Jane Wiedlin of the Go - Go's

Exploring Jane Wiedlin's Journey: From Punk Rock to Pop Stardom
In this episode of Almost Live Nashville, host Tony Manor interviews Jane Wiedlin, a pioneering member of the Go-Go's, one of the first all-female bands to achieve mainstream success.
Jane shares her experiences from the early days of the LA punk scene to the challenges of breaking into the music industry as an all-female band.
She discusses the impact of MTV on their career, the evolution of her songwriting, and the ongoing challenges faced by women in music.
The conversation also touches on Jane's charitable work, her views on the modern music industry, and her personal advice for aspiring musicians.
The episode provides a compelling look behind the scenes of Jane's journey and offers inspiring insights into the music industry.

Meet Jane Wiedlin: A Trailblazer in Music
Jane's Early Days in the LA Punk Scene
The Go-Go's Journey and Misunderstandings
Songwriting Evolution and MTV Era
Challenges and Successes as an All-Female Band
Impact on Future Generations and Industry Changes
Advice for Aspiring Musicians
Touring Memories and Fame
Current Projects and Charity Work
Social Media and Political Advocacy
Conclusion and Final Thoughts

INTRO/OUTRO: T. Wild
Mantor Music BMI

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

My career in the entertainment industry has enabled me to work with a diverse range of talent. Through my years of experience, I've recognized two essential aspects. Industry professionals, whether famous stars or behind-the-scenes staff, have fascinating stories to tell. Secondly, audiences are eager to listen to these stories, which offer a glimpse into their lives and the evolution of their life stories. This podcast aims to share these narratives, providing information on how they evolved into their chosen career. We will delve into their journey to stardom, discuss their struggles and successes, and hear from people who help them achieve their goals. Get ready for intriguing behind-the-scenes stories and insights into the fascinating world of entertainment. Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome to Almost Live Nashville. Joining us today is Jane Wheedlin. She's a true trailblazer in music and culture. She's a founding member of the GoGo's, the first all-female band to write their own songs, play their own instruments, and top the charts. Beyond the music, she's an acclaimed songwriter, actor, activist, and voice for compassion and creativity. From timeless hits to a career rooted in creativity and purpose, she has such a great story to tell. So before we dive into our episode, we'll be back with an uninterrupted show right after a word from our sponsors. Thanks for coming on.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Yes, nice to have you here. Looking back, what was it like being a young woman in the LA punk scene? And did you ever imagine the go-go's would have the impact that they have had all these years now?

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Well, uh, it was a very small scene, and I discovered it at the end of 1976. Let's see. And it was one of those things where there were so few people that when there were shows there'd be the band playing on stage and then the band jumping into the crowd when they were death playing. And it was very much a community and a family, and it uh encouraged like women and people of color and LGBTQ people and tons of people that went to art school. It was a very different scene than what uh most people imagine it was. And that was at the beginning anyways, but later it changed.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yeah, the music scene changed for sure. Now, when you look back at the early LA punk scene, what part of the go-go story do you feel is still misunderstood or in some cases just overlooked?

SPEAKER_01 2:46

I guess the main way we're misunderstood is people don't believe we were part of the punk scene. You know, there's ample evidence, and I sometimes get in arguments with trolls online with their, you know, like in their twenties or whatever, and they're like, ugh, go not punk. It's like, hate to tell you this guy. Things happen before you were born.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Yeah, I have had the same thing happen to me. Talk with younger people about how the business has changed and they don't understand.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

So how do you address it? How do you go about it? How do you handle all the things that they're talking about, yet you're not condescending? I don't care if I come across as condescending.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

I was part of the punk scene. It doesn't matter what somebody younger than me thinks.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

You can't really know true history if you weren't there.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Yeah, absolutely. I agree with you 100% there. Now, your songs. As a songwriter, how has your approach to songwriting changed as you've grown both personally and artistically?

