The 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time: 'Beauty and the Beat'

The 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time

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'Beauty and the Beat'

Courtesy of I.R.S. Records

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The Go-Go's
A&M/I.R.S., 1981

The most popular girl group of the New Wave surfed to the top of the charts with this hooky debut. Everyone knows "We Got the Beat" and "Our Lips Our Sealed," exuberant songs that livened up the Top Forty, but the entire album welds punkish spirit to party-minded pop – from the L.A. anthem "This Town" to splashy power-pop like "Skidmarks on My Heart" and "Can't Stop The World." It's a beachscape of catty girls and pretty boys, and an image of Southern California that's just as indelible as anything by the Eagles or Doors.