Jane Wiedlin performs on Hey Hey It’s Saturday – 1988

New interview with Jane and Bongo Comics about the upcoming Simposons Treehouse of Horror issue. The comic hits stores on Sept 21st or is available online HERE.

Read the interview HERE.

Jane will be at the Entertainment Media Show Oct 1st-2nd!!

More information HERE.

Prepare for a trilogy of Halloween treats in this year’s terrifying Treehouse of Horror!

First, punk rock pixie and Go-Gos founding member Jane Wiedlin (Lady Robotika) leads Marge down the path of the walking dead; then, Zander Cannon and Gene Ha (Top Ten) offer up a remake, Simpsons-style, of the classic horror flick Nosferatu; and finally, indie artist Jim Woodring (Jim) helps Bart uncover the truth behind the biggest mystery in the history of horror comics.

Comic hits stores on Sept 21st or is available online HERE.

Jane sings Icicle to the Sad Sadsters. Apologies to Bob Dylan.

Jane Wiedlin covering 13 men…a scene from Camp Casserole.

From the documentary, Camp Casserole about Steve Balderson’s new film, The Casserole Club.

If you missed Jane on RuPaul’s Drag U … you can watch the full episode HERE.

Yesterday, August 29, 2011, my nephew Danny, son of my beloved sister Meg Wiedlin, and brother of my amazing niece Gena Inkeles, took his own life.

Daniel Robert Inkeles was born February 13, 1986 in the middle of a huge El Nino storm. Danny grew up in Topanga and Malibu California and spent the last 4 years in Oregon. Danny was a delightful child who loved hiking, surfing, tide pooling and dirt biking. Danny’s biggest passion in life was music. His first band, at age 5, was Dragon Fire, which involved fake instruments and ninja costumes. When Danny turned nine he started playing drums, and began his life as a musician, playing in many bands, including the critically acclaimed band The Hills. His last band was King Ghidorah, which truly highlighted his talents as a drummer. Watching him play music was a joy.

Life’s trials and tribulations became difficult for Danny, but he met some of his greatest friends as he struggled with sobriety and depression. He had many people who loved him and supported him in his efforts to live and love his life. Ultimately, Danny chose to end his life on August 29th, 2011. All who loved him will miss him.

If you have a loved one who is battling with depression and/or drug addiction, try to take the necessary steps to help them but know it’s not always possible to save them.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to MusiCares, a non-profit organization that provides critical assistance to music people in time of need. Please donate HERE.

New interview w/Jane and the DallasVoice.com

Lady Go-Go by Rich Lopez
Nothing makes you feel older than an album from your youth celebrating a milestone anniversary. Nothing! Those defining tunes as you came of age may be timeless, but it’s a reminder that you aren’t.

As the seminal ‘80s band the Go-Go’s celebrates three decades since Beauty and the Beat, time seems to have hardly touched guitarist Jane Wiedlin. With her little girl voice and sassy wit, Wiedlin has kept the same spunk she had when the iconic girl group burst onto the scene.

“In some ways it feels like three years ago and other ways, like 300 years ago,” she says.

Wiedlin wants to make one thing clear: The concert she and her bandmates will give this weekend is not part of a reunion tour — there’s nothing to reunite. Rather, the Go-Go’s just aren’t “a very active band” who have taken “a big chunk of time off.”

Whether or not she’s kidding, the tour has injected the band with a vigor that they’ll put on display Friday at the House of Blues. Dallas thought they might get a nostalgic taste of the band when they were set to perform last year. But Wiedlin unintentionally derailed that.

“It was the day after my birthday and a few of us decided to take a midnight hike up to the top of this hill,” she explains. “We wanted to have this epic light saber battle. But as we walked home, I literally fell right off a cliff. I heard my knees explode; I was rolling through poison oak! I went and found the cliff and I had fallen about 15 feet.”

Such an anecdote reveals several things about Wiedlin: She’s an admitted Star Wars geek, and she’s the adventurous type. She has a limp now, but otherwise, she’s back in the game. The time off gave her some time for introspection — about touring in the early days, the fun the ladies had on the road and the experience of putting those shows together. Even with the ups-and-downs of the band, she thought everyone was having the best time possible — why not again?

