On February 21, Virgin/UMe is set to release two solo albums from Belinda Carlisle, the celebrated lead vocalist of the multi-platinum Los Angeles rock band The Go-Go’s: 1991’s Live Your Life Be Free and 1993’s Real.
This will also be the first time both of these early-1990’s Belinda Carlisle solo albums have appeared digitally in the United States and Canada. Live Your Life Be Free has not been reissued since its initial 1991 Virgin release and Real has not been available in the US since 1993. Edsel Records reissued both albums in the U.K. in 2013 but due to a label issue they have not been available in North America until now.
Belinda Carlisle’s fourth solo album, October 1991’s Live Your Life Be Free, reached No. 7 on the U.K. charts and also generated a Billboard Hot 100 single, the ever-catchy “Do You Feel Like I Feel?”. Meanwhile, the first song Carlisle co-wrote, the clever “Little Black Book,” was also Top 30 on the U.K. charts and sported background vocals from Sheryl Crow, who was inadvertently credited as “Cherryl Crowe.” Eagle-eared listeners will spot that the intro to “You Came Out Of Nowhere” features a brief vocal count-in sample culled from the late John Lennon’s hit 1984 single, “Nobody Told Me.”
Real, which has been described by Carlisle herself as a “dark look at relationships,” showcased the songwriting prowess of her forever Go-Go’s bandmate, guitarist Charlotte Caffey, along with Thomas Caffey and Ralph Schuckett, with Carlisle co-writing half of the album as well. Her fifth solo effort, September 1993’s Real, debuted at No. 9 on the U.K. album charts, while “Big Scary Animal,” a cautiously hopeful look at love, reached No. 12 on the U.K. singles charts. Real also features a spirited cover of “Lay Down Your Arms,” a track by The Graces, a short-lived pop-rock band that included the talents of the above-noted Charlotte Caffey alongside Meredith Brooks and Gia Ciambotti.
Branching out on her own as a solo artist in May 1986 with the heartfelt Belinda, Belinda Carlisle struck immediate platinum success of her own with that album’s U.S. No. 3 and Canadian No.1 hit single, “Mad About You.” The follow-up effort, October 1987’s platinum-selling Heaven On Earth, featured three Top 10 U.S. singles, including her worldwide No. 1 signature song, “Heaven Is A Place On Earth.” To date, Belinda Carlisle has released eight albums under her own name.
As the first multi-platinum-selling, all-female band to play their own instruments, write their own songs and soar to No. 1 on the album charts, The Go-Go’s are the most successful female rock band of all time. They will celebrate their ongoing legacy with the release of THE GO-GO’S, a new Showtime documentary directed by Allison Wood which chronicles the meteoric rise to fame of a band born from the L.A. punk scene.
Belinda Carlisle’s Live Your Life Be Free here: https://UMe.lnk.to/BCLiveYourLifeBeFree
Belinda Carlisle’s Real here: https://UMe.lnk.to/BCReal
BELINDA CARLISLE: LIVE YOUR LIFE BE FREE [digital only]
- Live Your Life Be Free
- Do You Feel Like I Feel?
- Half The World
- You Came Out Of Nowhere
- You’re Nothing Without Me
- I Plead Insanity
- Emotional Highway
- Little Black Book
- Love Revolution
- World Of Love
- Loneliness Game
BELINDA CARLISLE: REAL [digital only]
- Goodbye Day
- Big Scary Animal
- Too Much Water
- Lay Down Your Arms
- Where Love Hides
- One With You
- Wrap My Arms
- Tell Me
- Windows Of The World
- Here Comes My Baby
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