Celebrating the ‘80s

By Jerry Fink

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Publicity photo

Belinda Carlisle is touring the U.S. for the first time in more than six years.

As she approaches 50, Belinda Carlisle sees things a bit differently from when she was a young musician on the way up in the ’80s.

For one thing, the former lead vocalist of the Go-Gos isn’t impressed with today’s U.S. music scene.

“The American music scene is much worse than in Europe,” Carlisle says during a recent telephone conversation from her home in London. “When I come to the States I don’t hear a lot of great stuff. I’m not into the ‘American Idol’ genre. I don’t think it’s healthy for music, and that seems to be what dominates the charts, that type of music. I would rather not listen to the radio if that’s what they’re going to play.

“Music is more about marketing than it is about artistry, which is the reason record companies are in the toilet. It’s not downloading that’s hurting them — they’ve forgotten what music is supposed to be. Now it’s more about showing the midriff or being shocking. Record companies are not interested in nurturing artists today. It’s about making an instant buck.”

But she admits she may be a little out of touch.

“I don’t have my finger on the pulse anymore. I’m a bit older now, a bit stodgy,” says Carlisle, whose milestone birthday is Aug. 16.

But she’s still rockin’.

Carlisle — sans Go-Gos — comes to Planet Hollywood on Saturday as part of Regeneration Tour 2008. The ’80s nostalgia tour also features the Human League, ABC, A Flock of Seagulls and Naked Eyes.

This is Carlisle’s first U.S. tour in more than six years. The 20-city romp lasts through August.

Carlisle, a former cheerleader from Hollywood, Calif., formed a punk rock band with Jane Wiedlin, Margot Oliveira and Elissa Bello in 1978. The Go-Gos’ debut album, “Beauty and the Beat,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart — a first for an all-woman band that wrote and performed its own songs.

When the group broke up in 1985, Carlisle embarked on a successful solo career with such hits as “Mad About You” and “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.”

The Go-Gos reunited in 1990 and still perform together a couple of times a year.

“We still like working together,” she says, “but at the same time everybody has their own life going on. It’s not as easy to get five people on the same page to do the work. Now we just do it when it’s a fun thing to do. We’re not a full-time working band anymore. That’s not us anymore.

“We’re winding down a bit. Everyone has their own thing going on.”

But she still has an active solo career in Europe, she says, performing as much or as little as she wants. She will be solo at Planet Hollywood.

“For me, doing this kind of thing is fun,” she says. “I get to do my solo hits. For the audience it’s fun, instant gratification. They’ll get to hear all the different acts’ hits.

“For myself, it seemed interesting because I hadn’t toured in the United States for quite a long time. I’m really busy on this side of the planet. I have a life outside music that keeps me busy — I’m a mom and a wife and I have other interests, so it’s not music 24/7. There are other things to do.”

Carlisle married Morgan Mason, son of the late British actor James Mason, in 1986. They moved to France 10 years later and eventually settled in England. Their 16-year-old son, James Duke Mason, is serving as a congressional page in Washington this summer.

“He has no interest in music at all,” Carlisle says.