Three words: They. Kicked. Ass.

The Go-Go’s were firmly rooted in punk. The singer Belinda Carlisle began her music career with a brief stint as Dottie Danger, drummer for the Germs, the doomed underground band from Los Angeles. In 1978, she, the guitarist Jane Wiedlin and the bassist Margot Olavarria were discussing their recent trip to see the Sex Pistols in San Francisco and decided, in true punk fashion, that they could be a band themselves. They were not the first, or the last, women to find liberation in punk’s do-it-yourself ethos and antiauthoritarian energy — in Los Angeles alone, they had sisters including Alice Bag, Exene Cervenka, Phranc and the Germs bassist Lorna Doom.

But the Go-Go’s used punk as a starting point, not a destination. They weren’t afraid to not only rock but to pop too. Ms. Wiedlin and the guitarist Charlotte Caffey in particular began writing songs that were Brill Building-worthy with their clever lyrics and unabashed hooks. This turn toward a more accessible, less aggressive sound soured Ms. Olavarria, who left and was replaced by Kathy Valentine; the drummer Gina Schock eventually completed the lineup. The producers Richard Gottehrer, a veteran of the girl-group era, and Rob Freeman, who had worked with Blondie (as did Mr. Gottehrer), recognized the classic chassis underneath the band’s dented rust and polished each song until “Beauty and the Beat” became one of those albums where on every listen, a different turn of phrase or guitar lick sticks in your head. Even the band was a bit shocked when they heard how pop the final result sounded. Then the radio adds and MTV play came rolling in.

But the Go-Go’s spirit, their tough, reckless attitude, came across as sharp as ever. As a 17-year-old girl, I related to the way these songs expressed female bonding, youthful insecurity and sexual freedom. “Lust to Love” celebrated a woman’s anti-romanticism: “Love me and I’ll leave you,” the narrator warns her mate. Sure, the hunter winds up captured by the prey, but she is still unrepentant about the game.

Patti Smith, Grace Jones, Debbie Harry and Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson of the B-52’s had shown women ways of being and creating that freed our minds and bodies. But the Go-Go’s taught a new generation, who were too young for the girl groups like the Ronettes and the Crystals, the power of the girl gang. “Tonite” and “This Town” celebrated that feeling of being out of the house, out on the town, aware of your own heat and in charge of your own life.