♫Punk to Pop♫

There are numerous all-female bands of all genres. These consist exclusively of all female musicians, distinctly different from a girl group in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed. Many "all-girl" bands were popular during the Jazz Age (the 20s ending with The Great Depression) rising in popularity through the 50s. Groups composed solely of women continued to emerge with the advent of rock and roll. The 80s, for the first time, saw long-sought chart success from all-female bands and female-fronted rock bands.

Today in Music History: September 26

The Go-Go's An all-female American rock band formed in 1978 (Los Angeles, CA) known as The Go-Go's made history as the first, and to date only, all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts. The Go-Go's have sold more than seven million albums.

From punk to pop...

Guitarist Jane Wiedlin explained the band decided to make the move towards pop music: "We, from the beginning, were always kind of enamored with the pop/punk style, like our favorite band, the band that we always tried to emulate was The Buzzcocks, who had that great pop song done in a punky style. So that was kind of what we were going for from the beginning. And for the first few years when we were just learning how to play, I think we sounded probably a lot worse than we meant to, just because we didn't know what we were doing. And then, slowly as we learned to play, the songs started coming out more and more. It was always trying to sort of straddle the line between pop and punk." (Source: Songfacts.com)

In 2013, Belinda Carlisle described what each member brought to the band. "Charlotte had a certain guitar sound," she said. "Kathy had a rock 'n' roll sensibility. Gina's a really solid drummer with a distinctive sound. Jane [brought] her songwriting and her quirkiness. And the blend of my voice, which isn't a great voice but it's distinctive." (Source: Songfacts.com)

1981 The Go-Go's started a six-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Beauty And The Beat', which is considered one of the "cornerstone albums of (US) new wave" (Allmusic), breaking barriers and paving the way for a host of other new American acts. The LP sold in excess of three million copies and reached triple platinum status, making it one of the most successful debut albums ever.

And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...