Charlotte Caffey

A Passion For Music
Michael Holloway, Australia

Born: Charlotte Irene Caffey
October 21, 1953
Nickname: Char
Birthplace: Santa Monica, Calif.

Charlotte Caffey is the third of thirteen children born to Ann and Michael Caffey, producer of many popular TV shows in the 60’s and 70’s, still loved today by baby boomers and their families. Two of Caffey’s brothers, Tom and Richard are also musicians and have written many songs with her.

From an early age, Caffey knew she was passionate about music. After graduating from Immaculate Heart with a degree in music, she became fascinated with the punk rock created by twenty-somethings, and even teens, who were eager to be the next musical sensations.

The Go-Go’s

In 1978, when asked to join a new band called The Go-Go’s, Caffey did not hesitate. Her new friends, Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Margot Olivarria, and Elissa Bello were hardly professional musicians, which did not matter to Caffey.

Caffey said, “They asked me to be in the band because they thought I had all the experience. I was in other bands (bass player for The Eyes), but the other girls thought if our friends can do it, we can do it too. It was basically on a whim, it was fun. When we first had rehearsals, they didn’t even know how to plug in their equipment,” she laughs.

There were other girl bands at the time, usually managed by men, who wrote the songs and hired session musicians to back up the performers. Kim Fowley, the manager of The Runaways, was one such egotist, although he made a star of Joan Jett, the relationship was one fraught with sexual politics which The Go-Go’s wanted none of it.

Immense Obstacles

Caffey recalls “Basically no one wanted to know about us, and they literally laughed at the idea of an all-female band. There had been Fanny and there had been The Runaways, but I guess because we formed our own band, wrote our own material, and played all the instruments, maybe they thought it would never work. There were immense obstacles but the more obstacles there were, the harder we worked, and the more we were determined.”

Caffey was one of three main songwriters in The Go-Go’s, along with Wiedlin and Kathy Valentine (Olivarria’s replacement). Caffey also played lead guitar and keyboard until a crippling bout of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome nearly routed her career. However, she was determined not to let the affliction keep her from pursuing her dream.

In 1989, she felt it was the right time to release a new album, yet was unsure which direction she wished to go in. Shyness made Caffey wary of trying for a solo career, even with her strong, resonant voice. She also was dubious about working with another all-girl band, she did not want to be in another band with similar problems The Go-Go’s had. Caffey had a vision and she was willing to try anything to make a success of it, despite her fears.

“I was scared of working with women again. I didn’t want to face the problems women bands have to go through. Things are a lot better for women bands now. People still distinguish The Graces as an all female band. They don’t say U2 is an all male band. But I think The Go-Go’s paved the way for The Graces, so I feel like stuff that happened back then is helping us now. I think people are much more open minded now.”

The Graces

Caffey named her band The Graces in reverence to three goddesses of Greek Mythology; the patrons of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, and fertility. Caffey (middle) wrote, or co-wrote all The Graces songs, but she was not comfortable singing lead alone. After auditioning several young women, she chose Meredith Brooks (right) and Gia Ciambotti (left) to be her partners.

Caffey married Jeff MacDonald from the band Redd Kross, and in 1995, their daughter Astrid was born. Pregnant in1994, Caffey was unable to tour with The Go-Go’s who had briefly reunited to do an album. Vicki Peterson from The Bangles substituted.

Today, Caffey is known for songwriting, composing music for film and television, as well as producing and playing instruments for other artists. That is when she is not touring with the reunited Go-Go’s.

Recently, Caffey and sister-in-law Anna Waronker (married to Jeff MacDonald’s brother Steven) composed the music for a stage musical, Lovelace about the turbulent life of 70s porn star Linda Lovelace, with former Family Ties starlet Tina Yothers in the lead role.

In recent years, Caffey and Waronker formed their own record label called Five Foot Two Records.

Tagged Charlotte Caffey, Elissa Bello, Gia Cambotti, Margot Olivarria, music, The Go-Go's. Belinda Carlisle, The Graces