Arts & Entertainment

Go Go: Dundalk Girl Gets Star on Hollywood Blvd.

Drummer Gina Schock grew up in German Hill and made it big with the breakthrough, all-girl band the Go Go's. Kathy Valentine, Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock and Jane Wiedlin were awarded the 2,444th star.

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The Dundalk girl who grew up banging her drums “loud enough that everybody in the neighborhood knew she was playing,” as her mother recalled, got her star on Hollywood Boulevard Thursday.

Thirty years after the release of “Beauty and the Beat,” the debut album of the Go Go’s, drummer Gina Schock and the iconic all-girl band were honored with a star in front of the former location of The Masque Nightclub—now the at 6650 Hollywood Blvd.—where the band first performed on stage.

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“No, I haven’t seen it, yet,” her mom, June Schock, who still lives with her husband, John, in the same German Hill neighborhood where Gina was raised, told Patch. “But I will be out there next week and I can’t wait.

“Gina said she and the girls were really excited,” she added. “I’m sure I’ll bring a lot of pictures home.”

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The Go-Go’s became one of the signature pop bands of the '80s after the release of Beauty and the Beat, which included the chart-topping singles “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat.” (Fans can take a stroll through their catalog of hits here). 

Soon after, the Go-Go’s appeared on magazine covers, made numerous television appearances and played to sold out arenas around the world.

A digitally remastered version of their debut album was released in May. The group is touring in support of the album, which marks the 30th anniversary of the original release.

June Schock will arrive in Calfornia this week, the same day the group performs at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. She noted her daughter and Go Go’s lead singer, Belinda Carlisle, have remained close over the 32 years since they started playing together.

“Belinda’s a sweetheart,” Shock said.

Gina Schock, who attended Sacred Heart of Mary and Catholic High School, now lives in San Francisco. She produces and writes music as well as touring with the Go Go’s. She produced “The Go-Go's - Live in Central Park” (2001) and earned writing credits on Miley Cyrus’ hit “Breakout” and Selena Gomez’ “Kiss and Tell.”

"She never took a lesson, just had natural rhythm," June Schock said. "She said she's playing better than ever. She's been getting great write-ups on this tour."

She’d gotten her start playing with the Baltimore punk band, Edie and the Eggs. Shortly after graduating high school, she swapped her car for her father’s pick-up truck—he added a cab on back—and drove to Los Angeles with her girlfriend, Barbara Butta, with whom she remains friends.

“Oh, Gina, I’d say, why did you have to play drums? Why not the harmonica or something else,” her mom said, laughing and looking back.

“I liked rock ‘n roll and I liked the music they played,” Schock said, recalling the heady days of the early 1980s when the Go Go’s toured with the Police and Gina returned to perform at the old Capital Centre in Landover, MD. “I wanted her to go college, but she knew what she wanted to do. I told her she could always come home

“It turned out okay,” her mother said, smiling.

Check a 1980s televsion interview with Gina Schock and her family here.

– Jose Franco contributed to this story.


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