"Vacation" is a 1982 single released by the all-female rock band,

the Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belind ...

. The song was the first single from the album, ''

Vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

''. The song became one of the Go-Go's highest charting singles, reaching No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in August 1982, being the band's second and final US top-10 hit. The song was released on 7" vinyl format, with the

surf rock Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a Music genre, genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is in ...

song "Beatnik Beach" as the single's B-side. "Vacation" carries the distinction of being released as the first known

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was first introduced in 1980. History The debu ...

or "cassingle" as trademarked by I.R.S. Records. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "propulsive power pop." A previous version of "Vacation" written solely by

Kathy Valentine Kathryn Valentine (born January 7, 1959) is an American musician who is the bassist for the pop punk band the Go-Go's. She has maintained a career in music through songwriting, recording, performing and touring as well as additional academic and ...

was an EP and later 45 by the earlier band she was in, The Textones. Both the EP and 45 were on Chiswick Records in the United Kingdom. The Textones version is the opening theme song of the Starz cable series Hightown.

Music video

The video, which was directed by Mick Haggery and C.D.Taylor, starts by showing the song's title on a photo in a travel brochure. It depicts the band first waiting on a pile of luggage at an airport after

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist. Raised in ...

arrives in a taxi. Gradually it changes to show them performing, then ends with a section in which they appear to be water-skiing in formation, as on the album cover. All the band members smile and mug for the camera in individual closeups. The photo then freezes and zooms out to be shown in another travel brochure on the floor, which an unseen janitor sweeps up, with other trash (most likely from the airport portion of the video). It was shot in one very long day on a $50,000 budget, large for the time, and the band was coming off a debut album that had reached no. 1. "We still saw videos as an annoying waste of time," recalls

Jane Wiedlin Jane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin (born May 20, 1958) is an American musician and singer, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of the new wave music, new wave band The The Go-Go's, Go-Go's. She has also had a successful ...

. "After seven or eight hours we sent out someone to sneak in booze."

says they drank "lots of champagne. Lots." Wiedlin says the effects are evident during the closeups of the women at the end: "... if you look at our eyes, we're all so drunk. We didn't even try to make it look like we were really waterskiing."

Track listing

7-inch and cassette single :A. "Vacation" – 2:59 (2:55 on cassette) :B. "Beatnik Beach" – 2:52 (2:45 on cassette)

In popular culture

The song features prominently in "

", the third episode of the fourth season of

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

cartoon ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently— Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, ...

''. The original song plays over a montage at the beginning of the episode, while character

Angelica Pickles ''Rugrats'' includes a large array of characters: family, friends, extended relatives, townspeople, and fictional characters. This is a list of characters from the Nickelodeon animated television series (original), its various movies, and the 2 ...

sings her own version with modified lyrics at the end of the episode. The song is also featured in Michael Moore's documentary ''

Fahrenheit 9/11 ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed, written by, and starring filmmaker, director, political commentator and activist Michael Moore. The film takes a liberal, critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the w ...

'', when George Bush is seen playing golf in the months before the 9/11 attacks. The song is also played over the main credits of the 2019 film '' Spider-Man: Far From Home''. The Textones version of the song is the theme of the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

series ''Hightown'' (2020). The Go-Go's performed "Vacation", "

Our Lips Are Sealed "Our Lips Are Sealed" is a song co-written by Jane Wiedlin, guitarist of the Go-Go's, and Terry Hall, singer of the Specials and Fun Boy Three. It was first recorded by the Go-Go's as the opening track on their album '' Beauty and the Beat'' (1 ...

", and "

We Got the Beat "We Got the Beat" is a song by the American rock band the Go-Go's, written by the group's lead guitarist and keyboardist Charlotte Caffey. The band first recorded the song in 1980 for a single on UK-based Stiff Records, and later rerecorded it fo ...

" during the 2021

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

Induction Ceremony.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1982 singles The Go-Go's songs Songs written by Charlotte Caffey Songs written by Jane Wiedlin Songs written by Kathy Valentine Song recordings produced by Richard Gottehrer 1982 songs I.R.S. Records singles