{"id":3123,"date":"2011-08-05T17:29:39","date_gmt":"2011-08-06T00:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3123"},"modified":"2011-08-05T17:29:39","modified_gmt":"2011-08-06T00:29:39","slug":"belinda-carlisle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/belinda-carlisle\/","title":{"rendered":"BELINDA CARLISLE"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

BELINDA CARLISLE<\/h1>\n

From the heights of pop stardom to the depths of drug abuse\u2014and back<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cI always knew I had a good book in me,\u201d says Belinda Carlisle. With a career that spans the heady days of L.A.\u2019s early punk scene to pop superstardom, the\u00a0Go-Go\u2019s lead singer and solo pop star has plenty of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll dirt to dish. But it was her recovery from cocaine addiction that prompted Carlisle to finally write her new memoir, Lips Unsealed<\/em>. We caught Carlisle in New York just before she returned to her home in France to chat about writing, recovery and being a punk-pop pioneer.<\/p>\n

Did you worry about saying too much in the book?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anything I was hesitant about I left out. Everything in the book I felt very comfortable about revealing. It\u2019s funny\u2014I don\u2019t think it\u2019s that shocking, but everybody else seems to think it is! (laughs<\/em>) Maybe it\u2019s because I know that there are even more shocking tidbits that I left out. It\u2019s the G-rated version of my life.<\/p>\n

What has the reaction been like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve gotten a ton of letters from people who are struggling addicts, which is great. If I could make a difference in someone\u2019s life like that, it\u2019s all worth it. My bandmates were totally fine about it. In fact I talked to\u00a0[Go-Go\u2019s guitarist] Jane [Wiedlin] about it last week, and she was really supportive and impressed. Everybody in the band has a right to write their story.<\/p>\n

What was the early punk scene like? <\/strong><\/p>\n

There were lots of clubs around at that time, and you could be terrible and get booked. The Go-Go\u2019s played at least once or twice a week always, for two years. We learned as we went along, together, in front of people. We were all in the same boat when we started. Nobody knew how to do anything except for [guitarist and keyboardist] Charlotte [Caffey], and she was invited to join the band because she knew how to plug the guitar into the amplifier. (laughs<\/em>) She was useful! Jane wrote by putting masking tape on her guitar to play the chords. We started from zero, and there just happened to be some natural talent in the band, and we had luck and timing on our side.<\/p>\n

How did you evolve as a vocalist? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t train much. I didn\u2019t take care of my instrument very well, and it shows in a few of the recordings I\u2019ve made in my career. It\u2019s something I really nurture now.<\/p>\n

Do you have any regrets?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t regret my addiction at all, because it\u2019s led me to where I am now. One thing\u00a0I do really regret is not being a present mom, and the hurt that I caused people around me. But not much else. I wish I played\u00a0an instrument.<\/p>\n

Have you ever tried learning one? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I started taking harp lessons about 10 years ago, but then my teacher moved away. It was a cool instrument to have in the living room, kind of eccentric and bizarre. But that\u2019s one of those things that\u2019s going to have to wait until my next life.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for you, music-wise?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not really that interested in making a pop album. Living outside the U.S. has opened me up to a lot of things. I\u2019ve thought about collaborating with Indian artists and rappers. I discovered opera, which was like discovering punk rock! Whatever I do, it will probably be weird and inspired.<\/p>\n

\u2013Katie Dodd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BELINDA CARLISLE From the heights of pop stardom to the depths of drug abuse\u2014and back \u201cI always knew I had a good book in me,\u201d says Belinda Carlisle. With a career that spans the heady days of L.A.\u2019s early punk scene to pop superstardom, the\u00a0Go-Go\u2019s lead singer and solo pop star has plenty of rock […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[2299,623,970],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3125,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3123\/revisions\/3125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}