Songfacts®:

• The Go-Go's broke up in 1985 after three albums, but have reunited from time to time. In 1994, they released two new songs for a compilation album called Return To The Valley Of The Go-Go's: "Good Girl" and "The Whole World Lost Its Head." They didn't put out another album of new material until 2001 with God Bless The Go-Go's.
• Go-Go's guitarists Jane Wiedlin and Kathy Valentine wrote this song. Says Wiedlin: "We were sitting around just sort of musing about how nutty the world has become, and I think Kathy said, 'Well, what about this line for a title: The Whole World Lost Its Head.' And I was like, hmmm, seems kind of worthy. I was actually kind of unsure about it as a title, because it just wasn't that easy to say and stuff. But then we just started, for fun, writing all these silly lyrics - silly but true, and topical. The next thing you know the song was written and it was really just sort of an exercise in having a good time as writers. So we went back to it and said, 'Okay, well, this is actually a real song now. So let's hone it a little.' So we ended up taking out some of the silliest lines. Sometimes I regret it, though, because I know we had one line, because I'm such a Star Trek fanatic, about plastic surgeons giving everyone Spock ears. And we ended up taking that one out, but now I wish we'd left it in. I still crack up when I think about that line." (Here's our full Jane Wiedlin interview.)
• "The Whole World Lost Its Head" is the biggest UK hit for The Go-Go's, placing at #29. The band formed in Los Angeles but released their first single in the UK on the Stiff label, which they followed with a tour to promote it. They went on to conquer America, but couldn't make a dent across the pond; when they disbanded in 1985, they had just one placing on the UK chart: "Our Lips Are Sealed" at #47. For some reason, Britain was more receptive to the '90s version of The Go-Go's.