GO-GO’S - HOW MUCH MORE

Released: May 9, 1980 

Album: Beauty And the Beat

Written by Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin, “How Much More” marked one of the earliest songwriting collaborations between the two Go-Go’s guitarists and helped define the melodic punk-pop sound that would carry the band to stardom. The track appeared on their groundbreaking 1981 debut album, “Beauty and the Beat”, though its origins date back to the Go-Go’s early club days, when their sound leaned more toward raw punk energy. The Go-Go’s first recorded the song in early 1980, releasing it through Stiff Records as the B side of the first edition of “We Got the Beat” in the UK. 

Wiedlin recalled that the original version of the song “was faster, but I wouldn’t say it sounded a ton different.” She added, “I don’t even remember who we wrote it about, but I’m sure at the time it was very heart-rending.” The song later found new life decades later when it was included in the soundtrack of the Broadway musical “Head Over Heels”, which featured the Go-Go’s catalog reimagined for the stage.

According to Belinda Carlisle “How Much More” was written in early 1980 during an especially fertile creative period for Caffey and Wiedlin, when the pair also wrote future Go-Go’s staples like “We Got the Beat” and “Lust to Love.” 

Caffey recalled that she started the song and Wiedlin helped her finish it shortly after joining the band. “Originally,” she explained, “the song was more pop, but we still couldn’t play very well, so we kind of created a new sound: melodic but raw.” Bringing a pop-oriented song to a punk group, however, felt risky. “I brought in a song called ‘How Much More.’ I was really scared because it’s super pop and it’s about a relationship,” Caffey admitted. “I thought, ‘Well, I’m either going to get fired from the band, or maybe they’ll really like it!’ Jane immediately jumped on board and helped me finish it.”

Fortunately, the band loved the track. Carlisle recalled that she loved the song the first time she heard it, but that it truly came alive once producer Paul Wexler recorded it for their debut album.

The song’s bright hooks and breathless pace capture the Go-Go’s unique blend of vulnerability and attitude—a yearning love song wrapped in punk exuberance. Carlisle has noted that the chorus line “How much more can I take before I go crazy?” seemed to resonate on multiple levels. “One reviewer said how we fell perfectly into sync when we played ‘How Much More’ and chanted that line,” she reflected. “It could have been a mantra for the band as well as for each of us individually—especially me.” The Go-Go’s continued performing “How Much More” in their reunion concerts during the 2000s.