Jane Wiedlin Explained

Jane Wiedlin
Alias:Jane Drano, Reverend Sister Go-Go
Birth Date:20 May 1958
Birth Place:Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, U.S.
Years Active:1978[1] –present

Jane Wiedlin is an American musician, singer and actress, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of the new wave band The Go-Go's. She also voices Dusk, the drummer and backup vocalist of the fictional rock band The Hex Girls. She also had a successful solo career.

The Go-Go's went on to become one of the most successful American bands of the 1980s, helping popularize new wave music with hits such as "We Got the Beat", "Our Lips Are Sealed", and "Vacation". As a solo artist, Wiedlin had her biggest hit with the song "Rush Hour", which peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. As an actress, she had roles as the singing telegram girl in Clue (1985) and as Joan of Arc in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).

As a member of The Go-Go's, Wiedlin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Early life

Wiedlin was born in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.[2] Her father, Robert Arthur Wiedlin Sr., an oral surgeon of German and Swiss ancestry, was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her mother, Betty Jane (née Herro),[3] was of Lebanese heritage. Wiedlin's parents met while students at Marquette University. She is one of five children, with a sister and three brothers, and was raised Catholic. During Wiedlin's early childhood, her family lived in West Allis, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When she was six, her father took a job with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs at a VA hospital in Los Angeles, and the family followed.[4]

Wiedlin has said, "I remember my childhood as extremely idyllic." She has also mentioned her adolescence with angst and hope by saying, "I was a depressed teenager. I thought life was completely pointless when I was in high school, but just a few short years later I was having the adventure of a lifetime in a successful rock band!" She attended William Howard Taft High School in Los Angeles from 1972 to 1976.[5]

Career

The Go-Go's

According to Wiedlin, she was present "pretty much from the beginning"[6] of the Los Angeles punk scene. While attending college in the Los Angeles area for fashion design, she worked at a fashion-design house where she created song lyrics by scribbling ideas on clothing patterns. Under the moniker Jane Drano, she designed and sold punk-style clothing at Granny Takes a Trip, a store on Sunset Boulevard.[6] She became part of the scene that spawned bands such as X, the Germs and the Weirdos.[1]

Wiedlin and Belinda Carlisle formed the Go-Go's as a punk band in 1978, with Margot Olaverra on bass and Elissa Bello on drums.[7]

In 1981, Wiedlin and Terry Hall of Fun Boy Three and the Specials co-wrote "Our Lips Are Sealed".[8] The song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 20, where it remained until 1982.[9]

After a series of reunions during the 1990s, Wiedlin, Carlisle, Caffey, Schock and Valentine reunited in 2000 to record God Bless the Go-Go's, their first studio album in 17 years. The album's title and concept came from Wiedlin.

In 2010, the Go-Go's announced their "Happily Ever After" farewell tour, which was intended to begin in July.[10] However, it was canceled after Wiedlin fell down a cliff during a nighttime hike and suffered ACL tears in both knees.[11]

The Go-Go's announced an 11-date reunion tour scheduled to begin in June 2020. However, in May 2020, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]

In May 2021 it was announced that The Go-Go's would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 30, 2021.[13] [14] The band continued touring into 2022, before announcing their break up.[15] They did a one-off reunion in 2024 after being inducted into the California Hall Of Fame.[16] [17]

Solo career

Wiedlin has released four solo albums: Jane Wiedlin in 1985, Fur in 1988, Tangled in 1990, and Kissproof World in 2000.[18] From 1995 to 1998, she was also a member of the band FroSTed, which released one album, Cold, in 1996. In 2017, Wiedlin teamed up with the American-born Italian multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Pietro Straccia to form a new psychedelic/pop/harmony and guitar-driven duo called Elettrodomestico.[19]

Acting career

Wiedlin's early acting credits include an ill-fated singing telegram girl in Clue (1985), a brief appearance as an officer seen on a Starfleet Command video screen in (1986), the White Fairy in Golan-Globus's Sleeping Beauty (1987) and as Joan of Arc in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).[20] Of her 1980s acting career, she has stated, "It turned out to be much harder than it looks, and as much as I enjoyed those experiences, I don't think I'm very good at it."[21]

In 2001, she had a regular role in MTV's Spyder Games, portraying the "ex-rock chick who runs the local coffee house" where the characters hang out.[22]

In 2005, she appeared as herself on the fourth season of VH1's The Surreal Life, in which she talked about her interest in BDSM.[23]

She portrayed the role of Ursula in Steve Balderson's 2005 surrealist crime drama film Firecracker, which Roger Ebert listed among the year's best films.[24] She worked a further three times with director Balderson, in Stuck! (2009), an homage to film noir women in prison dramas.[25], The Casserole Club (2011), about married swingers in 1960s Palm Springs, and Culture Shock (2013), a crime spoof set in London.[26]

She played Tess in the 2011 independent movie I Want to Get Married,[27] [28] and played a maths teacher in the 2016 horror film HoneyBee.

