"Lust to Love" by The Go-Gos

Hey Dialophiles, today we turn the spotlight to a quintet of ladies who really know how to rock! The first (and so far, only!) all-female act that wrote and played their own songs to top the Billboard album charts, we proudly introduce Belinda, Charlotte, Jane, Gina, and Kathy, a.k.a. The Go-Gos, and their 1981 album track “Lust to Love”.

“It used to be the fun was in the capture and kill, in another place and time, I did it all for thrills.”

The fourth track on side one of their debut smash LP “Beauty and the Beat”, “Lust…” features a female narrator recounting that she used to pursue physical relationships for fun, then would split the scene as soon as the guy’s attentions turned toward real emotion. But now she laments that the tables have since turned, as she has met a guy whom SHE has fallen in love with, and now HE holds all the power in their relationship. 

“Love me and I’ll leave you, I told you at the start, I had no idea that you would tear my world apart.”

Sung by lead vocalist Belinda Carlisle, with a slight “echo” effect enhancing her vocals, and featuring Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Gina Schock on drums, bass work by Kathy Valentine, and Jane Wiedlin on rhythm guitar, “Lust…” was written by Caffey and Wiedlin.

It’s interesting to hear such a stereotypically male point of view toward relationships (the “ol’ love ‘em and leave ‘em” routine) being championed by a woman, and it echoes a similar sentiment found in The Marvelettes’ 1966 soul classic “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game”, in which another woman falls deep in love when her intentions were just to casually fool around.

Despite loving the artists and music of the ‘80s, I rarely owned the iconic LPs of the time. Oh sure, I had MJ’s “Thriller”, and Hall & Oates’ “H20” (which I believe were birthday gifts), but I mainly grew my collection by taping songs off the radio. Hey, I was a seven year old kid who had an allowance, but that money went toward Matchbox cars, and visits to the arcade. You have to prioritize your spending even at that young age, you know! As a result, most album cuts passed me by on their initial release, only for me to happily discover them later on in life.

“And you’re the one to blame… I used to know my name, but I’ve lost control of the game…”

Once I snagged The Go-Gos 1990 compilation “Greatest” for all their awesome hit singles (on cassette, no doubt!), I found myself returning rather frequently to this previously-unknown-to-me album track which  soon surpassed even “Vacation” and “We Got The Beat” as must-listens. Give it a spin yourselves, Dialophiles, and enjoy the catchy pop stylings of The Go-Gos first hand!

“Lust to love… was the last thing I was dreaming of… and now all I want is just to love. Lust has turned to love.”

"Ronnie's Rapp" by Ron and the D.C. Crew

Happy April Fools Day, Dialophiles! 

To celebrate the jovial tone of the day, the Dial transmits a wacky novelty track from ‘87, one that my buddies and I in middle school couldn’t get enough of! Honestly, I have to believe that many of the Beltway insiders got a kick out of it as well… let us introduce… Ron and the D.C. Crew with “Ronnie’s Rapp”!

“Well, I’m the Big Gipper and I’m here to say, that I’m biggest rapper in the U.S.A.! Yeah, my name’s Ron with the D.C. Crew, going on record with a rap for you!”

Written by actor/comedian Mark Moseley, who in recent years, has provided the voice of “Donkey” in video games based on the Shrek film series, and “Mushu the Dragon” in all Disney Mulan projects except for the original film, Ronnie’s Rapp features Moseley’s spot-on impersonation of “The Great Communicator”, President Ronald Reagan (he was number 40, don’cha know).

“Rapp” adheres firmly to the time honored tradition of “boasting” raps, as Moseley’s Reagan trumpets his ’84 landslide defeat of Walter Mondale, his conferences with Gorbachev, and his daily naps, after signing a bill, of course. He also name checks his “veep” George Bush, his “best girl” Nancy, speaker of the house Tip O’Neill, his Hollywood classic “Bedtime for Bonzo”, and Billy Crystal’s SNL catch phrase “That’s the Ticket”. He even manages to sneak in lyrical references to the 1978 disco nugget “In the Bush” by Musique, and Newcleus’ 1984 hip hop classic “Jam On It”. The song opens with a replayed sample of the traditional Presidential theme “Hail to the Chief”.

“Met with Gorbachev in ’85, to talk about how everyone could stay alive, and though he seemed to be a guy with class, if he doesn’t play ball, we’ll nuke his COUNTRY!”

The above line stops short of the easy and expected rhyme with “class”, which is clearly part of the humor, but my middle school friend Matt didn’t… whenever he heard this verse, he would always loudly sing over the final word with a resounding “ASS”. Ahhh… middle school humor.

Ronnie’s Rapp was played quite a bit in the DC Top 40 market, (which makes perfect sense), but nationally, it only peaked at a barely noticeable US #93 in Feb ’87. I’m not sure if Moseley’s Presidential spoof caught the ears of any other markets across the fruited plain, but it was the number one requested song in Washington for a few weeks on the top 40 stations I listened to at the time.

“The current administration’s socio-economical and political policies are in direct cohesion with that which has been facilitated… In other words… YES!!! Yeah, that’s the ticket… awesome!”

Last year at this time, the Dial brought you “Macho Duck”, a disco jam featuring Donald, pulled from the 1979 Mickey Mouse Disco LP. This year, we decided to make a yearly tradition out of spotlighting a novelty track to commemorate April Fools Day, which led to this Presidential musical selection. Other songs in the running were “Jamaican Bobsled” by the Rock N Roll Animals, and Julie Brown’s “The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Gun”, but as both songs could be considered insensitive and non-PC in today’s world, (especially Homecoming Queen…) we leave it up to you whether you seek these songs out.

So regardless of whether you are politically minded or not, and no matter what party you affiliate yourself with, give “The Big Gipper” a spin, and enjoy a chuckle on us. Happy April Fools Day from all of us here at Kyle’s Radio Dial! Oh, and I’d love to hear a modern day rap artist sample or interpolate some lyrics from this classic… that’s right, I’m lookin’ at YOU, KANYE!!!

“I’m the Big Gipper, don’t mess with me, I’m the baddest rapper this side of D.C. With my best girl Nancy as my spouse, rappin’ to you from that big White House!”