracles), "Jerk and Twine" (Jackie Ross), "Jerk It" (The Gypsies), "The Big Jerk - Pt. I" (Clyde & The Blue Jays) and "The Jerk" (The Larks).

A fifth song to mention a specific dance but not included as a choice is The Go-Go's cover-song "Let's Have a Party" also on the album "Return to the Valley of The Go-Go's" flapping, "I've never kissed a goon...But I can shake a Chicken...In the middle of the room."

Although The Go-Go's wrote the word "dance" 15 times in the lyrics of four other songs, none of these songs mention a specific type of dance: "The Way You Dance" has "dance" 12 times and the songs "The Whole World Lost Its Head," "Turn to You" and "Yes or No" have it once.