Since I featured Belinda Carlisle here last week, it's only fitting that I follow up with her pixie-cut former bandmate, the effervescent Jane Weidlin. She had a fairly successful acting career after the Go-Go's broke up, so I suppose that's one reason she never put out much solo music. But when she did, it was fun stuff. Here's her first solo hit, the infectious and charming "Rush Hour."
I saw Belinda Carlisle--former lead singer of the Go-Go's--perform in San Antonio last night. Her voice was in fine form and her moves were that of a 24-year-old, which belied her actual 64 years. It was a fun show, but just a few song in I was surprised to realize that she'd enojoyed far more hits as a solo artist than she ever did with the Go-Go's (yet she's still primarily thought of in relation to that group). This shouldn't have come as a surprise, since I remember the success of her solo career, but the brain gets set in its ways, does it not? So here's her first solo hit, "Mad About You," which came out the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school. This video marks a strong break from her Go-Go's image. She's very femme, painfully cute and impossibly young. Yes, that's Duran Duran's Andy Taylor playing guitar, and for my tikiphile friends out there the album she's messing with is Yma Sumac! I mean, you couldn't get more obscure in 1986 if you tried. And I still think they should've used this as the theme song to Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt's sitcom of the same name.
Previously on Friday Night Videos... Stan Getz.
Now Playing: The Go-Go's Return to the Valley of the Go-Go's Chicken Ranch Central>
Stan Getz is, without a doubt, amongst my favorite jazz musicians of all time. I first encountered his work, naturally enough, through his bossa nova collaborations, but that quickly led me to his cool jazz work and boy oh boy, did I learn I absolutely love cool jazz. A brilliant performer from a young age, he was plagued all his life by addiction. Despite this persistent millstone, the man's tallent was damn near limitless. Here's the man performing "Windows" with the Stan Getz Quartet at Montreaux back in 1972.
