Valley of the Go-Go’s … Vacation Time

33

 

 

Friday, June 17th, 1983, 11:02 A.M.

 

 

An unusually warm, Pacific current swept over the Southern California region on this weekend, propelling temperatures into the nineties and sending the local Angelinos either indoors or to the beaches for relief.

The Go-Go’s had just wrapped up taping the second season of their sitcom and were now on summer hiatus. They were all on their own for the next few months and were looking forward to getting a break from the business and each other for a while.

How long that would last remained to be seen.

It was the end of the week for Charlotte and she was growing weary in her search for a real estate management group. She was downtown in her rented business office and was getting set for another meeting. It was going to be the third company she was about to interview in the last two weeks and she was starting to become rather anxious in getting this whole thing going. She didn’t want to head-up the search in the first place, but her partners talked her into it and now they were breathing down her neck. Her attorney wasn’t helping out very much either. He was calling every other day now looking to finalize the contract.

Charlotte had just partnered-in with some other investors on an apartment complex in West Hollywood. It was her first real estate deal and she picked West Hollywood because the Go-Go’s were so beloved in the community. In fact, after the word leaked out that she was going to be one of the landlords, the occupancy rates in the buildings almost filled to capacity because many of the tenants actually thought some of the Go-Go’s might be coming around to collect the rents.

Elsewhere in this world, Jane found herself visiting some musician friends in Van Nuys for a weekend of partying and songwriting. The techno sound that had been emerging out of Australia and Europe was the hottest new thing and Jane was experimenting heavily in that area. A couple of songwriters from the show were also going to be accompanying her for the weekend.

Meanwhile, in Brentwood, Kathy had gotten up earlier than she normally would and was feeling especially energetic. She downed a glass of tomato juice, leashed up her dog, Buster, and headed out for a morning jog. When she returned home, she took a series of laps in her swimming pool, then went upstairs to shower off the chlorine. She was looking forward to spending the afternoon painting, since it was too hot to do much else. After getting dressed in her most comfortable clothes, she went downstairs into her studio, gathered her supplies and her mural, and set up shop in the enclosed patio overlooking her back yard.

With a glass of Chardonnay and a full pack of cigarettes, the day was cruising along nice and peacefully for Kathy. Being a beginner, she was merely painting a couple of stuffed animals that she brought down from her bedroom. She was feeling pleasantly satisfied with the way things were going when an ominous sound interrupted her tranquility— It was the telephone.

Cue the DRAGNET Theme Song:   DAH- dada- Dah!!

It was Belinda and Gina on the line….   DAH- dada- dah- DAHHH!!!

It was almost as if they had some sort of a sixth sense that Kathy was doing something constructive and were determined to come over and tell her to stop being such a Donna Reed.

“Hey, what’re ya’ doing?!” yelled Belinda, brimming with enthusiasm.

Kathy couldn’t think of an excuse fast enough.

“Uhh,” she hesitated. “Not much… I was….”

Belinda wasn’t about to wait for an answer.

“We’re comin’ over to jam!” she stated.

Now, normally, it wouldn’t matter whose house they practiced at, but of the five of them, Kathy had the best setup of them all.

“Oh… well, I….” stammered Kathy.

“Yeah, Gina suddenly thinks she’s Ray Davies. She’s got a new song idea brewin’ in her head. Actually, so do I… We gotta’ come over and try em’ out,” continued Belinda.

And herein, lied Kathy’s dilemma. She knew that jamming in itself would naturally be considered a positive thing to do since that’s how they all earned a living.

But, Kathy wasn’t buying it.

She knew what all of this blather meant. It meant that they would spend the afternoon getting wasted and probably end up recording a bunch of silly shit that didn’t amount to a hill of beans. She also knew that some of this was spurred on by the fact that Belinda had been fooling around on the bass and the electric piano, and was getting a little ahead of herself. She suddenly considered songwriting a fanciful thing to do and Kathy had no choice but to try and encourage her.

What else could she do? They were her best friends in the whole world and, to be sure, more fun than any two chicks could possibly be.

“Okay… come on over,” said Kathy.

“See ya’ in a few!” shouted Belinda. In the background, Gina yelled out some colorful language just before Belinda hung up the phone which actually made Kathy laugh to herself.

They were the best.

And they were on their way over… The two Hounds from Hell were on their way over and Kathy had to prepare.

What more could anyone want?