The Go-Go's Smackdown 4: The Chicks Quiz

Answer: The Go-Go's

Charlotte Caffey wrote "Surfing and Spying" and The Go-Go's released this song on the B-side of the single "Our Lips Are Sealed" on 12 Jun 1981.

The Go-Go's did not include "Surfing and Spying" on their debut album "Beauty and the Beat" in 1981, but they did include it on their retrospective album "Return to the Valley of the Go-Go's" 13 years later in 1994.

Of The Go-Go's 61 original songs, "Surfing and Spying" contains the fewest words in the lyrics at two: "Surf! Spy!"

Answer: The Go-Go's

Belinda Carlisle and Charlotte Caffey co-wrote "Beatnik Beach" and The Go-Go's released this song on the B-side of the single "Vacation" 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" in 1982.

According to a review of the album "Vacation" on The Young Folks, "Lastly is 'Beatnik Beach,' giving us all serious surfer vibes with the heavy drums and guitar tunes that sound as if they rode the waves and came straight to us from California. Not only did it inspire me and give me beach FOMO [Fear Of Missing Out], but it reminded me that songs can be brilliant without heavy vocals" (Harrison, 2017).

Answer: The Go-Go's

Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey co-wrote "Speeding" and The Go-Go's released this song on the B-side of the single "Get Up and Go" on 10 Sep 1982.

According to Medium's list of "20 Great Songs by The Go-Go's," "This one ['Speeding'] really is about getting in your car and taking off. It was also featured on the 1982 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' soundtrack, which looking back is a truly odd mix of new and decidedly old wave! This song fits just fine as a quintessentially Californian cut in the well-established pop song tradition of car songs that equate the push of a gas pedal to the freedom of youth" (Jones, 2021).

Answer: The Go-Go's

Jane Wiedlin and Gina Schock co-wrote "I'm with You" and The Go-Go's released this song on the album "Talk Show" on 19 Mar 1984.

Gina hasn't solely written any lyrics for The Go-Go's, but she does have co-writing credit on nine of their 61 songs (5.6%): three songs with Jane, two with Kathy Valentine, one with Charlotte Caffey and three with all members of The Go-Go's.

According to AllMusic, Gina also co-wrote songs for Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus and Last Mistress. Of the ten songs on her album "House of Schock," Gina has lyrical credit on eight for 48% of the album's cumulative credit.

Answer: The Go-Go's

Charlotte Caffey and Gina Schock co-wrote "Beautiful" and The Go-Go's released this song on the album "Return to the Valley of The Go-Go's" on 18 Oct 1994.

Gina explains the origin of "Beautiful" in the liner notes of the album: "'Beautiful' is the first song Char and I have ever written together. She came over to my house with a couple of chord progressions and the word 'beautiful.' I immediately thought of Divine in 'Female Trouble' in the scene in which she's taking the bandages off her acid-burned face. Everyone tells her how beautiful she is, and looking in the mirror, she agrees. All of which inspired the 'just a little off' melody and lyrics. God Bless Divine" (Schock, 1994).

Answer: The Chicks

Mark Selby and Tia Sillers co-wrote "There's Your Trouble" and The Chicks released this song on the album "Wide Open Spaces" on 27 Jan 1998.

The Chicks' "There's Your Trouble" ranked on eight music charts in four countries during two years peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs: Canada (2), Europe, Scotland, United Kingdom and United States (3). In addition, RIAA certified "There's Your Trouble" as Gold (500,000 units) on 5 Mar 2020.

During an interview with Vulture, Natalie begrudgingly named "There's Your Trouble" as The Chicks' "worst" song, explaining, "I hate to dog 'There's Your Trouble' because we didn't write it; other songwriters wrote it. I don't want to be mean" (Kircher, 2020).

Answer: The Chicks

Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Dan Wilson co-wrote "Not Ready to Make Nice" and The Chicks released this song as a single on 20 Mar 2006.

The Chicks' "Not Ready to Make Nice" ranked on 13 music charts in nine countries during two years peaking at number three on Canada Nielsen SoundScan: Australia (2), Canada, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States (4).

During a concert in London, England on 10 Mar 2003, Natalie denounced the impending Iraq War by stating, "We don't want this war, this violence and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas."

During an interview with Country Universe, Natalie explained the lyrics to "Not Ready to Make Nice," "'We tried to write about the incident [denunciation] a few times, but you get nervous that you're being too preachy or too victimized or too nonchalant,' says Natalie Maines. 'Dan [Wilson] came in with an idea that was some kind of concession, more 'can't we all just get along?' and I said, 'nope, I can't say that, can't do it.' And we talked about it, and he said, what about 'I'm not ready to make nice?'" (Coyne, 2024).

The 5.20 million sales of "Not Ready to Make Nice" earned five certifications in four countries: Australia 3× Platinum (630K units), Canada Platinum (40K units), New Zealand Platinum (30K units) and United States 2× Platinum (4M units).

Answer: The Chicks

Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, Martie Maguire and Jack Antonoff co-wrote "Gaslighter" and The Chicks released this song as a single on 4 Mar 2020.

The Chicks' "Gaslighter" ranked on ten music charts in six countries peaking at number seven on two charts: Australia, Canada (2), New Zealand, Scotland, United Kingdom and United States (4).

According to Natalie's interview with the Spiritualgasm podcast, the song title was inspired by her highly contentious and emotional divorce from actor Adrian Pasdar in 2019 (Kebbel and Jones, 2019).

Answer: The Chicks

Martie Maguire and Marcus Hummon co-wrote "Cowboy Take Me Away" and The Chicks released this song on the album "Fly" on 31 Aug 1999.

The Chicks' "Cowboy Take Me Away" ranked on five music charts in two countries during two years peaking at number one on two charts: Canada and United States (4).

American Songwriter provides an editorial breakdown of the song's meaning: "In 2006, The Chicks appeared on an episode of [VH1] Storytellers, a show featuring famous musicians explaining the inspiration behind some of their greatest hits in an interview setting. During this appearance, Maguire referenced where she'd gotten the idea for 'Cowboy Take Me Away.'

"'She had been dating a bunch of guys I didn't approve of,' Maguire said, speaking about her sister [Emily Strayer] on Storytellers. 'Then she met [country singer] Charlie [Robison], and I sort of pictured him whisking her off into the sunset'" (Dantona, 2023).

The 4.03 million sales of "Cowboy Take Me Away" earned certifications in two countries: New Zealand Platinum (30K units) and United States 2× Platinum (4M units).

Answer: The Chicks

Susan Gibson wrote "Wide Open Spaces" and The Chicks released this song as the title track of their fourth studio album on 27 Jan 1998.

The Chicks' "Wide Open Spaces" ranked on five music charts in two countries during two years peaking at number one on two charts: Canada (2) and United States (3).

The Chicks' breakthrough song earned the Country Music Association (CMA) Single of the Year (1999), CMA Music Video of the Year (1999), Radio Music Awards Country Song of the Year (1999), a BMI Country Award (1999) and American Songwriter Professional Country Songwriter of the Year (2000). "Wide Open Spaces" also ranked at number 259 on RIAA Songs of the Century (2001), number 22 on CMT 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music (2003) and number 32 on CMT 100 Greatest Videos (2004).

On 16 Apr 2024, the Library of Congress inducted "Wide Open Spaces" for permanent preservation into the National Recording Registry due to its cultural and historical importance in America's recorded-sound heritage.

The 4.05 million sales of "Wide Open Spaces" earned certifications in three countries: Australia Gold (35K units), New Zealand Gold (15K units) and United States 2× Platinum (4M units).