She has also provided voices for characters in television and film animation, such as Miranda Kane and Shannon in The New Batman Adventures, Gwen in Mission Hill, and Dusk of the Hex Girls in the Scooby-Doo franchise.[29]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1985ClueSinging Telegram Girl
1986Alien Communications Officer
1987Sleeping BeautyWhite Fairy
1989Bill & Ted's Excellent AdventureJoan of Arc
1999Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's GhostDusk (voice)[30]
2000Angels!Agent 77
2003Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the VampireDusk (voice)
2005FirecrackerUrsula
2009Stuck!Princess
2010Demonic Toys 2Baby Whoopsie (voice)
2011The Casserole ClubMarjorie Lavon
2011I Want to Get MarriedTess
2012Culture ShockBaby Boo Boo
2016HoneyBeeMrs. Humphrey
2021The Sparks BrothersHerselfDocumentary

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998The New Batman AdventuresMiranda Kane, Shannon (voice)2 episodes
1999Pinky, Elmyra & the BrainVanity White (voice)4 episodes
1999–2002Mission HillGwen (voice)7 episodes
2000The Wild ThornberrysPhaedra (voice)2 episodes
2002–2003What's New, Scooby-Doo?Dusk, Backup Singer (voice)2 episodes
2003As Told by GingerHope Rogers (voice)Episode: "No Hope for Courtney"
2003Duck DodgersCassiopeia (voice)Episode: "They Stole Dodgers' Brain"
2005Rugrats Pre-School DazeWilly (voice)3 episodes
2010–2013Scooby-Doo! Mystery IncorporatedDusk (voice)2 episodes
2020Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?Dusk (voice)Episode: "I Put a Hex On You!"

Other work

In 2000, Wiedlin and fellow Go-Go's member Charlotte Caffey co-wrote Keith Urban's first #1 song, "But for the Grace of God." Wiedlin contributed quotations to Girls Against Girls by author Bonnie Burton.[31] Wiedlin was a contributing writer to the Los Angeles punk rock books Under The Big Black Sun (2016) and More Fun In The New World (2019) by John Doe and Tom DeSavia.In April 2009, Wiedlin was photographed as Bettie Page by Austin Young for the "Heaven Bound" art show.[32] A number of her songs were featured in the 2018 debut of the Broadway musical Head Over Heels, with a story suggested by Philip Sidney's Arcadia set to the songs of the Go-Go's and Belinda Carlisle.[33]

Personal life

A long-time animal rights activist, Wiedlin has worked with PETA since as far back as 1989 when she performed as part of a "Rock Against Fur" concert in New York City[34] and is a friend of PETA executive Dan Mathews.[22]

Wiedlin has discussed her struggles with depression and mental health, and how it affected her at several stages of her life, including a suicide attempt in high school, and the effects fame (and a lack of healthy coping mechanisms) had on her wellbeing.[35]

During Wiedlin's time in the Los Angeles punk scene, her first real boyfriend was Terry Bag (Terry Graham) of the punk band The Bags and later The Gun Club. She later had what she called a "short but dramatic romance" with Terry Hall of the Specials during a 1980 British tour. Hall later sent her some lyrics prompted by their relationship, inspiring Wiedlin to write "Our Lips Are Sealed",[21] a song on which Hall has co-writer credit and recorded with his own band, Fun Boy Three. In the 2020 documentary The Go-Go's, bandmate Gina Schock stated that she and Wiedlin were "girlfriends" for a time until Wiedlin broke up with her. Wiedlin also had a brief relationship with Russell Mael of the band Sparks.[36]

Wiedlin identifies as bisexual.[37] [38]

In addition to acting and singing, Wiedlin is an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, a mail-order religious organization that offers anyone semi-immediate, no-cost ordination as a ULC minister. Wiedlin identifies herself as "Reverend Sister Go-Go", primarily officiating at weddings.[39]

Wiedlin was married to Ged Malone from 1987 to 1999.

