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The Go-Go's Beauty and the Beat

Series: 33 1/3
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( 41 ratings, 8 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Go-Go's Beauty and the Beat explores the groundbreaking success of the Go-Go's debut album, Beauty and the Beat, which topped the Billboard charts for six weeks in 1981 and became one of the most successful debut albums ever. The book highlights the band's pioneering role as the first all-female group to write their own songs and play their own instruments, while addressing the ongoing challenges posed by sexism in the music industry.

This work also celebrates the Go-Go's as feminist trailblazers whose DIY ethos predated later movements like Riot Grrrl, inspiring generations of female musicians to create on their own terms.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in music history, feminist cultural studies, and the evolution of women’s roles in rock and pop music. Fans of the Go-Go's and those keen to understand the struggles and achievements of female musicians will find this a compelling read.

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"Celebrates the feminist legacy of the Go-Go's debut album Beauty and the Beat, explores the lasting influence the ground-breaking record had on female musicians and examines how pop culture portrays, packages and promotes female musicians"--

Celebrates the feminist legacy of the Go-Go's debut album Beauty and the Beat, explores the lasting influence the ground-breaking record had on female musicians and examines how pop culture portrays, packages and promotes female musicians

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Go-Go’s debut album Beauty and the Beat was released on 8 July 1981. The album spent six weeks in the number one spot on the Billboard charts, produced two hit singles, and sold more than two million copies, making it one of the most successful debut albums of all time. Beauty and the Beat made the Go-Go’s the first, and to date, only female band to have a number one album that not only wrote their own songs but also played their own instruments.

Beauty and the Beat is a ground-breaking album, but the Go-Go’s are often overlooked when we talk about influential female musicians. The Go-Go’s were a feminist band and Beauty and the Beat a call to arms that inspired generations of women. The band embraced the DIY spirit of Riot Grrrl before there was a Bikini Kill or a Bratmobile. Girls making music on their own terms didn’t start with Courtney Love or Beyoncé or Billie Eilish; it started with the Go-Go’s. It started with Beauty and the Beat.

While they may have controlled their music, the Go-Go’s couldn’t control the misogyny of the music industry, media, and fans. The sexist and tired stereotypes the Go-Go’s experienced 40 years ago still exist today. The legacy of Beauty and the Beat is both a celebration of how the record inspired countless girls to make art and music on their own terms, but also a painful reminder of how little has changed in how female musicians are marketed, manipulated, and discarded.

Series: 33 1/3

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised for its thorough and devoted history of the band, this book goes beyond the legendary debut album to provide an exciting contextualisation of women in rock music. It offers a fundamental examination of the Go-Go's impact with insight that is engaging and worth reading. Ox-Fanzine: Magazine for Rock'n'Roll.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781501390289

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 September 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 10.0mm

Width: 120.0mm

Height: 162.0mm

Weight: 140g

Pages: 152

About the Author

Lisa Whittington-Hill is a writer based in Toronto, Canada. Her work has appeared in Longreads, The Walrus, Hazlitt, Catapult, and more. Girls, Interrupted, her collection of essays on how pop culture is failing women, will be published by VéhiculePress in 2023. She is also the publisher of This Magazine, a progressive magazine of politics, ideas, and culture, and teaches in the publishing program at Centennial College.

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