We Got the Beat

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"We Got the Beat"

Single by The Go-Go's
from the album Beauty and the Beat
B-side(s)	"Can't Stop the World"
Released	1980, 1982
Format	7" single
Recorded	1980, 1981
Genre	Pop New Wave
Length	2:32
Label	Stiff Records (1980) I.R.S. Records (1982)
Writer(s)	Charlotte Caffey
Producer(s)	Richard Gottehrer Rob Freeman
Chart positions
#2 (U.S. Billboard Hot 100)
The Go-Go's singles chronology
"Our Lips Are Sealed" (1981)	"We Got the Beat" (1982)	"Automatic" (1981)

"We Got the Beat" is a song recorded by the American rock band The Go-Go's. Written by the group's lead guitarist Charlotte Caffey, the band recorded the song in 1980 and it was released as a single in the UK on Stiff Records. This single release brought the Go-Go's underground credibility in the UK and managed to climb to number 35 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart due to the popularity of the song in clubs as an import.

The following year the Go-Go's re-recorded the song for their debut album Beauty and the Beat. Released as the album's second single, "We Got the Beat" became the Go-Go's biggest hit, spending three weeks at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, behind Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'N Roll". It was during the song's time in the U.S. top ten that Beauty and the Beat topped the U.S. Billboard 200.

Clocking in at only two-and-a-half-minutes, the song is instantly recognizable by its drumming intro. Lyrically the song is a simple ode to dancing to a good beat, hanging out and looking cool. "We Got the Beat" also namechecks various popular dance moves such as the Pony, the Watusi and Go-Go dancing (which could also be interpreted as a self-reference). The song's music video received heavy airplay on MTV at the time and consisted of a simple live concert performance of the song and gained further exposure by being used in the opening sequence of the Cameron Crowe film Fast Times at Ridgemont High.