BELINDA CARLISLE: "Kismet"

Published May 23, 2023, 7:00 AM

The much beloved Belinda Carlisle is with us today on LOVE SOMEONE!  Dimpled and darling, Belinda is back with a brand new EP, "Kismet", that contains 5 fabulous tracks, 

Big Big Love”, “If U Go”, “Deeper Into You”, “I Couldn’t Do That To Me”, and “Sanity”  are all written by a previous podcast guest, the unimitable Diane Warren, and performed in Belinda's signature style that has you feelin' every word! Bellinda's going to be on tour this summer too, so join in on this great conversation and find out all about it!

It's been a while since she's dropped new music, but believe you me, she's still got the beat! ~ Delilah

Hello, my friend. Welcome to Love Someone with Delilah. Sometimes I get so nostalgic about the eighties and nineties. It was a pretty exciting time in my life. I was a full fledged adult. I was working in the most frustrating and most glorious profession. I was in radio. Back then, I was falling in and out, and in and out, and in and out of love. I was having and raising babies. Back then, everything, everything, I mean everything was in motion in my life. And while I'm happy to have landed safely on the other side and enjoy the stability I have in my life now, sometimes sometimes I get a little wistful about those glory days. Anybody anybody feel that way? Anybody with me? Let me see a shoe of hands. How many of you close your eyes and look back on I don't know, the big bangs, the crazy fashions, and the wild times. I'm sure today's guest un loves Someone with Delilah can relate. This gifted singer songwriter has touched the hearts of pop fans around the world while creating the soundtrack to so many of our memories. She began her career as a co founder and lead vocalist of the all female new wave rock band The Go Gos and is a masked worldwide sales in excess of fifteen million albums and singles. They're nineteen eighty self pinned multi platinum debut album Beauty and the Beat international top ten singles in our Lips are Sealed and we Got the Beat, which became an anthem for independent women from ages eight to eighty. When the band dismantled, The Go Gos dismantled in eighty five, she wasted no time going solo. She quickly released Belinda in nineteen eighty six, scoring an out of the box gold certified smash hit, Mad About You and the hits, well, they just kept coming by. Now you all know, I'm about to introduce none other than the darling, beloved, dimpled, adorable Belinda Carlisle. The Grammy nominated Heaven is a Place on Earth on her sophomore album, climbed the top ten and no less than twelve countries while achieving multiple gold and silver certifications. It was followed with I Get Weak and Circles in the Sand, which put Belinda Mania into full effect. So much has happened since then. Blind came a mom relocated from LA to the south of France, wrote and recorded more music, teamed up with the Go Gos for a few reunions published in autobiography Lips Unsealed, discussing the fascinating late seventies Los Angeles punk scene and her hard won victory over substance abuse. The two years leading up to the pandemic, Belinda was extremely busy with a worldwide tour. After taking a forced break with the rest of US twenty twenty two, sub Belinda spending the summer in Europe, fulfilling commitments that had to be postponed because of COVID. Now she's got a new EP dropping and a US tour in July and August. We have so much to catch up on with Belinda Carlisle. Right after I spend a few minutes telling you about a podcast sponsor I am so grateful for. I recently sat down with the president of Bigelow Tea and yes, her last name is Bigelow. She shared with me all the special ways the Bigelow family has been blending teas for over seventy five years to make them so flavorful. What is my go to? Their original constant comment but they now have over one hundred and fifty varieties to choose from. Maybe you'd prefer earl gray or lemon ginger probiotics in warmer weather. Tribigelow Botanicals cold water infusions carefully crafted with beautiful ingredients that include real fruit and herbs. They're steeped in cold water for a lightly infused, refreshing, botanical thirst quencher. Flavors include BlackBerry, raspberry, hibiscus, and strawberry lemon orange blossom. Best of all, there are zero calories caffeine or anything artificial. Find Bigelow teas it's your favorite store, or at bigelow dot com b I G E l O W big alow dot com. Welcome Blinda Carlisle. Blinda. When I was approached to see if I would be interested in talking to you, I'm like, oh my god, I love that kid. She's so darling, she's so wonderful. And my sister's like, sis, she's she's not a kid.

Well I kind of feel like a kid. I'm my son is more mature than me. That kind of makes me a kid. Sixty four going on sixteen.