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Um started out. I mean, I'd never been in a band, I wasn't a musician, I wasn't a songwriter, but I had written like a lot of poetry that wasn't very good, but I just started writing lyrics is how it started. And back then a lot of it was uh pre-political, and a lot of it was about being outcasts of society, obviously not really caring, but definitely not being part of the mainstream. And then as time went on, I, you know, I started um writing some music, and but the big breakthrough came when Charlotte and I started writing together because she was a really, really great music composer, and I was pretty good at lyrics. So there was a ton of Char and Jane um combination writings in the career of the gogo's, and I still consider her one of the top three writers I've ever written with for sure.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

Yeah, that's nice. So as you evolved, how did you see yourself changing? Because now all of a sudden, you're mainstream music. And like you said, they didn't really believe you was part of the punk rock scene. So, how did you see yourself evolve in the way that you approach things or the way you may not have approached things?

SPEAKER_01 5:01

One of the biggest breakthroughs for us was when MTV started. Because even though in Europe, especially England, there was a pretty long history of music videos being made, we didn't have that in America at all. And so when it started, it was very exciting. MTV was looking for content. That really helped us. And our first videos, like I remember our first video was our our lips are sealed, and we had a budget of $6,000, which really was no budget at all. And so we just kind of ran around town being silly and not really taking it very seriously and stuff, which I guess is part of the punk rop ethos. And we didn't really take ourselves that seriously, even though we were pretty determined to make a mark in the business. But I guess as time went on, we became considered more and more commercial, mostly because after punk rap, something called New Wave became a label, and that's what people were calling us. In retrospect, when I look back, I see that there were other bands before us that really influenced us, especially I would say the Buzzcocks and the Ramones. Listen to either of those bands. They're they're really pop songs just done really fast. And is what our whole thing was.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Yeah, so how did you feel? Because back then most of the bands out there were all male bands, and here you are an all-female band. You're trying to make your mark by putting out the music that you record and perform. How did you see that change things for you in your career? How did the people within the business react to you? And more importantly, how did the people in the audience and your fans react to what you were doing?

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Well, at the beginning, we were very welcome, open arms. There wasn't a lot of misogynism in the punk rock scene at that time. When we started trying to get a record deal, that was another story. All the record companies just said no flat out because there'd never been a really successful girl band. And they even said it to our faces, like there never has been, there never will be. It was like misogynism was so rampant that no one even knew what it was. So there was a ton of that. And, you know, it it pissed us off. It continued to push forward. And in the end, as you know, we ended up signing with IRS Records, which was a tiny label at the time, and we were their first hit act. We kind of started the ball rolling for them, having a lot of successful acts.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Sure. Now, the one great thing that happens in this music business is when someone has success, then they duplicate it and try and create that same success. So you were a founder. You know, you were one of these bands that broke all the barriers down. How did you find yourself when you started looking at others trying to duplicate what you were doing?

SPEAKER_01 7:52

I'm gonna say there wasn't really a ton of that going on. Um, I'm not sure why. I think maybe because even after we got successful, I think most people in the record company still thought it was a fluke.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

To my knowledge, there weren't a lot of men in suits trying to put together all female bands. I could be wrong. Luckily, you know, we had the Bengals who were friends of ours and were also from LA. And, you know, they managed to do really well, which was great. And they had a sound that was pretty different than ours, but you know, we kind of did get lumped together. And I know they got compared over and over to the go-go's because the go-go's came first, which I'm sure was extremely irritating when, you know, what we always say is, well, what we had in common was vagina.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Okay. So did you get anyone that would reach out to you and say that because of what you were doing, that you was someone that they looked up to and wanted to try and emulate?

SPEAKER_01 8:48

Um, yeah, I mean, loads and loads of letters and fans coming up to us at shows, more than young women and girls starting new bands. What we represented to them was opportunity, not just opportunity in the music business, but opportunity to excel in in any business, any job that people were interested in. You know, it gave women and and girls hope.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Yeah, and the fact that you gave women and girls hope, that must felt really good to you.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Of course it felt good. I mean, how else would it feel? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

I mean, I'm thinking that you must feel really good because you're out there trying to make change.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Um, I think it was more like we were hoping that it would make change. I'm gonna be honest, I don't think as far as the music business business, it didn't really make a lot of change. I mean, when you consider there are more women on the planet than men, and that there are almost no successful female rock bands, especially ones that did what we did, which was play our own instruments, write our own songs, and and go to number one. I mean, in fact, no one has done that since we did. So that's you know, it's a pretty high bar to uh leap over. I'm still hoping for that day to come. I completely appreciate the female singer-songwriters that are out there, but I sure would still like to see more women and girls playing instruments and you know, more women and girls in bands in addition to just being a lead singer. Not just being a lead singer, being a lead singer is very important, but you know, let's face it, that's still the majority of what you see as far as women.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Yeah, I get that. I think you have made more of an impact than you realize. I've been here in Nashville for a long time now. I have seen females come out as bass players, guitar players, drummers, you know, doing things that you wouldn't have seen back in the 70s or 80s. I mean, back then you didn't see that all that often at all.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

