We Got the Beat
Encyclopedia
"We Got the Beat" is a song recorded by the American rock band The Go-Go's
. Written by the group's lead guitarist Charlotte Caffey
, the band recorded the song in 1980 and it was released in May as a single in the UK on Stiff Records
. The song's single release brought the Go-Go's underground credibility in the UK. The song climbed to number 35 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play
chart due to the popularity of the song in clubs as an import.
The following year the Go-Go's re-recorded the song for their debut album Beauty and the Beat
. Released in January 1982 as the album's second single, "We Got the Beat" became the Go-Go's biggest hit, spending three weeks at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
, behind Joan Jett & the Blackhearts'
"I Love Rock 'n Roll". It was during the song's time in the U.S. top ten that Beauty and the Beat topped the U.S. Billboard 200
.
Clocking in at only two-and-a-half-minutes, the song is instantly recognizable by its drumming intro. Lyrically, the song is a simple ode to dancing to a good beat, hanging out, and looking cool
. In line with a trend of early 1960s revival also seen in bands like The B-52's
, The Rezillos
, and numerous powerpop and ska
revival bands,"We Got the Beat" mentions various early 60s dances, such as the Pony
, the Watusi
, and Go-Go dancing
(which could also be interpreted as a self-reference). The song's music video
received heavy airplay on MTV
at the time and consisted of a simple live concert performance of the song and gained further exposure by being used in the opening sequence of the Cameron Crowe
film Fast Times at Ridgemont High
.
"We Got the Beat" was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
. The episode focused on the character Manny's debutante ball. It was also a playable track on Rockband 2.
The song was covered in the third season of Glee
during its premiere episode The Purple Piano Project
.
The Go-Go's
The Go-Go’s are an all-female American rock band formed in 1978. They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts....
. Written by the group's lead guitarist Charlotte Caffey
Charlotte Caffey
Charlotte Irene Caffey is an American rock and roll guitarist and songwriter, best known for her work in the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat."...
, the band recorded the song in 1980 and it was released in May as a single in the UK on Stiff Records
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
. The song's single release brought the Go-Go's underground credibility in the UK. The song climbed to number 35 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
chart due to the popularity of the song in clubs as an import.
The following year the Go-Go's re-recorded the song for their debut album Beauty and the Beat
Beauty and the Beat
Beauty and the Beat is the debut album from Californian all-female band The Go-Go's. Released in 1981 on the IRS Records label, the album was preceded by the single "We Got the Beat," which became a massive club hit in Europe and, later, the United States...
. Released in January 1982 as the album's second single, "We Got the Beat" became the Go-Go's biggest hit, spending three weeks at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, behind Joan Jett & the Blackhearts'
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
"I Love Rock 'n Roll". It was during the song's time in the U.S. top ten that Beauty and the Beat topped the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
.
Clocking in at only two-and-a-half-minutes, the song is instantly recognizable by its drumming intro. Lyrically, the song is a simple ode to dancing to a good beat, hanging out, and looking cool
Cool (aesthetic)
Something regarded as cool is an admired aesthetic of attitude, behavior, comportment, appearance and style, influenced by and a product of the Zeitgeist. Because of the varied and changing connotations of cool, as well its subjective nature, the word has no single meaning. It has associations of...
. In line with a trend of early 1960s revival also seen in bands like The B-52's
The B-52's
The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...
, The Rezillos
The Rezillos
The Rezillos are a punk/new wave band, who formed in Edinburgh in 1976 and still play gigs around the world in a re-formed line-up. Although frequently aligned with the punk movement, the Rezillos' irreverent glam rock image and affection for campy girl-group iconography, set them distinctly apart...
, and numerous powerpop and ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
revival bands,"We Got the Beat" mentions various early 60s dances, such as the Pony
Pony (dance)
The Pony was a dance made popular in the 1960s by the Chubby Checker song "Pony Time". The beat is 1&2, 3&4, etc. In the dance the feet are kept comfortably together, while various arm and hand motions are possible. Movement around the dance floor may occur, but there is no line-of-dance...
, the Watusi
The Watusi
The Watusi is a solo dance that enjoyed brief popularity during the early 1960s. It was the second-most popular dance craze in the 1960s in the United States, after the Twist...
, and Go-Go dancing
Go-Go dancing
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at a discotheque. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s when women at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City began to get up on tables and dance the twist...
(which could also be interpreted as a self-reference). The song's music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
received heavy airplay on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
at the time and consisted of a simple live concert performance of the song and gained further exposure by being used in the opening sequence of the Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....
film Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name...
.
"We Got the Beat" was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Cover versions
- Hardcore PunkHardcore punkHardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band Poison IdeaPoison IdeaPoison Idea was an American hardcore punk band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1980. The band originally dissolved in 1993, but has been playing intermittently since 1998.-Formation, 1980's and 90's:...
covered the song as the b-side of their 1989 Plastic Bomb single. - Alternative rockAlternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Chainsaw KittensChainsaw KittensThe Chainsaw Kittens were a part of the American alternative rock scene, drawing from pop, glam rock, punk, new wave and British Invasion music. Their lyrics tackled such varied topics as religion, the Stonewall Riots, Federico Fellini, Oklahoma, Erik Menendez, and Oscar Wilde.Based in Norman,...