My son will always he was born more mature than me.

Yeah, well that's a good thing. That's a good thing.

It is because I wasn't very mature when I was raising him, and he was kind of like my my rudder on my boat. That kept me going in the right direction.

Same here. I used to call my son grandpa. I used to take him down to the punk rock store to get him punk rocklis and it is no all buttoned up with you a shirt pecked. But yeah, he's more mature than me.

I tried to talk my son when he was about I don't know, seven or eight, so early nineties, tried to talk him into letting me pierce his ear, and he was like, you're kidding me right, Like you're kidding. I'm like, no, it would look really cool. Come on, He's like, mom.

Yeah, no, believe me.

I know.

I was like, come on, grandpa, let's like wrap it up a bit. But he was like no. And he's so more mature than me. But you know it's I think he appreciate I'm sure your son appreciates you now, and and he did then, but you know, maybe he didn't. Maybe they didn't get us.

You know, my son still doesn't get me, but oh, does he love me. He's such a good, good young man. I love that so Blinda Carlisle. When when my sister, who is also my podcast director, but when she I started talking about your new music, I had to go check it out. And girlfriend, you look so healthy, so fabulous. I was enjoying watching you as much as I was enjoying listening to you.

Oh thank you. What can I say? You know? I mean, I guess it's just clean living, you know, And you know I do have a routine and stuff. And I did lose about forty pounds when I had problems with my knee. So yeah, I just thought, you know, I'm you know, I'm not going to let it all go in my sixties, and there's no reason why I can't keep it together and be healthy and look great.

You know, well, you certainly look great, and I'm glad to hear that you are healthy. Somebody said to me one day, I said, I don't know. In my head, I still feel like I'm I don't know, twenty eight thirty years old. Like when people ask me how old I am, I have to stop and count on my fingers because I don't think of myself as the age that I am. And they said Delilah, that's because the soul never ages, and I thought that's true.

You're right, that that's true. Yeah, I mean, I you know, I don't I feel like if if someone asked me, how do you feel, I'd say probably thirty two? You know, I was for some reason, I always go to that number. And I certainly don't don't look or act my age, you know, and I don't have any intention to. It's just a number, really, sixty four. It's just a number.

It is just a number. But damn does it look good on you?

Oh? Thank you, thank you.

Let's talk about your new music and the fact that folks are finally going to have a chance maybe to go see you this summer. Is that right?

Right? Yeah, it's I'm it's a continuation of my I just did a big tour in the UK called the Decadess Tour, and it was, yeah, pretty much material from all of my solo albums and of course a few go those songs thrown in there because that is part of my career. And with the US tour, I'll be performing maybe a couple of songs off my Knew at EP, including my single Big Big Love.

So that was the first one I listened to after they let me know I had an opportunity to talk to you, and I was grinning, I was smiling. I was in the car with my seven year old, who, after the first time we listened to it, was singing along. Tell me about this big, big love that you've got in your life and your heart and your world, or hopefully you've got it.

Well, if I go back to the song, well in my life, I've I've been married for thirty eight years, and if my husband thirty six years and my husband thirty eight years, so I still have my big, big love in my life. And of course I have my son, and I have a really wonderful life. But with this song, the way it all happened is very strange. I wasn't planning to do anything else. I was going to just really slow down, and you know, I've pretty much done everything in my career, which has spent over forty years. And then my son ran into Diane Warren at a coffee bean and tea leaf and she said, what is her mom doing? Let's get her on the phone, and so they facetimed me and she goes get down to the studio. Now I had some hits for you, and I thought, well, do I really want to go there and open up that door, because it's a big commitment to do something like that. So I thought I'd be really stupid.

Not to hear her out.

And so I went to the studio and she played me Big Big Love and I one of the other songs at the EP and I freaked out, and I thought, Okay, I want to sing these songs. So that's that's kind of how it all happened.

And you can't really say no to the woman who has written more hit songs than all other writers. Add it up. I mean, that's like saying no to a tornado. You don't say no to Diane Warren.

No, but I was afraid to commit. And you know, I know Diane, and I've worked with her to wrote a couple of hits for me back in the eighties, And I mean, yeah, you don't say no to Diane Warren.

You can't just gloss over. She wrote a couple of hits for me back in the eighties. Didn't you guys work together on I Get Weak?