Yeah, that's true. In the LA Punk scene, there were a lot of women musicians.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Yeah, and you didn't see that a lot across the country at all.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

And because of what you've done, I think that changed the landscape completely.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Yeah, I mean, it was weird. I mean, people were kind of shocked when they first saw us. Um I think though our music kind of won people over because it was catchy and fun, and the videos were fun and colorful and lively, and we were coming out of a musical age that was a lot of overblown, expensive productions.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Too many tracks late, and yeah, I remember being in the studio working all kinds of overdubs with so many tracks.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Yeah, yeah. I feel like the go-go's were kind of fresh and raw.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Yeah, it was almost like the Beatles. Simple four or five-piece band, simple melodies, simple riffs. Everything flowed well together, and that made it sound great.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Yeah, that simple four, five piece sound with great hooks, great harmonies, and just simple riffs is some of the best music still out there.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Yeah, I feel like you know, the the more simple and fresh it is, maybe the closer to the heart it gets.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Yeah, that's right. Is there a song you wrote that is in your catalog? When you wrote it, it had a meaning to you? Now that the years have passed and you listened to it again? You realize that you looked at it and wrote it with a different frame of mind. Now others can hear it and have a completely different view than you did when you wrote it. So is there a song that is very different to you now to what it was when you first wrote it and performed it?

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Absolutely. The song Our Lips Are Sealed that I wrote with Terry Hall of the Specials was basically about our short and secret romance that we had and you know, paying no mind to the gossip. But what ended up becoming of it was it became kind of a strong girl anthem, you know, like just be yourself, do your thing, and don't worry about what people say. And I think that's a much more powerful message than, you know, just another love song.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Yeah, it absolutely is. You've been out there doing this for a long time. Have you had anyone that comes up to you and asks you for advice? What do they do? How do they do what they want to do in music? The music business has completely changed from what it was. So what kind of advice do you give them?

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Well, it's become something that I don't even recognize anymore.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Yes, I completely agree with you there.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

First piece of advice I always give people is to don't sell your publishing.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Because you'll be very tempted to do it when you're poor. But if you have any success at all, you're gonna really regret it because that is a big stream of income that you're not gonna get if you sell it off. If you're a good songwriter, you're never gonna get what it the songs are actually worth. So that would be my biggest piece of advice. And I guess the second one would be to be your own advocate because you're gonna have big periods of your life where you have no advocates whatsoever and nobody believes in you.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Can you give us an example that people out there might be able to relate to?

SPEAKER_01 14:00

My parents sat me down after a couple of years at the GoGos and said, you know, we're really proud of you attempting to achieve your dreams, but now it's time to knuckle down and get a real job. And then a couple months later, we made our record, and then the record went to number one, and all this stuff happened, and that's because we didn't give up and we were our own advocates.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

Yeah, that's absolutely correct. You have to be your own advocate. Now, did you have to move at all? I mean, with me, I was originally from Maine. In a little town in Maine, doing music for a living, it was a pipe dream. The only way that I was going to stand a chance of doing anything in music was to move 1,300 miles away to Nashville. So did you find yourself in that situation at all of having to move?

SPEAKER_01 14:44

My family moved to the LA area when I was six. So that was, you know, pretty ideal for getting there in the music business. And in the 70s and 80s, there were a lot of clubs. You had a lot of opportunities to play live. I feel when I look around now at California, there are not as many clubs. And I think that the whole advent of streaming is kind of destroying the music business. Like what I understand, and I feel like it's very typical of the current political climate, is aren't these people thinking before they make these huge decisions? Because by depriving artists of income, you're gonna prevent artists from existing. And it's, you know, it's true of a lot of things in our culture right now. And I find it very upsetting that you see these people that are writing and performing these amazing songs and they're, you know, making pennies. I don't know how young artists are doing it to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

