[11] Go-Gos, ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’

Go-Gos

28 years on, I still play this song – ooh – at least once every month or two. The bouncing bassline, the harmonies, Belinda Carlisle’s helium gabble, it’s all pure gold. The Go-Gos generally passed this nation by, but Terry Hall noticed them, and he certainly noticed pocket honey Jane Wiedlin. I knew they co-wrote the song and yet I never realised they had a bit of a thing going on behind his girlfriend’s back, something they might want to keep ‘em sealed about.

That’s how the story goes, anyway. It’s a perfectly formed little pop song that doesn’t need any enhancing, but that’s a cheeky bit of colour. Of course, Terry then set about draining all the colour with his morose Fun Boy Three version – not that it’s anything less than corking itself.

‘Our Lips Are Sealed’ is an anti-anthem for Junior, who obediently boings with the bass. She couldn’t seal her lips with UHU, treating every confidence as a tasty bit of news to be relayed to the widest circle. When I drive her to nursery, every bunny-hop, every speed bump taken at a lick, every mild variation in route is a major misdemeanour to be announced to mum at the earliest opportunity. The little grass. Luckily, it still seems cute. Girls, eh?

No one’s listening anyway:

[16] Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, ‘Maid Of Orleans’

The 31st biggest selling single of the year starts off with some industrial noises, still more tuneful than Japan’s squeaks and whirs, before a kind of military waltz tempo fades in. It’s hypnotic and addictive, but still alienating until the melody comes in. These elements build and build, constructing OMD’s best song. It’s effortless.

It’s also their second single about Joan of Arc. What was the fascination? I know Jane Wiedlin looked quite cute in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, but this was years earlier. Junior and I have no answers. We prefer to stand rooted to the spot by the metronomic rhythm, musing on OMD’s position in the hierarchy of great synth duos.

6th, we reckon.