Yes? She wrote I Get Weak in a song called Wrote Without You, which was a hit in Europe. And besides being like an unbelievable songwriters who's a great person. So when I love her, I adore her. So yeah, I ended up recording five songs that there I called the ep Kismet because that kind of encapsulates everything that happened and why I'm talking to you, because it was truly was divine intervention and like all these weird kind of coincidences and the things it happened that led me to actually singing and then end up and when we're talking to you about news stuff.

I can't remember the first time I met Diane, but we've had lunch, we've we've spent time together, we've spent time together on the phone. And the thing that hit me was I was expecting to meet somebody with an ego because I have been playing her music for almost what forty five years? Something crazy right, And I met a woman who is so freaking funny and humble and down to earth right and hysterical, snarky, funny, real as a heartbeat. I'm like, how can you you have this much talent and this much success and this much just oozing out of you and be so incredibly humble? And I realize that that's what real talent looks like. She loves her truth, you know.

Well, she certainly does that, and she's like totally normal. I mean, there's no pretense there at all. She loves what she does. I don't know how she does what she does, but she, I mean, that's her life, you know, is writing these beautiful love songs. And yep, she's the greatest living songwriter and probably one of the greatest songwriters that ever lived. And I'm sure twenty years from now, it'll just you know, she will have overtaken everybody. I mean, she's had so many hits, just countless, and I'm lucky that I get to work with her.

Yes, you are very lucky that you get to work with her, and we're very lucky that we get to hear you again.

Thank you. Yeah, it's yeah, I'm really excited about these songs. And yeah, I feel very like it was a gift, so I'm very humbled by it.

So tell me about the eighty for Brady.

Well, that was Diane too. I was recording my vocals and in Mexico City from the EP and Diane said, do you want to sing with Dolly, Cindy, Gloria and Debbie and I said, yes, yes, I do, and so everybody did their and the song was great. It's a very uplifting pop song about friendship. And everybody did their parts individually in different parts of the country, and we did the video parts separately. And I'm just hoping that one of these days something brings us all together so we can sing it together in the same room. But it was such an honor for me to sing with those women.

Let's just go through that list slowly for our list listeners. It was you, Dolly Parton, who is like everybody's mom. You know, she's just like every female artist I ever get to talk to, And I say, who who was your icon?

Like?

Who did you look up to? Dolly Pardon? Doesn't matter what genre, everybody respects the hell out of what that woman has done professionally aluah and musically and just in the world. How many kids has she helped to learn how to read?

I know, I know that right there. You know, reading opens up a whole new world for anybody. I mean, I've always I always told my son, I don't care if you can count, but if you can read, you know, that opens up everything. And he's an avid reader. So, yeah, Dollie, Debbie who was I worshiped Debbie Harry in high school.

Totally Debbie Harry, what a trailblazer.

Yeah, I worship her, Tending Opera who I love and I've worked just before, and who's an amazing character and you know, has done so much for the world. And Roya Estefan, who I absolutely adore too and I've worked with her once, you know, back in the eighties, and lovely person. So yeah, amazing, amazing group of women.

If you ever do get to do what you just said, get to be in person with all these women singing. Promise me I get to be there, Okay, I promise.

Yeah, I hope it happens. That would be amazing.

I have a few, like bucket list things I want to do. I want to get all my grandkids in one family photo. That's one of my bucket list things I want to do. But being at a concert with you women, Dolly and Cindy and Gloria and Debbie and you would be one of those bucket list things, especially if Diane Warren was there watching all of the hits she's written for all of you over the years come to life. That would be so cool.

Now, that would be amazing. That was amazing. Who knows, I haven't feeling something to come along and it'll happen. I don't know how, but I'm sure it will.

