Chart entered : 12 December 1987
Chart peak : 1
Number of hits : 23
This is another one where I don't want to pre-empt my own Albums blog so the account of Belinda's previous career is just a summary.
Belinda was born in Hollywood in 1958. She left home at 19, having a poor relationship with her stepfather. She had a brief spell as drummer with local punk band The Germs under the name Dottie Danger but never made a live appearance with them due to glandular fever. She formed The Go-Gos in 1978 with three other girls including Jane Wiedlin . They started out as a very rough punk band. Two tracks from this period were put out on the mid-nineties compilation Return To The Valley of The Go-Gos and they're both unlistenable. The addition of guitarist Charlotte Caffey and drummer Gina Schock brought some musicianship to the party and the band got a small following in L.A.
Believing they could break through in the UK , they supported Madness on tour there in 1980 and contributed to the More Specials LP . Terry Hall returned the favour by helping to write "Our Lips Are Sealed", one of their biggest hits in the US and their only UK hit in their original lifetime. The band broke through in the US in 1981 in a big way with the debut album "Beauty and the Beat" and single "We Got The Beat" both reaching number one. Here, they received a largely negative reaction, being too pop for the post-punk music press .
Belinda made only occasional contributions to the songwriting but as lead vocalist she was the focal point on stage. The album has a number of bright pop gems but there's also a number of songs -"Automatic", "Tonite" and "This Town" which hint at a darker edge to the Californian lifestyle . The irony was that when the band started to explore that for themselves with Chartlotte and Belinda in particular becoming drug addicts , they seemed to lose that in the music. Their subsequent albums "Vacationn" and "Talk Show" have some sprightly pop gems like "Head Over Heels" but are relatively lightweight.
With each album selling less than the one before and substance abuse taking its toll on intra-band relationships , the group foundered. Weidlin quit The Go-Gos in 1984 and Belinda and Charlotte decided to follow suit a year later bringing the band to an end. By this time Belinda was conspicuously overweight.
However Belinda managed to get clean and back into shape after marrying James Mason's son Morgan and started a solo career in 1986 with the album "Belinda" which fulfilled her contract with I.R.S. Caffey, on a similar personal journey, became her main songwriter and was pictured on the sleeve. The plain pop single "Mad About You" featuring Duran Duran's Andy Taylor on guitar, reached number 3 in the US and was a minor hit on reissue here in 1988. The album itself got to number 13. It's a reasonable collection of sixties-influenced ( particularly Motown ) pop but it lacks a killer song.
Belinda was now free to sign for another label and went to MCA. This was her first release for them. The Popular take is here
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