Preview/Interview by Brad Balfour
Artist: Belinda Carlisle
Release: Kismet
In the early 80s, new wave power pop bands emerged and forged the next generation of rock stars. Most were male dominated but a few like Blondie were fronted by women. Like Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Belinda Carlisle was a power pop dream girl but instead of being back by a bunch of guys her band, The GoGos were female — and the most successful all woman band ever. They rocked out as the first and only all-female band that wrote their own music and played their own instruments achieving a No. 1 album, “Beauty and the Beat” (1981), which featured the hits “We Got the Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed.” They recorded two more studio albums on I.R.S. Records, including 1982’s gold-certfied “Vacation” and “Head over Heels” from their 1984 album “Talk Show” — which made it to No. 11.
But whereas the New York based Harry came off as a denizen of dark downtown rock haunts, the Los Angeles born and bred Carlisle appeared as a sweet, nouveau riche of rock, sun-kissed and beach-burnished. Born Belinda Jo Carlisle on August 17, 1958, the California native took to rocking early on as a reject from a Southern Baptist background. During her teens, Carlisle rebelled. By the time she hit 14, she had gone really wild,; by 19 she left home and join the Germs, the Cali-proto punk band. Upon leaving the Germs, she co-founded the Go-Go’s (originally named the Misfits) with friends and fellow musicians Margot Olavarria, Elissa Bello, and Jane Wiedlin.
In 1984, Carlisle tried acting in the movie “Swing Shift,” as a band singer alongside Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
When the Go-Go’s broke up in 1985, Carlisle plunged into a solo career with the debut studio album “Belinda.” Certified Gold, her summer hit “Mad About You” peaked at No. 3 in the United States. It was followed by the Motown-influenced single “I Feel the Magic” written by Charlotte Caffey, and by a cover version of the Freda Payne song “Band of Gold.”
During this time, Carlisle also had songs on movie soundtracks including “In My Wildest Dreams” from the movie Mannequin (1987), “Shot in the Dark” from the Anthony Michael Hall thriller Out of Bounds (1986), as well as “Dancing in the City” from the Whoopi Goldberg movie Burglar (1987).
In the ’90s and early 2000s, Carlisle alternated recording solos albums and re-joining the GoGo’s for various tours and special events, culminating in the quintet being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band performed “Vacation”, “Our Lips Are Sealed”, and “We Got the Beat” during the induction ceremony.
Now, Carlisle has released a brand new EP, “Kismet” (her first in over 25 years) and will be heading out on tour this summer with a stop in New York. Featuring the single “Big Big Love,” it marks the pop icon’s first new English language studio recording since 1997 and a reunion with award-winning songwriter Diane Warren. Produced by Mati Gavriel, Kismet, is released on Warren’s label imprint RAF through BMG. In addition to “Big Big Love” she has issued the brand new tracks, “If U Go” (the EP’s focus track), “Deeper Into You,” “I Couldn’t Do That To Me,” and “Sanity”.
Kismet is available now on CD and across all streaming platforms/digital services. Currently celebrating more than 35 years as a solo performer with her critically acclaimed Decades tour, Carlisle will be performing in the New York area in Sony’s Gotham Hall and Westbury Music Hall.
Q: Do you feel you have an insight into the history? You wrote your memoir, so obviously there are times when you’re forced by interviews like this to think back. Do you like to do that or are you always thinking forward?
BC: Of course, I’ve had incredible memories but I don’t revel in it and stay in the past. If anything, I like to be present in the here and now and not regret and not look back too much.
Q: Since you do the spiritual practice of Nichiren Shoshu, let’s start off with a little spiritual question.
BC: It’s all about the Now.
Q: Given the Now, you’re back on the road. How many years has it been since you’ve been touring in a solo format?
BC: In the states I did a little run of dates for a decades tour. I just did a big tour in the UK for a month. I haven’t done a whole lot of touring in the states, but I haven’t disappeared completely. I’m looking forward to it because I haven’t done the east coast for a long time. So I’m looking forward to it.
