Thursday, April 25, 2013

The Go-Go's And The Sleazy Swedish Interviewer

In their attempt to conquer the world (while mostly just managing to conquer America, Canada, and Australia, but close enough), the Go-Go's stopped through Sweden in early 1982. Did you know that Beauty and the Beat peaked at #20 in that wintry Scandinavian commonwealth? Truth be told, the band's trip to Sweden was most likely uneventful and I probably wouldn't have even bothered to mention it aside from my discovery of this riveting clip on YouTube.



A male Swedish TV personality is interviewing the five Go-Go's, in charmingly broken English ("you've got very good critics, as far as I've read now"), while appearing as if he would like to sleep with them all. The Go-Go's respond in a manner suggesting they have done many drugs the night before. Amazingly, the most cogent band member seems to be Belinda, who, wearing some sort of off-the-shoulder sweater, with her partially blond, partially brown hair tied up chaotically on top of her head, may look about as fetching here as she ever did (I know I seem to say that in every post, but trust me, in some of the clips ahead, the woman will hit some rough patches). The whole interview is a keeper, from Gina's declaration that the band will record "our fourth album and then a tour, and then after the fourth album we'll do another tour, and record a fifth album, and then there'll be a sixth, and another tour," to the interviewer's description of a Swedish concert reviewer's suggestion that ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog ought to dance and move like Belinda. But the highlight would have to be the following exchange, which I have typed below in its entirety:
Belinda: I never get nervous.
(Other Go-Go's laugh.)
Belinda: I used to get real nervous and like ... I'm not gonna say what I used to do (giggles), but I used to get very nervous.
Interviewer: Please tell me.
Belinda: I used to kinda like wet my pants (starts giggling uncontrollably) ...
(No one else is laughing.)
Interviewer: The first time?
Belinda: No the first time, the first time I didn't, I was ... well God, you used to throw up, in your mouth (giggles uncontrollably once more) ...
Interviewer: And then you wet your pants. Is that true? Not at the same time?
Belinda: Yeah it is true (still giggling).
Interviewer: Well that's good for a start.
Belinda: No, but not anymore. I've gotten over that. I'm trained now.
Interviewer: Are you telling me that you're not nervous?
Belinda: No (still giggling).
Interviewer: How about the rest of you?
Kathy: No, I've, I've never wet my pants in a long time.
Jane: I've never thrown up either.
Kathy: And I haven't thrown up in a long time either.
Clearly, no one does a rock interview quite like the Swedes.

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