She was married to David Trotter from 2004 to 2005.

Wiedlin got engaged to her boyfriend Terence Lundy in October 2022.[40] They were married in February 2023. She announced their divorce in April of 2024. [41]

Wiedlin has spent her adult life living in various places: Mendocino, Costa Rica, Panama, Wisconsin, San Francisco, and Hawaii.[42]

In December 2023, in an exposé by Rolling Stone, Wiedlin alleged that rock DJ Rodney Bingenheimer sexually assaulted her at his English Disco nightclub in Los Angeles when she was around 15 in about 1974.[43]

Discography

Studio albums

TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart positions
US
[44]
CAN
[45]
UK
[46]
Jane Wiedlin
  • Release date: October 1985
  • Label: IRS
127
Fur 1058848
Tangled
  • Release date: 1990
  • Label: EMI USA
Kissproof World
  • Release date: October 31, 2000
  • Label: Painful Discs
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

TitleYearPeak chart positionsAlbum
US
[47]
US Dance
[48]
CAN
NZ
[49]
UK
"Blue Kiss"1985773062Jane Wiedlin
"Rush Hour"19889133112Fur
"Inside a Dream"5764
"World on Fire"1990Tangled
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Featured singles

Other releases

See also: The Go-Go's discography.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Biographies . GoGos.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080307175632/http://www.gogos.com/bio.htm . March 7, 2008.
  2. Web site: Spicy, Racy, Provocative . Boomer Style . April 30, 2012 . Holloway . Michael . https://archive.today/20140619013601/http://www.livinglifeboomerstyle.com/2012/04/30/jane-wiedlin/ . June 19, 2014 . dead . mdy-all.
  3. Web site: Betty Wiedlin Obituary, McMinnville, Oregon . Macy & Son Funeral Directors . October 31, 2015.
  4. Web site: Go-Go's guitarist and Wisconsin native Jane Wiedlin falls in love, buys a house and whips up a Madison band . Isthmus . October 24, 2008 . December 13, 2018 . Albertoni, Rich . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160211220640/https://isthmus.com/music/go-gos-guitarist-and-wisconsin-native-jane-wiedlin-falls-in-love-buys-a-house-and-whips-up-a-madison-band/ . February 11, 2016.
  5. Book: Doe . John . John Doe (musician) . DeSavia . Tom . Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk . 26 April 2016 . Da Capo Press . 978-0-306-82409-8 . Google Books . 20 January 2018.
  6. Web site: Interview with: Jane Wiedlin . Bag . Alice . Alice Bag . September 2005 . alicebag.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080711224411/http://www.alicebag.com/janewiedlininterview.html . July 11, 2008 . February 20, 2018.
  7. Web site: The Go-Go's Biography & History . AllMusic . en-us . 2019-01-30.
  8. Web site: Our Lips Are Sealed - The Go-Go's Song Info. AllMusic. en-us. 2019-01-25.
  9. Web site: Cover Songs Uncovered: 'Our Lips Are Sealed' . 2016-07-25 . The Pop Culture Experiment . en . 2019-01-25.
  10. News: Smyers . Darryl . 2010-06-21 . The Go-Go's Cancel Farewell Tour--Which Included An Upcoming Stop at The Granada . 2020-10-24 . Dallas Observer.
  11. Web site: Message from Jane . Ladyrobotika.com . June 14, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110713180952/http://www.ladyrobotika.com/blog/2010/06/14/message-from-jane/ . July 13, 2011 . mdy-all.
  12. News: The Go-Go's postpone reunion tour, which was set to open in San Diego in June . George . Varga . . January 8, 2022.
  13. Web site: Class of 2021 Inductees. Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
  14. Web site: Watch the Go-Go's Perform at Rock Hall 2021 Induction Ceremony. Madison. Bloom. MSN.com. January 8, 2022.
  15. Web site: The Go-Go's Announce 2022 UK Tour With Billy Idol. Will. Schube. udiscovermusic.com. January 8, 2022.
  16. Web site: 17th Annual California Hall of Fame. Californiamuseum.org.
  17. Web site: Facebook. Facebook.com.
  18. Web site: Jane Wiedlin Biography & History. AllMusic. en-us. 2019-02-05.
  19. Web site: If you're a boy or a girl . elettrodomesticoband.com . February 20, 2018.
  20. Web site: Jane Wiedlin. IMDb. 2019-02-05.
  21. Web site: The beat goes on for the Go-Go's . Spears . Steve . February 5, 2008 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20080407070740/http://blogs.tampabay.com/80s/2008/02/the-beat-goes-o.html . April 7, 2008 . February 20, 2018.