It's one of the toughest situations I think I've ever seen in the music business as far as writing and getting out there to perform the music that you have written and recorded. I've got a friend of mine here in Nashville that has written one of the biggest songs of all time. If he hadn't made his money off of it early with the streaming today, wouldn't be all that much.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

So you're right, it's very tough. When you get fractions of pennies for streaming and songs that you have written, unless you get a big artist that sells millions and millions and millions, you don't make any money. Yeah. This whole situation has made it very, very tough for songwriters.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Yeah, and I actually think that that's the only possible answer to this is that record companies are just throwing shit at the wall hoping that one thing will stick, because all they need is, you know, one Mariah Carey, one whatever, you know, somebody really huge, and then it doesn't matter that all these other bands are doomed to failure because there isn't the support and there isn't, you know, full income coming in for these people.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

That's so true. If you remember back in the 90s, the major labels had one or two major stars, and that was on a roster of 25.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Those one or two singers were the ones that supported the other 23 that was on the roster at that time. So because of streaming and because of all the things that are going on, it has made it so difficult for any singer to work up the ladder of success within a label.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Yeah. As you know, a lot of artists these days are just going with tiny labels or their own label. Because, in a sense, like it's not any worse than being on a major, because the chances of them paying attention to you are almost nil. And at least if you're controlling your own career, you're controlling your own career, which is always a positive. And I know a lot of those musicians tour all the time, and that's how they make their income.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

All the years you've been on the road doing the things that you've done, if someone was to ask you, name something that stands out, and it can be something good or it can be something not so good, the very first thing that comes to your mind, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Uh-huh. I'm actually drawing a blank there. I mean, touring was both fun and exhausting. We had a lot of good times, especially like driving around America in a touring bus and just spending all that time making each other laugh. That's kind of the happiest sort of memories I have, is that. And also uh being backstage in the dressing room. I mean, I don't know what people were picturing we would be like, but every once in a while, like a guy would sneak backstage and within about two minutes he would run away screaming because we were what we called ourselves a five-headed monster. We were just so out of control, or we would do anything to make each other laugh. And those are, again, the fondest memories I have of touring.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Yeah, I get that completely. I remember being on the road lots of good times, lots of times that you scratch your head and wonder how you got through it, but it was still very good overall. It's a very unique experience, and not a lot of people get a chance to have that opportunity. If they ever have the opportunity for 15 to 20,000 seat venues, traveling from city to city, meeting people, being rushed around, it's a total whirlwind of emotions.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Yeah, it really is a whirlwind. And the thing about fame is I don't think anyone's ever prepared for it. You know, for us, it was just kind of killed everything, to be honest. It it's got hard. And I mean, how do you deal with fame? I was from the Midwest and taught from, you know, toddler age, I'm not any better than anyone else. And then, you know, I shouldn't be prideful, I shouldn't be boastful. And I mean, I had my moments, but most of the time I really just felt like a regular person who had been thrust into this really weird, crazy world.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

Yeah. So what are you doing now music-wise? Are you still collaborating and still out there doing your thing?

SPEAKER_01 19:43

This year the gogo's did a bunch of festivals, which we really never done before, and that was exciting. I also do a lot of charity work, a lot of um concerts for free just to raise money for different causes. And I have had a little side project, which is kind of on hiatus because my partner, Pietro, is actually Italian and he moved back to Italy. You know, at this point, people would be surprised how little uh uh people are interested in musicians from a big band if it's not the actual big band that they're looking at. It's it's definitely it's tough.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Yeah, I hear that from a lot of people. It is tougher than it's been in the past.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

I haven't had a manager or a record company or any of that stuff in like decades. I'm pretty suspicious of business people in the record business. So part of it is my attitude, and part of it is that maybe things are less misogynistic, but it's practically against the law for women to get older. I mean, seriously.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Yeah, I get it. I've been in this business since I was like 20 years old. I've been coming back and forth to Nashville, and then I finally moved here. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of it. I completely understand why you don't trust many people because unfortunately, if they find someone they can take advantage of, they certainly will. Not everyone is like that. There's a lot of good people in this business, but you do have to watch out for sure.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

I love it that you do a lot of work to help charities. You've got one coming up here in just a couple of days. It's Joy's song. How did you get involved with that particular charity?