That would be wonderful. I hope you are all enjoying our conversation today. We've got a little more time with our guests, Melinda, but I want to pause to tell you about another one of my amazing podcast sponsors. The American Stroke Association wants you to know that May is National American Stroke Month. I'm helping to spread the word and doing all I can to raise awareness of the number five cause of death, the number three for women, and the leading cause of disability in the US. Those numbers are alarming, but strokes can be prevented by maintaining your optimal health and knowing your risk factors. Get to know your healthcare professional and work as a team to keep you healthy and happy. And here do you know the warning signs of stroke? Most adults don't, And because strokes need immediate medical help, recognizing the signs can save lives. Maybe your own learning fast fast can save lives. If you see face drooping, arm weakness, or speech difficulty. It's time to call nine to one one. Remember fast, face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, It's time to call nine one one. You can learn more at stroke dot org, forward slash stroke month, stroke st r oke dot org forward slash stroke month, Think and act fast my friends. Belinda, my sister, asked me this what makes you want to get up in the morning? And I said, uh, Anna, my do Like she's she's putting her nose in my face, saying, mom, I gotta go, get me, you know, let me out, Let's go. And she goes, yeah, that's a that's a literal thing, says what what makes you want to get up and live the life you live? And so I thought I would ask.

You that I love life. I love I get excited for each day. I get up at four am every day and I have a whole you know. I start my day with it with a great teacher like Ramdas or Eckhart Toolei or sag Guru uh someone like that. And then I go into an hour and a half of chanting and breathing in yoga and that's every daily practice. And that's how I start my day. I mean, I you know, that's my foundation. And I just love I don't know, I just love life, and I love living in Mexico. I'm in nature all the time. But that's what keeps me going, and that's what I just I love. I love life, and I feel very lucky to be here. So I have so many friends that aren't and every day is a gift, amen. I mean, I know that I have a really amazing life, and I know how lucky I am. And I don't watch the news. I have my bubble. I figure if there's anything bad or good, I'll hear about it. And you know, what you have inside, you see outside, you project outside. So you know, I just love. I love every day. I love waking up. I have trees right outside my window, and I just, yeah, I know how fortunate I am to have that, to be able to love it so much. You know, very simple.

I tell my listeners every night, if you can start your day with an attitude of gratitude. And I know it sounds corny, I know it sounds trite, but if you can start first thing in the morning, before your feet hit the floor, and just go through a list of things. Every morning, I go through a list of things and I thank the Almighty for how blessed I am. It sets the tone for the whole day.

Absolutely. You know, it's what's inside. You know, everything is internal, so it's whatever's going on inside is what you see outside. So that's that's how I live. And you know, there's so many amazing I mean, the teachers that we have on you know that are living right now on the planet. There's some amazing Jo Spenza, amazing people out there. So yeah, I mean that's how I started. I start my day with one of them and as a reminder to live in a moment, to be grateful, and that sets the tone of the day.

And when are you coming on tour?

Well, I have you know, I just finished a big tour in the UK. I have three months, oh if ya, and then I start the East Coast at the end of June. I have a little two week run and then I have the West Coast in August, and then I have Australia at the end of the year and then you know, we'll see what happens.

Well I hope that when that happens, I get to come and see you and say hi and give you a hug and just tell you how much I've appreciated your music, your energy. Thank you, the joy that you bring to my show into my heart with your voice.

Oh, thank you so much. It's so nice. Thank you.

It's very true you are. You're like a daffodil, you know how daffodils just when you see them, you smile like you can't help but smile. Yeah, to see daffodils, because they're bright and they're cheerful, and they're beautiful and they sway in the wind. And you're like a daffodil, just optimistic and bright and beautiful.

Oh, thank you so much. It's so sweet to say thank you for having me on your show.

Thank you, Belinda. God bless you, and I'll talk to you soon.

Oh bless you. Thank you so much.

Bye bye, Belinda. Carlyle, a beloved pop icon who after decades in the music business, shows no sign of slowing down. Does she Like most of us, She's more grounded than she was back in the eighties, but just as talented and sharing the same energy, that same vibe as she did when she burst onto the scene. You can listen to Big Big Love now and will very very soon be able to download the entire five track ep Kismet. She'll be touring in America beginning in Julia, she said. Check to see if she'll be anywhere near you or someplace you'd like to hop on a plane and go visit. You'll find all the info at b E l I N d A Carlyle c A R l I s l E dot net, Blinda Carlile dot net, and at ticketmaster dot com. I hope you have enjoyed today's conversation and all the fascinating conversations we have here on love Someone. I hope they entertain you. I hope they inspire you to use the gifts, the talents that you have to make this world a better place, one heart at a time,

LOVE SOMEONE with Delilah

In a world that can feel divisive and bleak, it's easy to get caught up in feelings of hopelessness, 
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