  22. Skanse . Richard . Jane Wiedlin Goes Solo and Go-Go . Rolling Stone . November 16, 2000 . October 31, 2015.
  23. Wiedlin reveals (and demonstrates) her BDSM predilections in the Surreal Life episode "I'm With Cupid". First aired February 20, 2005. Prod Code: SL406.
  24. News: Ebert . Roger . Ebert's Best 10 Movies of 2005 . Chicago Sun-Times . December 18, 2005 . October 31, 2015 . November 17, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121117004020/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20051218%2FCOMMENTARY%2F512180302 . dead.
  25. Web site: The Cell Block . Fall 2010 . stucknoir.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20110208182838/http://www.dikenga.com/films/stuck/ . February 8, 2011 . February 20, 2018.
  26. Web site: Interview with director Steve Balderson: plot and cast of the film 'about the unknown' Alchemy of the Spirit - Dailybloid.com . dailybloid.com . 6 August 2023 . en-en.
  27. Web site: I Want To Get Married (2011) - William Clift Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related . AllMovie . 4 June 2019 . en-us.
  28. Web site: I Want to Get Married - 2011 . Spielfilm.de . 4 June 2019 . de.
  29. News: The story of the Hex Girls, the Scooby-Doo rock band turned cult, queer, girl-power icons . October 31, 2019 . . June 21, 2021.
  30. Web site: Jane Wiedlin (visual voices guide) . July 4, 2024 . Behind The Voice Actors. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  31. Book: Burton, Bonnie . Girls Against Girls: Why We Are Mean to Each Other and How We Can Change . San Francisco . Zest Books . 2011 . 978-0-9790173-6-0 . registration .
  32. Web site: Wolfson . Julie . Lenora Claire on her 'Bettie Page: Heaven Bound' Art Show . LAist . April 30, 2009 . October 31, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150930054609/http://laist.com/2009/04/30/when_did_you_first_discover.php . September 30, 2015 . mdy-all.
  33. Go-Go's Musical Head Over Heels Eyes Summer Broadway Bow at the Hudson Theatre . . January 10, 2018 . January 29, 2018.
  34. Web site: PETA Milestones . 2003 . PETA.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20070728134538/http://www.peta.org.uk/about/milestones.asp . July 28, 2007 . February 20, 2018.
  35. Web site: The Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin opens up about mental health.
  36. Web site: January 30, 2021. The Sparks Brothers' Review: Edgar Wright's Irresistible Celebration of 50 Years of Art-Pop's Brightest Sparks. October 3, 2021. Variety.
  37. Jane Wiedlin: Go, Jane, Go! . Voss . Brandon . May 21, 2011 . . November 26, 2016.
  38. A Go-Go's Surreal Life . Merrick . Bob . January 2, 2005 . . November 26, 2016.
  39. Web site: Snyder . Molly . Non-traditional wedding officiants provide personalized ceremonies . . January 26, 2018 . October 18, 2021.
  40. News: Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's is Engaged to Boyfriend Terence Lundy . People.
  41. Web site: Jane Wiedlin on Instagram: "@my_brain_on_paint and I got hitched!".
  42. Web site: Tzortzis . Andreas . Jane Wiedlin . Ageist.com . March 16, 2017 . Ageist . 2023-03-27.
  43. Go-Go's Guitarist Jane Wiedlin Claims Influential Rock DJ Sexually Abused Her as a Teen . Millman . Ethan . December 11, 2023 . . December 12, 2023.
  44. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=jane wiedlin|chart=Billboard 200}} Jane Wiedlin Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200 ]. . December 6, 2010.
  45. Web site: RPM Top 100 Albums - August 27, 1988. Library and Archives Canada. November 21, 2019.
  46. Web site: Jane Wiedlin full Official Chart History . . July 10, 2022.
  47. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=jane wiedlin|chart=all}} Jane Wiedlin Album & Song Chart History – Hot 100 ]. . December 6, 2010.
  48. Web site: [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=jane wiedlin|chart=Dance/Club Play Songs}} Jane Wiedlin Album & Song Chart History – Dance/Club Play Songs ]. Billboard . December 6, 2010.
  49. Web site: Search for: Jane Wiedlin . Hung Medien . charts.nz . December 6, 2010.