The Go-Go's 1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jane Wiedlin

Jane solely wrote "Automatic." Of The Go-Go's 12 songs on the album "Beauty and the Beat" and its three singles, Jane solely wrote one and co-wrote six; therefore, Jane contributed 32% of the lyrics on the album.

Songwriting appears to be "Automatic" for Jane because she has written the most songs for The Go-Go's. Of The Go-Go's 61 original songs on seven albums and 17 singles, Jane solely wrote eight and co-wrote 33; therefore, Jane contributed the most by composing 36% of the lyrics for The Go-Go's. In addition to Jane's eight sole-writing credits, Jane solely teamed with four outside writers on three songs to be the only Go-Go with lyrical credit on 11 songs.

Answer: Jane Wiedlin

Jane and the drummer for the Germs, Don Bolles, co-wrote "London Boys." According to Wiedlin's interview on the video "Totally Go-Go's!" (1982), "'London Boys' was the first song I ever wrote and it was just when the band started and one of the few surviving songs from our early beginnings. At the time, it was before I had ever gone to England and I was, all my life, have been real enamored with English boys. How much cuter they seemed to be than American boys" ("Totally Go Go's!", 17:01).

"Yeah, boyeeeeee!" The Go-Go's wrote the word "boy" 33 times in the lyrics of their songs. Four of their 61 songs have the word "boy" and most prominently in "London Boys" at 25 times, "Sonic Superslide" at four times, "Fading Fast" at three times and "This Town" once.

Answer: Beauty and the Beat

Belinda earned her first lyrical credit on The Go-Go's debut album "Beauty and the Beat" by co-writing "Skidmarks on My Heart" with Charlotte. Of The Go-Go's 12 songs on the album and its three singles, Belinda co-wrote one; therefore, Belinda contributed 4% of the lyrics on the album.

Of The Go-Go's 61 original songs, "Skidmarks on My Heart" has the distinction of having the most numbers in the lyrics at five with "one, two, three, four" and "fifth." "Girl of 100 Lists" comes in second at three numbers with "six," "ten" and "100."

The Go-Go's wrote the word "number" one time in the lyrics of the songs "I'm The Only One" on the album "Talk Show" and "Daisy Chain" on the album "God Bless The Go-Go's." The Go-Go's also have a song titled "Just a Number"; however, it's one of their earliest songs and not recorded on any album or single.

According to Setlist.fm, The Go-Go's only performed "Just a Number" on 4 Oct 1978 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood. "Hellogg's Punk Tarts" is a bootleg recording of this show at the Whiskey a Go Go with originalists Jane Wiedlin, Margot Olavarria, Belinda Carlisle, Elissa Bello and newcomer Charlotte Caffey. An audio-only recording of this bootleg is available on YouTube. (Go-Go's - October 4th, 1978 at Whiskey a Go Go, Hollywood, CA, uploaded by Distort Oakland).

Answer: How Much More

The Go-Go's released "We Got the Beat" backed with "How Much More" as a single to promote their UK tour. After releasing this single, The Go-Go's finally signed their first contract with I.R.S. Records ten months and 23 days later on 1 April 1981.

According to Wiedlin's interview with Songfacts, "The first song Charlotte and I ever wrote together was 'How Much More' and that was on 'Beauty and the Beat.' Some of the songs from the very beginning were songs that ended up part of our repertoire. Others fell by the wayside" (Wiser, 2007).

Although the song is about heartache, it could have been griping, "How much more [time waiting for a record deal] before we go crazy?"

Answer: Abby Travis (touring bass player)

Abby Travis not only finished this tour but stood another 83 shows over the next four years for the litigious Valentine. Abby stands and contributes to a lot of bands: The Lovedolls, The Rails, Spinal Tap, Vanessa Paradis, Beck, Elastica, KMFDM, Gibby Haynes and His Problem, X, Kathy Valentine, Tito and Tarantula, Eagles of Death Metal, Masters of Reality, Bangles and Cher.

Answer: Greatest

Thirty years after its initial release on 5 Oct 1990, Target commemorated the anniversary of The Go-Go's compilation album "Greatest" in July 2020. "Greatest" was The Go-Go's first album since they had disbanded on 10 May 1985 and released six years, six months and 16 days after their previous album "Talk Show" in 1984.

This album contains 14 previously-released songs including a refashioned cover of "Cool Jerk," which had ranked number 60 on the UK Singles Official Charts Company in 1991.

Answer: Silence

Lyric: "They talk about us...Telling lies...Well that's no surprise." According to Wiedlin's interview with Songfacts, "He [Terry Hall] sent me the lyrics to 'Our Lips Are Sealed' later in the mail, and it was kind of about our relationship because he had a girlfriend at home and all this other stuff. So it was all very dramatic" (Wiser, 2007). Therefore, "In the jealous games people play // There's a weapon...We must use...In our defense...Silence."

"Silence is a source of Great Strength." - Lao Tzu

Answer: Cloud nine

After 17 years, 1 month and 26 days, "La La Land" is the first track on the first studio album since The Go-Go's released "Talk Show" in 1984. The ladies are reacquainting themselves with us, "Hello world we're here again...Living life in La-La Land [Los Angeles]...I hear what I wanna hear living on cloud nine [la-la land]." The Go-Go's are back, in a "happy place," ignoring the critics and distrusting any career advice.

Answer: No album

The Go-Go's released "Club Zero" as a non-album single to promote their documentary "The Go-Go's" (2020). According to Caffey, Carlisle, Valentine and Wiedlin's interview with Rock Cellar Magazine, "It was one song for a very specific reason that we wanted to gift something to this documentary that showed that we're still alive and doing well" (Slate, 2020).

The Go-Go's gift had ranked number seven on the US Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales and number 14 on US Billboard Alternative Digital Song Sales.

Answer: Living at the Canterbury

Jane brags "Living at the Canterbury" as "pretty cool" and "Like being in a dormitory."

The Canterbury Apartments is located at 1746 North Cherokee Avenue in Los Angeles, California but has since been rebranded as The Canterbury Suites Los Angeles. According to Jane, Margot, Belinda and Charlotte's interview with Lobotomy magazine, Jane lived in apartment 205, Margot lived in 301 and Belinda in 414" (Lobotomy, 1979).

According to Jane's interview with The A.V. Club, "There was this bag lady, she was crazy, she had to be in her 80s or 90s. She wore this weird thing on her head that made her look like a pinhead. She had a tall, pointy head. This is so awful, but it's funny, too. When she died, I was sad that she died...I mean, she was this little, old lady...but face it, people die. And as a punk rocker, I snuck into her apartment and stole some of her clothes. I still have one of those dresses" (Adams, 2011).