© 1982 IRS Records

My how time flies when you’re having fun. With the Go-Go’s recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the recent re-release of the band’s fourth album, I must admit I’ve been reliving Belinda Carlisle and gang’s heyday a bit. It was just brought to my attention that it has been almost four decades since the Go-Go’s sophomore effort was released smack dab in the middle of the summer way back in 1992. If only I could somehow describe my excitement for this musical event of my youth. It seems like only yesterday when…

After a six-week run atop Billboard’s 200 album chart with the multi-platinum debut album Beauty and the Beat, all-girl rock group the Go-Go’s hurriedly released the follow-up sophomore effort, Vacation. Echoes of previous singles “We Got the Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed” could still be heard across radio airwaves when “Vacation” became the band’s third hit single in the summer of ’82. The bubbly title track was the first-ever cassette single and was accompanied by its vivid and playful music video, which revealed the band members hamming it up while pretending to be highly skilled water skiers.

For me, that entire summer revolved around the Go-Go’s, from joining the band’s fan club, scouring magazine stands for any glimpse of Belinda and company, to recurrent spins of Beauty and the Beat as I counted down the days anticipating the arrival of Vacation. Alas, the day finally arrived when my eyes unexpectedly gazed upon the album’s totally kitschy cover art by Grammy-winning designer Mick Haggerty, which seemed to be waving at me from the record store’s new release rack. The ride home from the mall was an agonizing eternity as I shuddered with excitement.

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