This is a very exciting news item for fans of either or both The Go-Go's and The Bangles:

http://www.movieweb.com/tv/news/49/12149.php

****Four members of 1980s hit-makers the Go-Go's and the Bangles will help the CW pick the next top girl band in a new reality-based show.

Variety reports the show first came into development at UPN, and with the WB and UPN merger, it will now be shown this fall on the new CW network.

Kathy Valentine and Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Gos and Susanna Hoffs and Vicki Peterson of the Bangles will serve as co-exec producers. They're also expected to have an on-camera presence in the project where they'll be searching for aspiring femme rockers who can also play their own instruments. "There's a big difference between a girl group and a girl band," said Valentine.

A nationwide search will start soon.****

I heard this project was rumoured about, but this is a very definite project now and it is so cool that legends like Caffey, Valentine, Hoffs, and Peterson are going to use their skills and knowledge of their craft to mentor future generations of serious young female musicians to prove that women can rock as well as men can!









Cheers, Mikey

That's cool Mikey

Mathew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs sang "Cinnamon Girl" from their power pop collection Under The Covers, on Jay Leno tonight. It was really good!

quote:

Originally posted by Paula:
That's cool Mikey

Mathew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs sang "Cinnamon Girl" from their power pop collection Under The Covers, on Jay Leno tonight. It was really good!

Thanks Paula

I can't wait for the CD to arrive so I can hear Susanna & Matthew's versions of these classic songs.

Apparently, the CD comes with a special bonus track - a cover of Neil Young's song On The Way Home recorded by Susanna:



Apparently, Susanna is also working on a third solo CD which Matthew is going to produce:

****Meanwhile, Sweet is readying a new solo album. And Hoffs, when not working with the Bangles, is preparing for her own solo release. “Matthew is going to produce my solo record, and it will be very much in the vein of what he liked, the Rainy Day stuff,” she says. “We’re going to write some stuff and get started really soon.”****

It's interesting how Matthew Sweet has worked with great talents like The Go-Go's and The Bangles, That Dog, Anna Waronker, Petra Haden, Beck, and others. It's like one big musical family!

Cheers, Mikey

Matthew sounded really good and almost just like Neil Young, who I love. They both did a great job with his song Cinnamon Girl.

Mikey, I like how you find all the connections between everyone.

Here's another interesting news item - from quite a few years back, admittedly, but I only just learned about it. Apparently, Petra Haden had been severely injured when she was hit by a car while crossing a street, and she had no medical insurance, yet required intensive surgery. So a number of musicians got together and performed a benefit concert for Petra to raise money for her medical bills.

The Go-Go's, Anna Waronker, Matthew Sweet, and Beck were all there to perform and raise money. Belinda Carlisle was detained on a European tour, so Anna Waronker filled in for her mostly, with help from Matthew, Beck, and the other Go-Go's of course.

The photo is kind of fuzzy, but here's a picture of the event:




Here are the various news stories/articles:

***POP MUSIC REVIEW
A Mixed Bill, but a Common Cause
Beck, Tenacious D and Victoria Williams are but a few of the acts who gather to raise funds for injured musician Petra Haden.
By STEVE HOCHMAN, Special To The Times

Some came for music
Some came for laughs
Some came because they heard
That Petra got smooshed.
That's how the mock-rock duo Tenacious D altered some of its lyrics to capture the scene on Sunday at the Knitting Factory Hollywood, where some two dozen Los Angeles acts raised money to help violinist Petra Haden, who is recovering from severe injuries suffered when she was hit by a car in August.
It may not have been the most sensitive assessment, but it got to the point.
A more sentimental approach came a little later from jazz bassist Charlie Haden, who happens to be Petra's dad:
"She means the world to me," he said on stage through watering eyes. "And I love her very much."

The contrasts between those two acts' comments--not to mention their music--were nothing compared to the extremes represented in the nine-hour event--from the neo- retro punk of Exene Cervenka to an irony-free country-folk set from Beck to a vivacious Latin-tropical rhythm-fest from Radio Bemba to the semiclassical chamber pop of W.A.C.O. to the bubbly yet still solid nostalgia of the Go-Go's.

And then there was what was billed as an appearance by Calvin Klein model-turned-singer Vincent Gallo, which actually turned out to be a performance art bit with a middle-aged African American beatifically lip-syncing to a Gallo recording.

But the reach from the D to papa Haden underscored and extended both the family and the cross-genre and cross-generational feeling that has marked the many benefits held by the L.A. music community over the years when one of its own was in need.

Petra Haden, who hobbled around the club on crutches but is well on her way to a full recovery, isn't a big-name star, but she's been a major presence around town both in the band That Dog (with her twin sister, Rachel) and as a collaborator with most of the people on the bill.

The family focus was also evident as another Haden, Petra's brother Josh (leader of the band Spain) gave a too-brief set of his poetic, slow-flowing songs in the club's small AlterKnit Lounge. And lifelong friend Anna Waronker, Petra's former bandmate in That Dog, filled in for three songs fronting the Go-Go's. With the latter's singer Belinda Carlisle out of the country, Matthew Sweet also took the lead for one song, and then Tenacious D's Jack Black stole the show on a manic "We Got the Beat."

