Okay, I've not been able to attend any shows but I've watched every video kindly made available on the net. So I'm gonna post some thoughts nobody cares about, but hey, that's my blog, whatever, I do what I want !
- Using the "how to dance like the Go-Go's" video as an intro was a brilliant move ! This is so funny.
- Vacation, Our Lips Are Sealed and We Got The Beat sound greater than ever this year, keep it up !
- How Much More and This Town seem a little too slow, it makes them kinda boring. Why not speed them up again or play other songs instead ?
- Mother's Little Helper rocks less than the 2009 version, too bad. Hope you girls have time to rehearse a brand new cover.
- What about this brand new song Jane promised us ?
- Playing the original arrangement of Lust To Love is a good move to me. What about trying that with Automatic and Fading Fast as well ?
- Cool Places : one of the best songs of the shows, it got even better and better as the first leg of the Tour progressed. Bravo girls !
- Head Over Heels might sound even better if played a little slower.
- Skidmarks is not a very shining moment of the show this year, what about ditching it in favour of a Vacation or Talk Show song for a change ?
- Get Up And Go and Mad About You are very good, don't change anything !
Thank you girls for reading this and applying every change I'm suggesting XD
I'm a curious guy. So I made research about Paula to see if she'd released any solo record or something. No solo record, but she's been in her ex-husband Howe Gelb's bands Giant Sand (1986-1991) and The Band Of Blacky Ranchette (1986), playing bass and occasionally providing backing vocals. She even gets the lead singing part in "The Chill Outside", a beautiful song she co-wrote. I collected all the tracks Paula could be heard in. As a bonus, I added some MySpace tracks Paula put online in the late 2000's.
All songs are by Giant Sand except tracks 10-11.
01. Thin Line Man (1986)
02. The Chill Outside (1986)
03. You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory (1986)
As you all know, this song is a Shangri-Las cover, originally released in 1964 :
Some sources claim that the song originally lasted 7 minutes and was faded out sooner to fit radio standards.
Lyrics of the Shangri-Las version :
Seems like the other day
My baby went away
He went away 'cross the sea
It's been two years or so
That's when my baby go
And then this letter came for me
It said that we were through
He found somebody new
Oh, let me think, let me think, what can I do?
Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no
(Remember) walkin' in the sand
(Remember) walkin' hand in hand
(Remember) the night was so exciting
(Remember) smile was so inviting
(Remember) then he touched my cheek
(Remember) with his fingertips
Softly, softly we'd meet with our lips
Whatever happened to
The boy that I once knew?
The boy who said he'd be true
Oh, what will happen to
The life I gave to you?
What will I do with it now?
(Remember) walkin' in the sand
(Remember) walkin' hand in hand
(Remember) the night was so exciting
(Remember) smile was so inviting
(Remember) then he touched my cheek
(Remember) with his fingertips
Softly, softly we'd meet with our lips
Walking In The Sand is the very first cover the Go-Go's made, and they started performing it in their very early days :
The band had already made the song theirs, taking it very far to the original even though Belinda still sings it quite the same way as the Shangri-Las did.
Lyrics of the Go-Go's version :
Seems like the other day
My baby, he went away
He went away across the sea
It's been two years ago
That's when my baby go
That's when this letter it came to me
It said that we were through
He'd found somebody new
Oooh, let me think
Oooh, let me think
What can I do?
Oh no
Oh no
Oh no no no no no
Walking in the sand
Walking hand in hand
The night was so exciting
His lips were so inviting
Whatever happened to
The boy that I once knew
The boy who said he'd be true
What will happen to
The life I gave to you
What will I do with my heart now
(Remember) walking in the sand
(Remember) walking hand in hand
(Remember) walking in the sand
As you can see, the girls cut out the end of the chorus.
As the Go-Go's sound evolved towards pop-rock, they still performed a very punk-rocky Walking in The Sand in 1981. And they had progressed greatly as musicians :
After the Beautify America Tour, Walking In The Sand was dropped from the setlists. Fans had to wait until the 1990 Reunion Tour to see them play this song again, in a more... melodramatic way.
Then again, no more Walking in The Sand for more than 10 years. But the song came back in the 2000's and has been performed regularly since then, starting with an emotional intro only to blast into an amazing harder-than-ever version :
Has this song been recorded during the Beauty And The Beat sessions ? It seems not, but I can't give up the hope to see a studio version see the light of day...
Many others artists have covered this song :
Louise Goffin, who made the song "No Trespassing" with Charlotte, also covered this song in 1979. If anyone has it please contact me because I would like to get it.