SPEAKER_01 21:15

I believe well, it's one of two ways, or maybe both ways. One that I actually born in Wisconsin. Um, so and you know, in Wisconsin, that's pretty well known. So I'm pretty sure that Mike, who runs the organization, probably knew that. And secondly, there's so many musicians that have been doing this every year, and I happen to know a lot of them. So it's kind of natural that eventually I do it too. And I'm actually kind of wildly excited because I get to see a lot of people that I haven't seen in years. And from what I hear, everyone just loves playing this event. That it's just really fun for both the people on stage and the people in the audience. So I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Part of it is a Friday night acoustic where everyone gets to tell the story behind. Behind the song, and this is a great way of interacting with the audience as well. So I imagine it would be fun not only to see your friends, but hear the stories behind their songs, which you might not know as well. The great thing is everyone is collaborating together to make a difference for those that need it.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I gravitate towards people that are kinder and want to help people and stuff. Well, I guess it's silly to say I'm not a big fan of people that are selfish and self-centered.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

I don't know. People who are selfish and self-centered actually get a lot more attention because they're very driven because of their egos. So this thing I get the feeling is just uh musicians that want to make music, they want to hang out with their friends, and they want to make a difference in the world.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Yeah, absolutely. And that is the beauty of music. You have a platform that you can get people in the seats, you can get them interested in what you're doing, tell your stories, and all the same time the both of you, from the audience to the people on stage, are helping people that need the help so desperately.

SPEAKER_01 23:07

Yes, agreed.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

So this show is in January. What is your schedule coming up after that?

SPEAKER_01 23:13

Um, I have some gigs lined up that I'll be doing with a group of friends of mine. We did a charity show a few months ago, and it was acoustic, and it was three friends and me, and I had a really good time playing acoustic. I really love the power of an SG guitar and a martial ant.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Oh, yeah, quite the sound.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

You know, there's something to be said for playing acoustically when you can hear yourself singing and and people can hear you singing as well.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Yeah, absolutely. That's a great vibe to have. Now, how do people follow you and find out what you're doing?

SPEAKER_01 23:47

Mostly through social media.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

You know, DMs are a great way to connect with people.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

So without sounding foolish here, can you give us the name of the site so that people can follow you?

SPEAKER_01 23:59

Oh, it's just Jane Wheedlin. As long as you spell Wheedlin right, you're in like Flynn.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

So you're on all the social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, all the ones everyone would know?

SPEAKER_01 24:13

Early on, I started using Instagram more. I find like however it's set up to make more sense to my brain. But I kind of have it set up so it goes straight to Facebook and then I believe it goes to Threads too.

SPEAKER_00 24:27

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

And if I'm not on TikTok, and I'm not on any of the newer ones yet, because I gotta tell you, I have terrible brain frog, and I've never been good at technology either. So those two things kind of slow me down quite a bit because uh I'm not very good at doing internet type things.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

I totally get it. I'm limited on some of those things myself. Unfortunately, in order to do this, you've got to self-promote. And I'm much better about promoting you than I am about promoting me.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

That's why if you look at all my socials, I hardly ever talk about myself. I almost never post selfies. Um, almost all my stuff is political content just because now it seems like more celebrities are stepping up. But there's a time not too many months ago where their celebrities were absolutely afraid to speak out. And I was like, like, what do I have to lose? So I've been super, super vocal about my politics and about kind of rally the troops, which I think I've done to a certain extent. I mean, a lot of people like when they are on my pages that they feel like they found a haul, someone that thinks the same way they do. So it's kind of a nice warm fuzzy feeling. I really appreciate everybody that follows me. And though I don't have a huge following, I have a really, really active following, like a lot more, I think, than most people that have a big following. So that's something to be happy about.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

Yeah, the biggest thing I think is the most important thing is that you have interaction and people are following what you're doing. I like to look at the positive side of things. Most people are generally good-hearted. They want to help people when they can, and that's the right thing to do. Well, with that said, this has been great. Great conversation, great information. Hopefully, we can get together again on my other podcast and talk about some interesting things there.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Hopefully, yeah. Well, maybe in the future.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Absolutely. Thanks for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

No worries.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

It's been a pleasure. Thanks again. Thanks for joining us today. We hope you enjoyed the show. This has been a Tony Mantor production. For more information, contact media at plateau music.com.