The Go Go's: Our Lips Are Sealed - American Bandstand - 1/23/82 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit)

The Go Go's: Our Lips Are Sealed - on American Bandstand - January 23, 1982 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit) with Dick Clark interview.Show more

"Our Lips Are Sealed" is a song co-written by Jane Wiedlin, guitarist of the Go-Go's, and Terry Hall, singer of the Specials and Fun Boy Three.It was first recorded by the Go-Go's as the opening track on their album Beauty and the Beat (1981) and was their debut American single in June 1981. The single eventually reached the top 5 in Australia and Canada, and the top 20 in the United States. Originally written and performed with three verses, the song appears in an abbreviated version on Beauty and the Beat. Most of the song's vocals are performed by lead singer Belinda Carlisle, with co-writer Wiedlin singing the bridge.In 1983, Hall's band Fun Boy Three released their version of "Our Lips Are Sealed". Issued as a single, the track became a top-ten hit in the United Kingdom, besting the recording by the Go-Go's which only made it to No. 47 in the UK.Record World described the song as being as "innocent and infectious as pop music can be", with a "steady, pulsating dance beat" and "candy-coated keyboard riffs". In 2000, Rolling Stone & MTV put the Go-Go's' original version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" at No. 57 on a list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs. In 2021, their version was also listed at No. 477 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The Go-Go's performed the song, along with "Vacation" and "We Got the Beat", during the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

The official music video for the song features sequences of the band members in carefree tableaux (riding around LA in a 1960 Buick convertible, stopping at a lingerie shop, and splashing around in a fountain) interspersed with footage of the band playing at a club.

Jane Wiedlin says the band was initially unenthusiastic when Miles Copeland, president of their label, I.R.S. Records, told them they would be doing the video. "We were totally bratty", she recalls. The video was financed with unused funds from the Police's video budget.

The group wanted an older-style convertible, and found a red 1960 Buick LeSabre at Rent-a-Wreck.[citation needed] After riding around Beverly Hills, at some point, they stop at the famous Trashy Lingerie store located at La Cienega Blvd. The girls go into the shop, but Jane Wiedlin remains in the car to sing the bridge of the song (although Carlisle can be seen in the driver's seat trying to hide). The day of shooting was very hot so it was the band's idea to end the video by jumping into the fountain on the corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica. Wiedlin later said "I thought, at any minute the cops are gonna come. This is gonna be so cool."

Wiedlin looks back on the video experience fondly. "I have horrible '80s poodle hair in it", she recalled in a 2011 history of MTV. "But there's a simplicity and innocence to the video that appeals to me."

The music video received heavy airplay on the then fledgling MTV.

The original version peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and 15 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. On the dance chart, the song peaked at number 10. A song of unusual longevity as a hit, it remained on the Billboard charts until March 1982, long after its peak, ultimately charting for 30 weeks.