Q: Do you have places you want to visit on your days off?
BC: There’s a shop in Manhattan that I want to go to that I’m obsessed with.
Q: You only have a few days, you’re flying in — I guess it’s the 18th you do your gig, right?
BC: I do. I come in the day before. I do my Manhattan show on the 17th. I don’t know, my schedule hasn’t been finalized. I do know that I have a day off somewhere.
Q: Great. I was sent information about you getting back together with Diane Warren. It’s interesting, you have this very pop side and you have this punk side. How do you negotiate that when you’re working with Diane Warren, who’s thought of as the Pop Queen in a way?
BC: There’s no problem. They’re both real parts of me, they always have been. I get up with Southern California radio, which was lots of lush productions, harmonies, and melody. And of course, when I was a rebellious teenager, I found the punk rock movement. I loved the energy of the songs. So after doing the Go-Gos for awhile, and then embarking on my solo career, it wasn’t difficult, as I said, they’re both very valid parts of me. It was a bit difficult when I got out onstage for the first time on my own. But other than that, it’s easy to switch from one to the other.
Q: When you were with the Go-Gos, you were writing songs reflecting your age. But now that you’ve got a long personal history, do you find yourself wanting to write more songs about where you’re at now, songs abut your experience, or what you’ve learned? Or are you looking back to the pop?
BC: No. [laughs] No, no. I always thought before that if I was going to do new pop music, it would have to be age-appropriate. I was totally wrong about that. I’ve had lots of experiences, so I was able to put myself back in memories of a person, place or thing, and it’s almost like acting. I never considered myself primarily a songwriter. It’s too hard, and if I do it, I have to collaborate with somebody and I don’t really have plans to do that. Things could change, I guess, but I have no plans right now.
Q: When you were younger you were thought of as this ingenue. Now, you’re thought of as a person with a level of maturity and a sort of guru. Do you find yourself falling between those, or do you like the fact that you can guide a younger generation?
BC: I don’t really think about it. I have a lot of influence since being in one of the “Black Mirror” episodes brought a whole new demographic to my music because of that one show. I’m lucky that a lot of my songs… That’s happened quite a bit. So when I look out at the audience at one of my shows, it’s a very diverse age group: younger people, older people. But I do what I feel that people want to hear, and that’s usually the older stuff. They come to hear the hits. So with this upcoming tour, I will put in a couple of new ones because they’re good, not because I’m chasing a new demographic. I just want to do them because they’re good songs and I think they’ll work well in the set.
Q: You must be gratified, though, to know that you’ve been recognized as an important influence and an important benchmark in music. How does it feel to know that you can be a role model?
BC: I don’t really like to be a role model because I don’t feel I need to be one. But I understand, because I’ve been around for a long time, with my ups and downs with the Go-Gos who were groundbreaking, and then being around for awhile with my solo stuff. It all comes down to the songs, really, and me being lucky to work with some of the greatest songwriters in the world. It feels like, I’m definitely one of the — I don’t want to say “dinosaurs” — but I’ve definitely been around for awhile now. I guess when you’re around as long as I have, you have a certain amount of respect.
Q: What do you do to get yourself energized and ready to do a show? How do you prep in your head and physically?
BC: I work on my voice and my breath for a month before I go out on the road. When I’m out on the road, it’s a very insular situation; I don’t really talk much, I vocalize every day, I travel around with four humidifiers. I think the difference is I used to take my voice for granted but I don’t do that anymore. I’m very, very careful with it.
Q: I know you have a son. Do you have other kids?
BC: No. One’s enough.
Q: Does he enjoy having a mother that’s out there rock and rolling?
BC: Well, my son always loved being on the road with the Go-Gos, and he’s always traveled with me in my work, and has always been very, very proud. I don’t think he’s ever been embarrassed about the music, anyway.
Q: Does he work?
BC: Yeah, he’s a political activist, an LGBT activist.
Q: That’s another thing that once you achieve a certain level of fame or connections and all, you’re able to express some of your social and political views. Are there things you’re doing to express that further?
