Margo Likes Pink

The GoGo’s 2021 Class of Inductees | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, is something to ponder. What comes forth are my documented memories about these gals.




Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine # 13 January 1979.


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The early punk scene 1979. When Punk Rock was new, scary and was created each moment it was experienced…

Margo is here.

Look at her she is so punk. She is tough. I have watched the girls at the Whisky A Go Go. They scare me. They are wild and free, and I want to know them. How do I do that? Do they like me? Do they notice me? I feel like I will throw up. I am shy. The girls will never see me. They hate me. Today she is here. Punks are coming and going. I am just standing. Afraid to speak.  Walking down Hollywood Blvd.  Margo goes back into the alley. Will she be back? Will we wait here. Out of control. Steaming underneath.

Margo plays the bass.

I can hear the girls’ music. The alley leads to the studio. I am too afraid to go in. It is dark and Margo has come out. I hear the girls laughing and talking. Should I run away. I will stay here and listen. I can’t talk. What will I say? It is all so new to me. I am wearing black straight legs I bought from a thrift store. I have a large colorful shirt on and cowboy boots that come to my ankle. My hair is short. Margo has come up to us. She is so cute. She is dressed like me. She is plump and friendly. I look down and say nothing. I listen with fear. There is silence between us only.

Margo is at the Masque on Cherokee.

This is the punk club I have heard of. I listen to KROQ. This is the club where all the noise comes from. It is heard from the street above. A bomb shelter under the city. Beer cans and cigarette butts. Saltine crackers and band flyers everywhere.  I wish I had a cold beer now that takes away my shyness. The Masque is closed now. Bands only rehearse here.  It smells and is cold today. Wind in the alley.

Margo smiled.

My God she is smiling at me. She is looking at me and talking. I don’t know what she is saying. I am so nervous and want to run away. When will this be over? She is so cool and classy. I think she is asking me where I got my clothes and that she likes them. She is asking me again. I look down and I softly say…” at a thrift store.” Is this coming from my mouth? My God that is so stupid to say. What an idiot. Oh, now what do I do? I look at her again and look away.

Margo talks to my boyfriend.

I was going to say something. My boyfriend never stops talking. He is talking to Margo. He is telling her all sorts of stuff. He is saying my girlfriend will get you anything you want. Margo says the girls in the band like to wear bright large shirts. Margo says that she likes pink. She had on pink lipstick and was her hair pink? No, it is brown and red. She has a great laugh. My boyfriend wears leather pants and leopard-skin-T-shirts. He reads Fear and Loathing. He says 1984 is now! We hang out at Hollywood Towers and take the bus to South Gate. He likes old films from movie revival theaters. He has an opinion about everything, and he ignores me when we are around other girls. I want to tell him to shut up. Words never come from my mouth. We hang out together in Hollywood. We go to Tower Records and Licorice Pizza. They have all the new punk LPs and 45s we crave!

Margo Likes Colorful Shirts

My boyfriend told Margo that I would get the band some shirts. Margo says she wants them just for her. Large shirts. Colorful shirts. I like pink. The girls in the band and I like pink. I looked down and nodded my head. She gave us some buttons with the band’s logo on them. I knew about logos. I am a paste-up artist. I was happy to get it. I put it on my shirt. I was smiling now. My boyfriend was still talking. Margo looked at me and then looked up in the air. She left us there in the alley.

Guys In The Alley

Where do I park? Will she be there. I hope she likes the shirts I got for her. It has been a while, but I am going to drop them off without my boyfriend. He is not my boyfriend now. I am going to hang out with my girlfriends. I parked the car down the alley. I know when the girls’ practice. I waited outside the studio for a long time. A couple of guys ran out of the Masque past me. Then they came back and asked me questions. They gave me a drink of their beer. We talked for a while about bands. I was feeling confident now. These guys were nice. They looked scary. They had leather jackets and lots of buttons on them. We got drunk. They knew my story. One of them went to get Margo. She came out. We talked and I showed her the shirts. She took only one. The large pink shirt with white polka dots with buttons up the middle and collar on top. I was happy and bubbly.



Margo is dancing in this video… see her with the pink pink hair ?



16 thoughts on “Margo Likes Pink

  1. Loved this. I was so there. And I loved that you used Tower records. That was what leapt into my mind upon seeing the prompt. Great story and great ending. Your short, clipped writing style — it worked. I read faster and faster to see what was next.

  2. Okay, I loved this. I was riveted from the first sentence – there is a real voice to the main character (you?) – you painted the nerves, the neurosis, questionable self-confidence – brilliantly – and the wanting to fit in, the punk scene, the Masque – all of it. I feared for that lost youth! (-: So…well done, and wow, the original bass player of the Go Gos! Loved this one.

  3. Wow. Your writing style is unique so at first I was like, “Wait. What?” But then I was totally sucked in. You did a great job creating a stoacto (sp?) feel that underscored the immediacy and intensity of the young, unsure narrator’s experience in the vibrant chaotic LA punk scene. Loved this. And the original bassist of the Go Gos. So cool!

    1. My structure was active voice and then lots of passive voice. (Reflective voice as I call it.) I wanted to bring the reader into my feelings and mind. I wanted to paint a picture of the time period while using our prompts from YA Write. I did not know if it would be successful… but it was fun to do… thank you.. stoacto? I am sure curious about this word… I did add a poetic touch to this.. Order and chaos as well.. also the maturing of the me from not talking to opening up and talking. Margo was my constant perfect unchanging point of focus.

  4. Well done. The more I read the more I wanted to read. I enjoyed the uniqueness of your voice. I got a real feel for her – the shyness – her total involvement with the music scene – her worship of Margo -her asshole boyfriend. I lived in LA for nearly 20 years, so that certainly helped set the mood for me. I really enjoyed it, a great depiction of a time, a place and a girl.

    1. I knew them all…Bass and drummer.. at the time it was just peers having fun and growing.. Yet the Go’s Go’s got big and I was more interested in the small growing underground punk scene.. Thank you!

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