posted
Mother, wife, Christian, rock goddess! The "everywoman" of the 21st century is likely all these things, and so today's new woman needs role models. One such is the topic of today's show.
the Belinda Carlisle story
Belinda was born "Belinda Jo Kerzcheski was born August 17, 1958, in Hollywood, California, to parents Walt and Joanne."
Belinda is best known for her planet-stopping single, Heaven is a Place on Earth. Coming out in the 1980s, cultural demands dictated that the song have a killer video -- and Belinda delivered in spades.
The promo had haunting imagery that shocked the then-naive audience of what was, at the time, "Music Television" (later, MTV). Clips at the time were generally standard fare of Mellencamp rocking on-stage, or fey Brit popstrels performing in a studio. But this...was something different. Girls in fetish-masks, holding out globes of the world as if warning of our fragile planet? Music, for the first time, held a message.
Yet the powerful visuals belied a dark past for the golden girl who apparently, had everything. Belinda Carlisle had not always had it this easy. For she was originally in a band called the Go-Go Girls (later, the Go-Gos) and earlier yet, had been an unhappy teen herself.
Belinda called it "the golden state" in that song from the Woman and A Man album, but at the time, it held a reminder that childhood could be very cruel. Growing up as, paraphrasing her own words, " a stocky tomboy" (source -- online), Lindy changed her body shape deliberately and tried out for the cheerleader squad. Then, she got into an altogether harsher world: that of hard drugs. It led to success with the Go-Gos, and a hit in the form of "Vacation", an upbeat number precursoring Madonna's "Holiday" in theme and lyrics by perhaps ten years. It wasn't the last time Lindy would steal a march on the Material Girl. However, the bright pop-punk belied the shadow world behind. At the time of the Go-Go Girls' success, Belinda was "using every drug on the planet" (paraphrase, source online).
It seemed that drug use was resulting in critical acclaim and financial profit. The rollercoaster had to end, or something would seem to be badly wrong for Belinda.
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Success, it is said, rocks your world, and for Belinda, this maxim was no exception. After "Heaven is a Place on Earth" she had to follow it with a real high-hitter, and that song would come in the form of "Circle in the Sand", followed by "I Get Weak". The latter was described as "the most vivid expression of female sexual desire ever committed to pop disc" (source: remembered from a review, 1980s)
First, though, Belinda had something to attend to: kicking the dragon. She tells it best in her own words:
quote:It was during this time that Belinda met former assistant to then President Ronald Reagen, Morgan Mason, that she knew she had to escape. 'Morgan showed me my options,' she says. 'Stay with the Go-Go's and die like a sick dog, or leave them, get clean, and marry him.' A day after they met they moved in together. Belinda followed Caffey into rehabilitation and swore off drugs forever
Unlikely as it seems, it was Morgan Mason who got Belinda "straight" again. In the mid-to-late 1980s, then, the diva had already gone through enough changes to last most women a full lifetime. Sitting on the dock of her home in Cape Cod, MA, she thoughtfully sipped a Taboo and lemonade as she considered her next move. Who would have thought a California girl would end up here...the heights of this tranquil sanctuary on the East Coast's "Peach-Blossom State", Massachusetts. Fireflies traced their intriguing dances in the sky, catching Belinda's eye and seeming to guide her musing thoughts about what music should follow "Heaven is a Place on Earth".
"Are you OK, Honey," said a deep masculine voice behind her.
Belinda half-turned and smiled, knowing who would be there. Her husband [name unknown] who was wearing a button-down pastel blue shirt from Brooks Bros. And, tan chinos. His skin was tan also, and set off his baby-blue eyes wildly. Belinda felt a rush of pleasure for this, her husband. Two years of marriage hadn't cooled that ardor.
"Yes, I was just thinking," she told him considerately. His fingertips began to knead her shoulder thru the cotton of her blouse, and Belinda felt waves of heat shooting down her, almost taking her breath away. Her nipples hardened under the thin material and she hoped she could pass it off as the result of the cooling Cape Cod evening.
"Don't stay out too long, Baby," he told her in a voice deep and grainy as the fresh-ground coffee her prepared every morning. Belinda found herself arcing her neck back, rubbing her copper-blonde hair against her husband's firm, lightly-furred arm. Her breath was coming short and fast. What was he doing to her! She'd never felt this way about another man before.
Then he was gone, leaving her gasping as if she'd just been in free-fall through clear blue skies. The experience would feed the powerful lyrics of the later hit "I Get Weak".
Yet now Belinda's eyes, as she flickered them open again and forced her mind away from thoughts of consuming passion, found a young boy and his dog playing on the wet beach. It was an age-old picture of a boy and his dog...two friends, for eternity.
"Here Boy!" the boy called, and as Belinda watched, he drew a rough Circle in the Sand with the end of a stick.
A song was forming in Belinda's head...she grabbed a napkin and found a lipstick in her bag, then began to write.
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Following her cloudbusting success with album after album, Belinda suffered the results of the old maxim that, "you can't please all the people, all of the time".
Heaven is a Place, the album containing the fruits of Belinda's work in Cape Cod that night, was sequelled by Runaway Horses, an amazing album that showcased the actual sound of running horses on the title track. This use of sampling predated minority groups like, Run DMC, Eric B and Rakim and the like, and the practice of using recorded tracks incorporated in a song is still prominent in today's pop, rock, rap and crossover sound. Belinda Carlisle is rarely credited with the invention.