BC: Well, I’ve always been active in the LGBT community, and also in animal activism. I have a very successful project in India and in Thailand that creates employment for people who would have a tough time getting employment because of disability or caste, and at the same time treating street animals. We do a lot of spaying and neutering and rabies drives. So I still have my passions outside of music.
Q: Having recorded this new material, what was it like going into the studio after these years?
BC: It was fine, it was the same. But it was more fun because I didn’t have the pressure of having to come up with the hit, the single, the good, like I was for years and years. So it was freeing, it was joyous, and I just loved the whole experience. It was great to be able to sing well-crafted pop songs.
Q: Now you’re doing this solo, will there be more new tours with the Go-Go’s as well?
BC: No. No, that’s done. That’s finished. Done and dusted, everything has to come to an end at some point. I think some of us felt that after the Rock [and Roll] Hall [of Fame], that was a good way to cement the legacy of the band. So yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Q: Do you still stay in touch?
BC: I think everybody’s gone, almost like a dream, in a way. I mean, there are no hard feelings, but everybody has gotten on with their personal lives and gone on to do their own thing. And the Go-Gos, it’s a complicated dynamic, but it’s also familial. So I think we’re always going to be in each other’s lives in some sort of way.
Q: Are there people you want to work with but have never worked with them? Or music you want to do?
BC: No. I mean, there probably is but I can’t even think that far along, honestly. I’ve aways said that I wanted to work with Neil Diamond, I’ve always been a big fan of his and I’ve known him for years. But I can’t think of anybody else. There’s so much talent out there, though. It’s funny how things come around. But I can’t think of anybody off the top of my head at the moment.
Q: Do you go out and look at other bands?
BC: No, I don’t really see that much live music at all anymore. Since I’ve lived in Mexico there’s tons of music here. I am going to see Depeche Mode — I will go out and see them. But I don’t see live music that often now.
Q: Mexico does have a very active new wave scene. It’s an incredible scene down there.
BC: Yes, they do. Yes.
Q: But you don’t see those bands?
BC: No. I’m going to see Depeche Mode in September. But I don’t see live music that much anymore. I go to bed early, and I get up early.
Q: Do you write notes and make lyrics for yourself?
BC: No, I don’t. I’m just not that much of a songwriter, I don’t do that. I just sing, really.
Q: Do you have any surprise covers that you’re going to do on this tour?
BC: I have a lot of material between all of my solo albums and the new stuff which I’ll do a couple of songs — I’ll aways do a few of those songs. And that’s about an hour and a half right there. I have done covers in the past, but I’m not planning on doing anything like that this time around.
Q: So among the many songs in your catalog, do you have a favorite that you still get juiced about?0
BC: “Summer Rain”, probably, after “Runaway Horses”, is my favorite.
Q: What is it about those two songs particularly that hit right for you?
BC: I’m very picky. I look at the melody first, and have to like the melody. I just am black-and-white about that. Then I look at the lyrics and see if I like them. I’m very clear, and I always have been, about what I like. I’m not wishy-washy in that way. So yeah, I’ve been lucky.
Belinda Carlisle Decades Tour Dates
July 1 – Fred Amphitheatre / Peachtree City, GA
July 4 – TBA
July 6 – Stephanie H Weill PAC / Sheboygan, WI
July 9 – North Shore Center for the Performing Arts / Skokie, IL
July 11 – The Rose Music Center at The Heights -/ Huber Heights, OH
July 14 – Melody Tent / Cape Cod, MA
July 15 – South Shore Music Circus / Cohasset, MA
July 17 – Sony Hall / New York, NY
July 18 – NYCB Theatre at Westbury / Westbury, NY
August 18 – Blue Note Summer Sessions / Napa, CA
August 20 – August Hall / San Francisco, CA
August 22 – House of Blues Las Vegas / Las Vegas, NV
August 24 – Libbey Bowl / Ojai, CA
August 26 – Honda Center / Anaheim, CA
August 27 – Greek Theatre / Los Angeles, CA