“You know, I get sucked into the minutiae of being onstage, but it’s extraordinary,” she says with little gasps. “Our intention is to make this tour the most fun we’ve had in decades, which will make it fun for other people.”

Which seems like a given with such musical faves like “We Got the Beat,” “Vacation” and “Head Over Heels.”  But is new music in sight for the band that never really broke up? Wiedlin and the gang aren’t ruling it out.

“It looks possible to record together, even though we don’t have to have a major label,” she says. “That used to be such a big deal to make music, but now with the web, it’s very DIY. Like getting back to those  ‘70s punk rock days. Charlotte [Caffey] and Kathy [Valentine] just wrote a new song for the band.”

Wiedlin gives the impression that she can’t sit still, whether she’s a star in the comic book Lady Robotica, partaking in her admission that she’s a BDSM perv or acting in indie films, Wiedlin’s voice suggests she may never stop working — whatever the work may be.

“I’m working all the time. I just wrote and directed my first sci-fi movie, The Pyrex Glitch,” she says. “That’s on the film fest circuit. Hopefully people will find it as funny as I do. But we’re all really busy. Belinda [Carlisle] has her jewelry and textile company and Gina [Schock] is been writing songs for Miley Cyrus. Everybody is still so active even though we’re old.”

Wiedlin has discussed her bisexuality, although she prefers to stay away from labels. In an interview with AfterEllen.com, she told the site she’s had sex with both sexes, but that “bisexuality is such a loaded term.” But she loves her gays and as Prop 8 played out in California, she experienced both the joy of gaining equality and the disappointment of marriage privileges being taken away.

“For a few months in the summer of 2008, we got equal rights,” she says. “I wanted to be part of that celebration! But then Prop 8 happened and I’ve been fighting it ever since. I became an ordained minister to marry same-sex couples. I’ll go anywhere to do that so people can be together as they should be. Oh, and as a disclaimer, I’m completely non-religious.”

Her focus is now on the tour and even with her bum knees, she laughs off any obstacle that would keep her from enjoying giving a good show. And while the audience will hear Go-Go’s hits and perhaps even Carlisle’s, don’t be so sure on hearing Wiedlin’s one-hit wonder song “Rush Hour.” The pop confection made a top 10 splash back in 1988. In fact, she’s almost betting on it.

“You know, that song has been a thorn in my side,” she chuckles. “It is so hard to play live because it has like millions of synths in it. I’ve never been able to crack it to make it sound good, but I’d love to hear Belinda sing it.”

We’d go for that.

Set your Dvr, Pvr or VCR!

Jane’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag U will air on Aug 29th. 🙂

Fantastic interview with James St.James and the Go-Go’s.

A big thank you to Bettie Page Clothing for providing Jane with such a beautiful dress for the star ceremony.

Photo by Dusti Cunningham

The Go-Go’s star is located in front of the Bettie Page store at the corner of Hollywood and N. Cherokee Ave.

The Bettie Page store also did a window display celebrating the Go-Go’s for the star ceremony! Thanks to Alice (left) and Geena (right) for all your help.

Thank you so much for this incredible honor.
In 1978, on this very corner, the Go-Go’s were born.  We rehearsed and performed our very first concert in the basement of that theater.  At the time, the basement was a punk-rock club called The Masque.

Photo by dusti cunningham

This location was the epicenter of the Los Angeles punk-rock movement.  We lived just one block away, in a beautiful old apartment building called The Canterbury.  The Canterbury had been built in the 1920’s to house up&coming starlets and, as a young all-girl band, that really appealed to us!  When we discovered it as punk rockers it was filled with prostitutes and people living on government SSI money.  It was perfectly situated for us.  We could walk to our rehearsals and shows.

Life was exciting then and filled with possibility.  Hollywood was sort of tawdry in those days, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t love it and recognize the glamor under the grit.  We loved the Walk of Fame even then, and in our wildest dreams, we couldn’t have predicted that our little band would someday have a STAR on the Walk and that Hollywood would be rejuvenated and once again become the Glamor Capitol of the World.