Another tangential family element came with Radio Bemba, a new group that had the house dancing with its sambas and cumbias--including "Los Desenterrados," a lively song about the people displaced from Chavez Ravine when Dodger Stadium was built.

Anchored by singing sisters Juliette and Carla Commagere and drummer Joachim Cooder (whose father, guitarist Ry, helped run the soundboard for the band), the band showed the potential to evolve into as distinctive an act as L.A. Latin-rooted predecessors Los Lobos and Ozomatli.

Victoria Williams, founder of the Sweet Relief organization, which helps musicians in medical need, gave the show a personably spiritual center with a typically idiosyncratic performance. Abby Travis was no less idiosyncratic, but more formalized with her recent incarnation as a torchy lounge diva, spicing her set with a couple of attractively Beatle-esque pop-rock songs. And Cervenka, who while continuing with X has maintained a side career revisiting the force of early punk anarchy, blasted the room with her new band, the Original Sinners.

As family goes, it's your basic bunch of eccentrics worthy of Faulkner or Dickens. But as a music community, it's the kind in which a bunch of distinctive eccentrics can become concentric around someone such as Haden--not a star-power headliner or larger-than-life persona, but a friend and musical compatriot.

In that spirit, the fans, many of whom braved Sunday's Hollywood Christmas Parade traffic, received each act with equal respect. The same people who laughed and cheered for the raucous hilarity of Tenacious D stood at hushed attention for the elegance of Charlie Haden's gorgeous duets with pianist Alan Broadbent. Only the people yelling out for Beck's pop hits during a solo set in which the singer effectively bared his heart spoiled the mood.

For all that, there was a reminder that there's a way to make these events--as terrific as they are--not so necessary. Playing the role of emotional center to a T, Petra Haden, briefly thanking the gathering from the stage, gave the most grounded and sensible comment of the night: "Now I'm going to get insurance."

Beck, Go-Go's Come Together For Petra Haden
Nov 27, 2000, 2:00 pm PT

In a show of true musical solidarity, L.A.-area artists from both the under- and over-ground came together for one of their own Sunday (Nov. 26) at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles with more than 11 hours of diverse and rich sounds, raising $12,000.

In late August, violinist-vocalist Petra Haden, best known as a former member of the band that dog, was struck by a car while crossing a street in Venice, Calif. Haden suffered numerous injuries including severe damage to her head, pelvis, and a leg, and did not have medical insurance. The Nov. 26 show was the first of several benefits for the beloved musician, the daughter of legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden.

The club main-stage top draws included Beck, performing an acoustic set, and four-fifths of the Go-Go's, joined by that dog singer Anna Waronker, Matthew Sweet, Jack Black, and Beck himself. In his folkie mode, Beck's selections ranged from his own sorrowful "Dead Melodies" and "Cyanide Breathmint" to country covers that included George Jone's "She Still Thinks I Care."

Full of loose garage spirit that harkened back to their beginnings a bit, more than 20 years ago at L.A. punk venues like Cathay De Grande, the Go-Go's -- Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin on guitars, Kathy Valentine on bass, and Gina Schock on drums were plucky and playful doling out their pop hits with guest vocalists, including Waronker reading a crib sheet of lyrics for "Head Over Heels," and all four Go-Go's goofing with fun for "We Got the Beat."

A definite band to watch, charting its progress, is Radio Bemba, featuring Joachim Cooder (Ry's son) on drums and two cute sisters up front, singing in both Spanish and English for a lively mix of rumba, cumbias, and other horn- and accordion-colored Latin styling. Certainly odder was W.A.C.O., an acronym for Wild Acoustic Chamber Orchestra, an eclectic bunch including violinists, an oboist, and bassoonist, though the music came off somewhat disjointed and out of synch.

Father Charlie Haden on upright acoustic bass was joined by pianist Alan Broadbent for an elegant set of subtlety swinging jazz instrumental pieces, while brother Josh Haden delivered a couple of his heartbreaking songs in the smaller Alterknit Lounge.

The afternoon began with performers including Midget Handjob with Keith Morris for some spoken word and a sharp set from ever-smart local fave Tenacious D. Exene Cervanka and the Original Sinners, followed by Mother Superior, closed the night.

Other Alterknit Lounge acts including Magician Ghastly Griffith, the Imaginary Bear Puppet Show and longtime SoCal folkie artist Phranc. Foo Fighter Dave Grohl and Los Lobos' David Hidalgo were also spotted wandering about.

Haden records for the indie label Win Records, and her current release is Imaginaryland. She made an appearance just before Beck took the stage, trying to find words, clearly touched by the outpouring of love and support from both her fellow musicians and the audience.

