When Belinda Carlisle scored a number one single in the UK and US in 1987 with Heaven Is A Place On Earth the vast majority of those who bought her record had no idea that, a decade earlier she was a member of one of America's most infamous and influential punk rock bands. Although she never recorded or performed with the group, Carlisle - using the pseudonym Dottie Danger - was an original member of LA punks the Germs, playing drums alongside her best friend Teresa Ryan (aka Lorna Doom), vocalist Paul Beahm (aka Darby Crash) and guitarist Georg Albert Ruthenberg (aka future Nirvana/Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear).
For the teenage Belinda Carlisle, Iggy and The Stooges' 1973 album Raw Power was the gateway into punk rock.
"I was in high school, and music at that time on the radio was kind of laid-back California, like Seals and Crofts, and the Eagles and The Doobie Brothers, things that I didn't really appreciate at the time but I appreciate now," the singer told ASX TV's Stranded programme. "So when I saw that cover, I was like, Oh my god! It was horrifying and beautiful at the same time. I bought the album because of the artwork and then I listened to it, and was turned on to a completely different type of music that I really had no idea existed, because it wasn't being played on the radio. If it wasn't for Iggy I don't know if I'd be doing what I do, because he introduced me to a whole new genre of music."
