There’s an old saying I just made up for this week’s Great Song of the ’80s: If at first you don’t succeed, get a new record label and re-record it…only slower.

!The Go-Gos did just that with 1982’s “We Got the Beat.”

The first version of the song was released in 1980 on Stiff Records…a name that seemed to foreshadow how things would turn out. It was a minor hit in the UK and got some club play here in the US…but although the record basically “stiffed,” there was a silver lining: fans of New Wave music liked the song.

Still, “We Got the Beat”: needed some tweaking…and so did the G0-Gos.

After adjusting the band’s lineup to add new drummer Gina Schock and bassist Kathy Valentine, they were signed to I.R.S. Records, and decided to re-do “We Got the Beat” for their 1982 debut album “Beauty and the Beat.”

It became their second single release from the album (After “Our Lips Are Sealed”), and the tweaks worked: the new version rose to #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100, and #7 on the Rock Chart. Later on, it was named one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! I guess that Sometimes you need a second chance to score a First Great Song!

–Mike Cook