'It’s been rocky, but that’s how it goes in a family': Go-Go's drummer on all-girl band's legacy

Gina Schock is scouring her floor for a vitamin.

“Hang on! I’ve gotta find it before the dog gets it!” she yells into a speakerphone in an accent more Cyndi-Lauper-Queens than her native Baltimore or her 16-year home of San Francisco.

“OK,” she says, breathlessly after a few seconds, “I’m back.”

The drummer for The Go-Go’s is, at 63, a livewire.

Garrulous and blunt, hilarious and forthcoming, Schock immediately forges a vibe of familiarity. And for music fans who grew up witnessing Schock and her bandmates – singer Belinda Carlisle, guitarist Charlotte Caffey, bassist Kathy Valentine and guitarist/singer Jane Wiedlin – establish a benchmark for female bands in the 1980s, there is an element of intimacy.

Schock will allow fans a deeper glimpse into that history with “Made in Hollywood: All Access with The Go-Go’s,” a visual-heavy chronicle of the band arriving Oct. 26. A collection of photos, posters, memorabilia and stories (yes, there are words, as she emphatically reminds), the book will include some photos taken by others (Schock couldn’t exactly photograph herself on stage). But the collection is otherwise a personal accounting with input by other music celebs including Kate Pierson of The B-52s and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. (See an exclusive gallery of photos from the book below.)

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A few days after Schock’s book lands, The Go-Go’s will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 30 with fellow first balloters Foo Fighters and Jay-Z, as well as Todd Rundgren, Carole King and Tina Turner. Their installment will be celebrated as much for what it represents for women in music as well as their sunny catalog.

But first among the whirlwind of Go-Go’s activity, on July 8, the band’s debut album, “Beauty and the Beat” celebrates 40 years. “Our Lips are Sealed” and ‘We Got the Beat” – the biggest hit of their career - introduced the sublime melodies and perky choruses that carried the quintet through the first half of the ‘80s with subsequent hits “Vacation,” “Head Over Heels” and others.

Schock talked to USA TODAY about the making of their inaugural album and detailed what to expect from “Made in Hollywood.”

“Beauty and the Beat” is such a tight, compact album. Was that intentional because of the punk influences on the band?

Gina Schock: Nothing was intentional! It just came out that way and thank Christ it all worked out! There was no science to this. It was just what we were doing and we weren’t even sure what that was at the time. But yeah, the punk influence might have influenced the brevity of the songs.

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What do you remember about the recording sessions?

Schock: Richard (Gottehrer, the album producer) was guiding us and we listened. He was a good teacher and taught us a lot about recording and the first thing he said was, "Gina, you need to slow down all the songs because everything is so fast I can’t appreciate the great melodies." I slowed everything down and we had a hit record. But the first show that we did, I was so nervous. We were supposed to play for 45 minutes and I finished the set in half an hour and I wasn’t even doing drugs!

“We Got the Beat” became the band’s biggest hit, but the version on “Beauty and the Beat” isn’t the original recording. Tell us about that 1980 version.

Schock: We first released it in England on Stiff Records, which had Madness and The Pogues, because no one in the States would touch us. So we thought, "They’ll get us in England." We went over there and were a huge flop. They (expletive) hated us. We were having bottles thrown at us onstage. So the first version of "We Got the Beat" had the B-side "How Much More" and that came out here as an import and started getting some heat in the clubs and man, that’s all it took. By the time we got back here, it was really starting to happen and when we were ready to play clubs in San Francisco and Los Angeles and New York, the lines were around the block.

The cover has become iconic as well.

Schock: Michael Doud was the incredible graphic artist. He had done "Physical Graffiti" (Led Zeppelin) and "Working Class Dog" (Rick Springfield) and even though we didn’t have any money – we made that record on $60,000 – that concept of his was a good one and it all worked. Those towels (on the cover) had a lot to do with the fact that we had no money. Our manager, Ginger (Canzoneri), went to Macy’s in New York and bought those towels. We used them for the photo shoot and after that, she brought them back.

You timed the book release well. It comes out a few days before The Go-Go’s are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Schock: The timing is so great and I am so thrilled with this book, I can’t even tell you. People are going to get to really see The Go-Go’s through my eyes and they’re going to read from my lips the words and language about where these photos come from and what they represented in the history of this band.

Were you always the band documentarian?

Schock: I didn’t know it, but apparently I am! In retrospect, yeah, I always loved photography. I had an Instamatic to take photos on my drive from Baltimore to LA in 1979. I have all of these photos of other bands I’ve met along the way. Everything is about rock ’n’ roll. It’s all I ever cared about.

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What are fans going to see in this book?

Schock: Oh, photos of me and my brother on Easter Sunday with the family and as kids in front of our house on 45th Street in Baltimore. There’s a picture of me in third grade and I’m so mean looking! Each of (The Go-Go’s) wrote something for the book. Kathy Valentine wrote the foreword and the others wrote little essays as well. Everyone participated and I was really happy about that.

How challenging was it to find all of this stuff?

Schock: Photos and music bring back everything in color. I’m a crazy person where I have a daily planner, which I’ve been keeping since 1978, so I was referencing it a lot for this book. I have lots of photos in airports, hotel rooms, with other bands, us meeting other rock stars. Just life in The Go-Go’s on a daily basis. (The photos) mainly focus on the early years, with a handful from the ’90s, but mostly form ’79 to ’85.

What emotions did you experience going through these memories?

Schock: It left me feeling really good about the band. Ultimately, I walked away from this glowing for the band and grateful. I could be hating someone in the band and a week later you’re back in love with them. It’s your family, ultimately. There’s no other family outside of your blood family. Honestly, I don’t know how we’re all still together, but we are. It’s been rocky, but that’s how it goes in a family. I just feel like everybody was smart enough to know the worth of this band in our legacy – what we could put out there, what we do when we play live. We make people feel good. At our shows, everyone is smiling and it’s a joyful experience.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Go-Go's drummer talks legacy 40 years after 'Beauty and the Beat'