Meanwhile, outside on Hollywood Boulevard, the preen and pomp of the annual Hollywood Christmas parade offered a curious contrast, though many folks, including the benefit performers, ducked out a bit to see the event, with all it's hokey, sentimental, yet endearing tinseltown history.
-- Darryl Morden


Beck Becomes Honorary Go-Go at Benefit
Petra Haden benefit finds Beck, Matthew Sweet filling Carlisle's shoes

JENNIFER VINEYARD (November 27, 2000) "There was a time where everyone wanted to be a Beatle," said Tenacious D's Jack Black. "Then everyone wanted to be a Stone. After a while, you wanted to be a Pepper," he paused for comedic effect, referencing the old soda slogan, "and then a Beastie, and somewhere in between, you wanted to be a Go-Go." And for one night, Black got his wish. As one of the "surprise" guests invited to sing with the Go-Go's in place of a Europe-detained Belinda Carlisle, Black joined Beck, Matthew Sweet and former That Dog vocalist Anna Waronker Sunday at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood in a benefit concert for local musician Petra Haden, who suffered numerous serious injuries when she was struck by a car in August.

As a former member of That Dog and a regular session player who's made the rounds harmonizing and playing violin on the L.A. scene, Haden found many of her fellow musicians rallying together to round out the bill for this nine-hour affair, with several members of her highly musical family chipping in as well, including her father, noted jazz bassist Charlie Haden.

Her skills having touched so many artists, from Beck (who worked with Petra on some of his early songs) to Victoria Williams and Jane Wiedlin (both employed her on recent albums), there was no shortage of musicians willing to come to her aid. If anything, there was such an over-abundance of acts booked, the performances (not all of them musical) spilled over into two rooms, with Wiedlin introducing many of them in her role as "mistress of ceremonies," her circus-like outfit and matching green hair giving a festive spin to the proceedings.

Some of the acts were somewhat whimsical, reflective of Haden's personality. Her sister Tanya staged a puppet show with "Imaginary Bear," a character featured on Haden's solo album Imaginaryland, a character also derived from the girls' collaborative playtime during their youth. This "Imaginary Bear," however, was much less innocent, recalling wilder times with a formerly coked-up Barney, who was a little too fun-loving before he realized his dream of mind control via TV programming for children (at least according to sister Tanya). Brother Josh (of the band Spain) and father Charlie played much more straightforward sets, albeit separately, full of mood-soaked interludes and quiet ballads. Though the original plan called for father and daughter to play together for the first time, her father was instead accompanied by pianist Alan Broadbent. "The doctors told her she needs to take it easy," Charlie Haden said. "If it were up to her, she would have been playing in the hospital."

With medical issues being his main cause as of late (he's played benefits recently for the Bridge School for disabled children and a local free medical clinic), Beck paid homage to his old friend with a stripped-down set, playing solo renditions of his down-tempo folk- and roots-flavored songs from Mutations and One Foot in the Grave for one of the show's headlining slots. "I was around, but my band was scattered," Beck said. "And this is the way I used to play. Every show was different. There was a lot of performance art, but in the end, it was a folk show."

To that end, Beck pulled out gentle covers of Hank Williams' "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle" and George Jones' "She Thinks I Still Care." He gave more careful consideration to the songs that weren't his than the Mutations material, which had so many sloppy stops and starts he joked that, like his new watch, he needed to press rewind and go back in time to begin again. After acoustic takes of "Dead Melodies" and "Cyanide Breathmint," he finally seemed to get his footing by "Nobody's Fault But My Own," a fitting sentiment for his loose set. Even with some clumsy beginnings, his voice remained supple, with only the slightest nuance when needed.

Even though he only found out the night before that he was to be a Go-Go, Beck seemed most confident on a group version of "We Got the Beat." Most of the guest vocalists got a pre-show run-through to familiarize themselves with the lyrics -- but not Beck. "We suggested we could play one of our songs and he could sing one of his, but that could sound like a car crash," Go-Go's bassist Kathy Valentine joked. "But whatever it takes. I'm just here to accommodate the singer."

Not that the guest singers needed much accommodating. Waronker sounded the most like Carlisle in her three songs, at least in tonality. Sweet introduced the idea of a guy handling vocal duties on a sweet duet with Wiedlin of "Our Lips Are Sealed," but it was Black's spastic lead vocal on "We Got the Beat" that stole the show. On each verse, he changed his style, upping the insanity quotient, starting with a high register girlie voice until he evolved the song into a practical comedy routine. With Sweet on guitar, Waronker on tambourine and Beck on hand clamps and arm pumps, the four guest vocalists more than compensated for the lack of Carlisle. "If it came down to it," Black joked, "if Belinda came back, we could have a run-off. I've got a whole batch of Go-Go's songs to offer. It'll be like Star Search. Or maybe we can Indian wrestle for it. I could take her."****

Here are some more awesome photos I've found:

Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Susanna Hoffs:




Charlotte Caffey:




Belinda Carlisle, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell:




Jane Wiedlin:




Kathy Valentine:




Gina Schock:




The Graces (Charlotte Caffey, Meredith Brooks, Gia Ciambotti):








The Go-Go's (Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine, Gina Schock):











Apparently, another interesting rumour has it that in their wilder heyday, during a party backstage, Charlotte was kicked out of Ozzie Osbourne's dressing room for "being too rowdy..."

Cheers, Mikey