The arc of the Go-Go’s story could not be more fairy-tale.  From our humble origins right here on this spot as a young punkrock band, to our giddy rise to stardom culminating in a sold-out show at the Hollywood Bowl, just a few blocks away, and now, 30 years later, to be honored with this Star, well let’s just say it’s a story that proves that truth really is stranger than fiction.  We are so proud to be a HOLLYWOOD band and to be honored with this legendary tribute.

This star couldn’t have happened without the campaign spearheaded by our wonderful fans.  We know many many of you worked very very hard to achieve this.  We would especially like to thank Joseph Vidaurri, Jim Ginter, DeDe Kelez and Lee Smith for their dedication to this project.

In closing, I’d like to quote one of our own songs:
“THIS TOWN IS OUR TOWN, IT IS SO GLAMOROUS, BET YOU’D LIVE HERE IF YOU COULD AND BE ONE OF US.”
Thank you!

Jane will be at the Entertainment Media Show Oct 1st-2nd!!

More information HERE.

Jane stopped by the Good Day Studios to perform live!!
Check it out! 🙂

Hello everyone!
This summer has been non-stop action so far.  June was spent out with the other Go-Go’s, touring the US.  Thanks to everyone who came out to see us; it is so fun to see so many familiar and new faces.

I hit the ground running when I returned to my home in San Francisco with several fun family events (Happy SIXTIETH Birthday to my big brother Bob) and then drove down to LA to get my loft in Little Tokyo (downtown LA) sorted out.  Since I moved to SF I’ve been renting the LA loft out to a nice lady who works for President Obama.  She was just transferred to Chicago, so I now need to find a new tenant.  Check it out here, loftlivingla.com, and spread the word to anyone you know looking for a truly badass live/work loft in downtown LA!

When I got back from my landlady duties, I took off for Victoria Texas to work on 2 film projects with my buddy Anthony Pedone.  I acted in a new indie comedy film he is producing, ROUNDBALL.  In this video you can see what my character looks and sounds like for this movie.

We also worked on my debut directing/writing film project THE PYREX GLITCH.  We are in the editing and special effects stage, and I am having so much fun!  It’s not easy making movies without money, but this one, which will be a short film of about 25 minutes, is looking fantastic even though it is no-budg!  It is a sci-fi comedy, and I REALLY hope people will get my humor.  We shall see.  I will be entering lots of film festivals with it, in the hopes to get some recognition, and some WORK out of it.

I got home from Texas and a couple days later was back down in LA, meeting with different cable networks about an idea I have for a TV series.  This will be a lot of fun if we can get it made, so please keep your fingers crossed for me!  I wish I could tell you the show idea, but it’s still Top Secret until we get it sold!  It is a reality show (but not an icky mean one), and it does star me.  More details when I am allowed to divulge them!

Now that I’m having a WHOLE DAY at home (to pay bills, and write this letter) I am off to Sacramento tomorrow to be part of the California State Fair. I’ll be in Expo Center #5 signing autographs, taking photos and hanging out.  Friday July 29 and Saturday July 30 from noon to 6:00 PM. More info HERE.

On August 11, the Go-Go’s will be receiving our STAR on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  I begged (and got my wish) that the star be placed on Hollywood Blvd at the corner of Cherokee Street, which is where the band started.  (This is where the Masque was, an underground punk club that we rehearsed at and performed our very first show at.)  I hope people will come out for the ceremony.  Details for the Star Ceremony HERE. To see a list of the upcoming Go-Go’s concert dates go HERE.

A few months ago I shot an episode of Ru Paul’s Drag U, and the episode will be premiering on Aug. 29, which is the day I get home from the second leg of the Go-Go’s tour, which resumes next week.  I can’t WAIT to see this TV show, I am hoping it will be VERY entertaining! More information about the show HERE.

Well, I think that is all the news I have for now!  Man, I’m exhausted just reading this back.  Life is BUSY…but GOOD. Thanks for all the love and support.  I am so lucky to have you as friends/fans! 🙂
xoxo
Jane

Jane will be in Sacramento to be part of the California State Fair. She’ll be at Expo Center #5 signing autographs, taking photos and hanging out.

Friday July 29th – 1pm – 7 pm
Saturday July 30th – 12pm – 7pm

More info HERE.

Set your Dvr, Pvr or VCR!
We just got word that Jane’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag U will air on Aug 29th. 🙂