Gina Schock: Go-Go’s Have Some ‘Very Exciting’ Things in Store
The Go-Go's are getting all revved up for their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction next month in Cleveland — which, despite previous concerns, will include all five of the members and a live performance.
Frontwoman Belinda Carlisle, who in previous years said she would not necessarily show up for a Rock Hall induction, had booked a U.K. tour that conflicted with the Oct. 30 ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Now the tour is off and Carlisle will be there, and drummer Gina Schock says the Go-Go's are moving full-speed ahead with their plans.
"[Carlisle's] stuff got canceled in Europe because of COVID, so there's no question about it now," notes Schock, who will publish a coffee table book, Made in Hollywood: All Access with the Go-Go's, four days before the induction. "She had vowed to make it work, somehow. At first she was all freaked out — 'Omigod, I've got these shows! What am I gonna do?!' She was really upset. But she said, 'You guys, I'll figure this out. I'm gonna make it work somehow,' and then COVID took care of it, for her and for the band. She'll be able to go back and do those shows, but you can only step on that stage and be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame once — at least being in the Go-Go's."
Schock says the quintet has decided on three songs to perform, though, of course, her lips are sealed about which ones they'll be. As for other aspects of the induction, she adds that, "We have to sit down and figure out who's going to say what, all of that. Up to now we've been handling the logistics: How many hotel rooms do we need? Who are you bringing? All that stuff.
"We're just so grateful this is happening. I'm pretty excited," she added. "A lot of people have a lot of different things to say about the Hall of Fame — why certain people haven't been inducted yet and all that. I get it, but for right now I just want to focus on the Go-Go's and be grateful for what's happening to us right now. We're all very happy to be part of it."
The Go-Go's will go from the Rock Hall back to performing; The group has five dates booked at the end of the year, including New Year's Eve and Day at the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas. Schock says more extensive touring is planned for 2022 in North America and with Billy Idol in the U.K. There's also a possibility of more new music following 2020's "Club Zero": the band's first new song in almost 20 years, recorded for the documentary The Go-Go's.
"There's some things going on, but I can't really talk about them yet," she says. "We have a couple things in store for public consumption that we're working on now and we hope will happen next year. I guess I shouldn't be talking about it, but they're very exciting."
Schock is, of course, just as stoked for Made in Hollywood, a 223-page collection of photos, mostly her own and mostly of the Go-Go's, along with stories and contributions from her bandmates and friends such as Jodie Foster, Martha Quinn, Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Reubens, the B-52's' Kate Pierson, Eurythmics' Dave Stewart and others. "I've been threatening for decades to do this book," Schock notes. "I unintentionally became the band archivist. I've got a million photos, all this ephemera. The girls in the band have all been like, 'Gina, you really need to do that book!' It's been a long time in the making, but finally it's finished. It's been a real labor of love."
Made in Hollywood is available for pre-order via all book sellers. Schock has a series of signing events during the fall, accompanied by bandmates and other friends; that run begins Oct. 26 at Brooklyn's Greenlight Bookstore and includes an Oct. 29 session at Cleveland's Rock Hall with Carlisle and Kathy Valentine, who published her own book, All I Ever Wanted: A Rock 'N' Roll Memoir, in 2020.