However, the latter album didn't perform to the same stellar heights as Heaven is a Place. Most artists would have expected that they had set a standard near-impossible to break, and settled down to pursue a career of mediocrity. Not Mrs Carlisle's little girl. Secluding herself away at the Cape Cod hideaway mentioned and brought to semi-fictional life above, Belinda wrote feverishly for a matter of time, and came back with a comeback album, A Woman and A Man. [below, with kid]
raw edge -- belinda with husband, son
The raw edge and honest lyrics would stun friends, fans...even a new generation who had never heard her earlier work.
quote:I remember I was in the tanning salon When I heard that River Phoenix was gone "California"
The melodies seemed simple, but they had a hidden aspect -- yet again, Belinda was "sampling". This time, the song paid homage to The Mamas and The Papas's "California Dreaming", not in a borrowed phrase or lick, but in the beautiful harmonies and, to some degree, the titular concern of the song.
darker side -- now belinda poses with a brunette (not blond)
Belinda Carlisle was drawing on the harsh memories of her home state...and those pictures she drew weren't pretty.
Louche
Carved TMO on her clit just to make you feel bad
posted
Are you going to cover the moment of the photoshoot when she was caught forever in the image that would become that poster, Kovacs?
The poster which no doubt contributed to the rising tide of social pressure on young women as referred to in the Rants forum at the moment? The poster that blighted my fifteen year old life as I sadly contemplated the fact that even were I to don thigh high boots and fishnets I could not compete as I could probably never achieve the mixture of winsome girlishness and absolute desire caught in those eyes?
posted
For the title track, "A Woman and a Man", Belinda delved deeper into her memory-side and pulled out roses, as well as thorns. The track held anger, under Belinda's characteristic bubbly, undulating vocal...for once, fans would be stunned by a rage in her delivery.
The urgency of the pop-rock track was underlined by Belinda doing her own backing vocals, a full octave higher than the main vocal. It was this kind of musical detail that really marked out the quality output of Belinda from run-of-the-mill groups who, technically, were overtaking her sales in the 1990s.
quote:I took a walk today to where the ocean meets the sky I thought about the way They always say love never dies
And as the sun went down I saw a lovers silhouette A woman and a man in a dance I envied them
Clearly, the lyric had similar thematic concerns to the earlier "Circle in the Sand", drawing on Belinda's beloved Cape Cod hideout. Yet there was a twist to this beleaguered love story.
quote:A woman and a man a love so close Walk hand In hand While I'm alone A woman and a man a love embrace he turned his head I saw his face Could it be you Yes, it was you A woman and a man
Like a dark fairytale, there was a dreadful secret hiding in the lyrics -- and behind them. Hubby Morgan Mason, or at any rate a soundalike, provided deep, soulful baritone on the bridge...unknowing what the words hid. Only in the next verse would Belinda's shameful past indiscretion become horribly apparent.
quote:And as you walked on by I pulled my scarf across my face and I began to cry For all the love I'd thrown away
On a lost take of this song, Belinda can be heard breaking down at this song, and the following exchange takes place:
Female Voice: Oh Baby I can't do it any more! I'm so sorry!
Male Voice: What's wrong Honey?
Female Voice: I've hurt you so badly...long, long ago!
quote:Originally posted by Louche: Are you going to cover the moment of the photoshoot when she was caught forever in the image that would become that poster, Kovacs?
I'm not sure if I know what poster you mean by that one. But Sabian, you mustn't insult me by implying I wasn't aware of "belina carlisle" on Oops Robbb's Celebs. That chapter comes later -- according to chronological law.
posted
With just 90 minutes to go until the end of this Belinda Carlisle Tuesday, it's "time" for another chapter.
Last episode, this thing happened.
Female Voice: Oh Baby I can't do it any more! I'm so sorry!
Male Voice: What's wrong Honey?
Female Voice: I've hurt you so badly...long, long ago!
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It was the mid-1980s, and Belinda Carlisle was fuming as she emerged from a courtroom in Baltimore, "The Sunflower State". Her heels clicked out a staccato rhythm on the polished floor as she strode purposefully past drab-coated clerks and lawyers. The June sun glared into the dark corridors as Belinda forced open the double entrance doors and marched down the stairs, clutching her pocketbook fiercely.
"Blast those men!" she said under her breath, entering the coffee shop that nestled next to a bookstore under the shadow of the courthouse. Then, "Oh, excuse me." She had spoken in earshot of a man...was it a man? Yes, of course...the kingfisher green shimmer of eyeshadow and full, glossed pink lips had confused her for a second. But his knotted headscarf, patterned waistcoat and white blouse were definitely manly...she breathed in the scent of him, wondering at his effect...yes, definitely, exquisitely manly.
"That's alright, Love!" the stranger reassured.
"Oh...you're British?" Belinda exclaimed, with a mixture of confusion and delight. "Sorry, I should have known...you're drinking tea, how stupid of me."
"No problem," said the other, raising his cup and looking her right in the eye. His eyes...such a clear, distinctive green. "Cheers."
"I should introduce myself," Belinda flustered, taking a seat next to him and smoothing her good business skirt. "My name's Belinda... Belinda Carlisle."
The Brit grinned, showing surprisingly good teeth. His skin was tanned, also...he must have spent time in the US.
"Belinda Carlisle, eh?" he chuckled. "Me and my mates have been doing business with you already!"
She drank in the way he was talking, not caring that she hadn't yet ordered a coffee. He was fascinating!
He went on, noting her bemused expression.
"Some hows-your-father about copyright law! We both did songs using the phrase 'La Luna' in the 1980s," he explained. "No bother, Love. There's room for two tracks with the same name."
That white grin again, in skin like damp sand. Belinda felt herself coloring. "'La Luna'?" she repeated wonderingly.
The British guy opened his mouth and a strained, high vocal came out.
quote:Last night, La Luna... I light my torch and waved it for the...
Belinda interrupted, breathing "New Moon on Monday?"
Topic Closed
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