recorded a cover of the song for their 2000 album The All American. - Donna AirDonna AirDonna Air is an English television presenter, singer and actress.-Early life:As a former student of Gosforth High School, Donna attended the Drama School at First Act in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, where she was a pupil alongside Jill Halfpenny, Ant & Dec and Dale Meeks.-Television:She became...
in her pop duo, Crush covered this song on their first album. - Girl group Girl AuthorityGirl AuthorityGirl Authority is an American pop girl group from Massachusetts.The group consists of nine girls, ranging in ages 11 to 16. The group was established in the summer of 2005 by the group's vocal coach/executive producer Samantha Hammel, Scott Billington and the CEO of Rounder Records John Virant.All...
covered the song for their 2006 self-titled albumGirl Authority (album)Girl Authority is the debut cover album by pop girl group Girl Authority. The album is a cover album of previous hit songs by other female solo singers and girl groups, with the exception of two songs, originally recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and ABBA...
. - In St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold, the song is covered during a flash mobFlash mobA flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, artistic expression...
. - Sharon LealSharon LealSharon Leal is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in movies such as Dreamgirls, Why Did I Get Married?, Why Did I Get Married Too? and the televisions series Hellcats.-Personal life:...
, Ashley TisdaleAshley TisdaleAshley Michelle Tisdale is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence portraying the candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick in Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and the female antagonist Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series...
and Heather HemmensHeather HemmensHeather Hemmens is an American actress, film director and producer. She's most known for her role as Alice Verdura in The CW's recently cancelled drama, Hellcats.-Early life:Born to Costa Rican mother and Caucasian father...
from The CW's television series HellcatsHellcatsHellcats is an American cheerleading comedy-drama television series that originally aired on The CW in the United States from September 8, 2010 to May 17, 2011...
covered this song in the episode "Back of a Car". - The Glee CastGlee (TV series)Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
covered the song on the third season premiere "The Purple Piano ProjectThe Purple Piano Project"The Purple Piano Project" is the premiere episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 45th overall. The episode was written by series co-creator Brad Falchuk, directed by Eric Stoltz, and first aired on September 20, 2011 on Fox in the United States...
" which aired on September 20th, 2011. The cover was also played in a season three teaser promo where the cast was being hit with dodgeballs. - Industrial group BileBile (band)Bile is an industrial metal project based in the New York City, USA area. Although there has been many different members throughout the bands career, Krztoff is the songwriting, recording and conceptual leader...
recorded a cover of the song for their 2002 album The Copy Machine. - Talib KweliTalib KweliTalib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...
covered the song in his track of the same name on his 2004 album The Beautiful StruggleThe Beautiful StruggleThe Beautiful Struggle is the second solo album by American rapper Talib Kweli. The album was released in 2004, and features guest appearances by rappers such as Common and Jean Grae...
.
Parodies
- The song was parodied as "We Got the Bee" for the DreamWorks AnimationDreamWorks AnimationDreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
film Bee MovieBee MovieBee Movie is a 2007 computer animated family comedy film starring Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Megan Mullally, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, and Patrick Warburton. Produced by DreamWorks Animation, it is directed by Simon J...
. - The song was parodied as "We Got the Gifts" for Foley'sFoley'sFoley’s was a chain of department stores owned by May Department Stores and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. As of August 30, 2005, the division was dissolved and operation of the stores was assumed by Federated's Macy's West and Macy's South divisions. Foley's operated stores in Texas,...
1999 Christmas ad campaign. - The pilot episode of the 1980s Alvin and the ChipmunksAlvin and the Chipmunks (TV series)Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated television series featuring The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983–87, and DIC Entertainment from 1988-90....
television show featured this song parodied as "We Aim to Please".
Appearances in other media
- This song is playable in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80sGuitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80sGuitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is a music video game and the third installment in the popular Guitar Hero series...
. - This song is playable in Rock Band 2Rock Band 2Rock Band 2 is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems. It is the sequel to Rock Band and is the second title in the series. The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments...
as a master track, but slightly altered for gameplay. - This song is available to play on Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party
- This song plays during the credits to Romy & Michele's High School Reunion
- This song plays during the opening sequence to Fast Times at Ridgemont HighFast Times at Ridgemont HighFast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name...
- This song plays in the 2001 film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
- This song also appears on the Brimstone & TreacleBrimstone and Treacle (soundtrack)Brimstone and Treacle is the soundtrack for the 1982 film adaption of the play Brimstone and Treacle. The film starred Sting in a leading role, and he wrote or co-wrote the majority of the songs on the soundtrack...
soundtrack. - This song is in an episode of "Samantha Who?Samantha Who?Samantha Who? is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from October 15, 2007 to July 23, 2009. The series was created by Cecelia Ahern and Don Todd, who also served as producers...
" called "The Restraining Order". - This song is performed by the cast of GleeGlee (TV series)Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
in the first episode of Season 3 of the Fox TV show.
Charts
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
35 |
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
2 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
7 |
| Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
3 |
Legacy
The song was used in an episode title of the hit teen show Degrassi: The Next GenerationDegrassi: The Next Generation
Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...
. The episode focused on the character Manny's debutante ball. It was also a playable track on Rockband 2.
The song was covered in the third season of Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
during its premiere episode The Purple Piano Project
The Purple Piano Project
"The Purple Piano Project" is the premiere episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 45th overall. The episode was written by series co-creator Brad Falchuk, directed by Eric Stoltz, and first aired on September 20, 2011 on Fox in the United States...
.