The Go-Go’s didn’t just become one of the biggest bands of the early 1980s. They also made Billboard history, and Gina Schock was there for it.
Schock turns 69 on Monday, August 31. Growing up in Dundalk, Maryland, Schock started playing drums at 13. After school, she’d put on her headphones and practice for hours at a time.
Her first professional experience came with the Baltimore-area band Scratch N Sniff. She later played with the punk group Edie and the Eggs, led by Edith Massey, the actress and singer who became a fixture in John Waters‘ films.
The group eventually toured the country, including performances in Los Angeles. Charlotte Caffey, who would later become a founding member of The Go-Go’s, saw Schock play during one of those shows.
Schock soon moved to Los Angeles herself. Not long after arriving, she attended a Go-Go’s show and met members of the band at a party. The timing worked out because the group was looking for a new drummer, and Schock joined in 1979, replacing Elissa Bello.
By the time The Go-Go’s signed with I.R.S. Records in 1981, they had already built a loyal following in Los Angeles. Their debut album, Beauty and the Beat, quickly changed the trajectory of the band.
Released in 1981, the record spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in March 1982, making The Go-Go’s the first all-female band to write their own songs, play their own instruments and reach No. 1 on the U.S. album chart.
The album also gave fans two of The Go-Go’s best-known songs, “We Got the Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed.” Over their initial run, the band landed seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including later hits like “Vacation” and “Head Over Heels.”
Their rise was notable not only because they were an all-female group, but because they were musicians who wrote and performed their own material in a male-dominated rock scene.
However, the success didn’t last forever. The Go-Go’s released Vacation later in 1982 and Talk Show in 1984 before breaking up in 1985. The members later reunited several times and eventually returned to performing together more regularly.
Schock has remained proud of what the band accomplished and what it represented for women in rock. “That kind of stuff isn’t just a victory for our group; it’s for all our people, the punks and the rejects,” Schock told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We’ve gone against the grain from the beginning.”
She has also reflected on how the band’s significance grew over time. “I knew being an all-girl band meant something then, but I didn’t realize it would mean so much all these years later,” Schock said.
In 2021, the Go-Go’s added one of the biggest honors in music to an already impressive career when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Even after all these years, Schock still sees something special when The Go-Go’s play together. “There’s this fantastic chemistry that we have, where we just bounce off of each other,” she told V Magazine. “We’re still together, and there’s a reason. I’m not sure what that reason is other than to say, we’re a family.”
Related: 1987 Rock Song, Written by Christine McVie, Is Still a Powerful Hit 39 Years Later
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