Happy Birthday to us, Belinda Carlisle 🎉🍰

Hello hello silver bloggers, music lovers and Hello hivers!

One of my favourite days because it means a post on Hive will be written by me, and I get to hear other music that Hivers and Hiveians enjoy. Well for the select band that participate in ttt anyway!

Picture by me, editied in Grok ... very apt for her charity work ... What do you think?

Yesterday, the 17th of August, was a double celebration in my book. Aside from marking another trip around the sun for myself, it was also the birthday of the legendary Belinda Carlisle.

She might be a wee bit older than me, but back in the day (and truth be told, still now), she had that effortless Californian charm and unmistakable voice that made her impossible not to fancy.

The lead image takes inspiration from the animal charity she helped found.

3 tunes from the wonderful Belinda Carlisle.

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It is Tuesday and that of course means that it's #ttt or #threetunetuesday and so it's time to share some tunes with you!

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@ablaze started #ttt 272 weeks ago! Go check out what it is all about on his latest post RIP Glen Hansard funeral for Three Tune Tuesday - Week 271 - win some HBI

Do go support @ablaze as without him we would not have this mental fun musical activity that you can win HSBI from! I am happy to be one of the SIX sponsors and it is kinda fun checking out music from all over this global village of ours!

He has just released some winners posts, so go support his posts, he gets no support from any whales or even curation trails for these posts that he does. 272 weeks is an incredible amount of time, and I for one love that he runs this, and I appreciate the time and dedication that he puts in, when he could be doing something else.

Long live #ttt 😁🎼 and #threetunetuesday

Belinda Carlisle

For this week’s ttt, we are celebrating a wonderful lady, an amazing singer, and a person with a heart of gold.

Who the fluff is Belinda Carlisle?

Born in California in 1958, Belinda Carlisle first made rock history fronting The Go-Go's, the first all-female group writing and playing their own chart-topping hits. In the late 1980s, she reinvented herself as a global solo pop superstar with timeless anthems like Heaven Is a Place on Earth. Beyond music, she is a dedicated animal welfare advocate, charity founder, and passionate Kundalini yoga practitioner.

What is Belinda Carlisle’s animal welfare charity, and how does it work?

You know, while I was researching this post, I found out about her animal welfare work. She got married in 1986 and is still married 40 years later, that for a musician and in today's world in general is a pretty damn good feat.

But it is her charity work that had me signing up to donate and potentially go on an immersion trip!

Belinda Carlisle co-founded the Animal People Alliance (APA) alongside NGO director Paul Harvey. The charity was created with a dual mission: to rescue and care for vulnerable street animals while simultaneously creating sustainable, meaningful employment for local individuals facing severe social or economic barriers.

Key Aspects of the Charity thanks to Gemini for helping paraphrase
Locations: The charity operates primarily in Kolkata, India and Chiang Rai, Thailand, with expansion plans in Mexico.

Veterinary Care & Rescue: APA runs mobile animal ambulances and clinics that provide emergency medical treatment, mass vaccinations (including rabies prevention), and spay/neuter sterilisation programmes for street dogs and cats.

Community Empowerment: Rather than flying in outside staff, the organisation recruits and trains local residents—more than 75% of whom are women, including survivors of trafficking and people with disabilities—to become skilled veterinary technicians, animal handlers, and caregivers.

Direct Funding: Belinda actively helps fund the operations through benefit concerts, fundraising drives, and personal donations, having helped treat over 30,000 animals since its inception.

I have dropped the link to Animal People Alliance right here. It has been quite a few years since I was in India, so you never know. This might be the wee kick up the arse I need to go back.

Here are three amazing tunes from various points in Belinda Carlisle's career.

Tune 1 - Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed

We have to start with one from when she was in the Go-Go's!

Before the polished solo anthems came the sun-drenched, punchy new wave energy of The Go-Go's. Co-written by guitarist Jane Wiedlin and Terry Hall of The Specials / Fun Boy Three, Our Lips Are Sealed is pure, melodic perfection.

Another thing I learned whilst researching this post! Terry Hall RIP is another of my favourite singers and I had no idea he co-wrote this.

Belinda’s lead vocals are breezy, defiant, and loaded with personality. It introduced the world to her signature sound and cemented the band's place in pop-rock history.

Tune 2 - Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is a Place on Earth

Probably her most famous tune and the one that sent her viral before that was even a thing so to speak!

When Belinda went solo, she teamed up with producer Rick Nowels and hit songwriter Ellen Shipley, delivering one of the defining mega-hits of late-80s pop. Heaven Is a Place on Earth reached Number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. Propelled by thunderous drums, soaring key changes, and a cinematic video directed by Diane Keaton, this is the track that transformed her from American new-wave sweetheart to international superstar.

Tune 3 - Belinda Carlisle – Leave a Light On

We finish up today's ttt by jumping forward a couple of years to 1989.

Taken from her critically acclaimed 1989 album Runaway Horses, this track showcases the rich, emotive tone of her vocals at their peak. It features an unmistakable, blistering slide guitar solo contributed by none other than George Harrison. It is driving, romantic, and remains one of the finest pop-rock tracks of the era.

Now don't forget to Leave a Light on for me!!!

So there you have it, 3 songs released from Belinda Carlisle and a very happy birthday to you and me hehe and I wish us both many more trips round the sun!!

Which was your favourite tune? Or have you never heard of her?

Note: The 3 YouTube videos that I have shared are not owned by me, I am simply spreading great music on Hive.

I wish that you all have a brilliant happy fun and terrific Tuesday until we meet again enjoy your tunes 🎶🎵🎶

Thanks for visiting!

The images and ramblings are from me, with some assistance from gemini on the verbage and the lead image, the mad Scotsman TengoLoTodo unless otherwise stated.

@tengolotodo August 18th 2026

DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND DO IT OFTEN

HASTE YE BACK