Kathy Valentine | |
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.jpg) Valentine performing in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kathryn Valentine |
| Born | (1959-01-07)January 7, 1959 (age 66) Austin, Texas, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1978[1]-present |
| Website | kathyvalentine |
Kathryn Valentine (born January 7, 1959)[2] is an American musician who is the bassist for the rock bandthe Go-Go's. She has maintained a career in music through songwriting, recording, performing and touring as well as additional academic and creative pursuits. Valentine was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in October 2021 as a member of The Go-Go's.[3][4]
Valentine was born on January 7, 1959, inAustin, Texas, an only child who was raised by her single mother, an English expatriate. In 9th grade she began playing guitar after she moved from public school to an alternative school called Greenbriar. In 1973, while visiting England with her mother, she happened to seeSuzi Quatro onTop Of The Pops, and said it "blew her mind". It had never occurred to her that a woman could be a rock star.[5]
She returned to Austin, got an electric guitar and amp, and began looking for bandmates. She credits the Austin music scene for her diverse musical roots, in particularJimmie Vaughan andThe Fabulous Thunderbirds, as well as Texas iconDoug Sahm who let her onstage to sit in with his band on theChuck Berry song "Carol".[6]
In 1975, on a subsequent family visit to London with her mother, she answered an ad inMelody Maker and joined the fledglingGirlschool. She missed a gig due to illness and was replaced byKelly Johnson, with whom she would later work. Inspired by the punk scene and bands like theRamones andBlondie, Valentine returned to Austin and formed the punk band the Violators, alongsideCarla Olson,Jesse Sublett and Marilyn Dean. The band played atRaul's, Austin's first punk club, in February 1978.[7]
In late 1978, aged 19, Valentine moved to Los Angeles and co-founded the Textones with Carla Olson. The Textones released two singles, including an unreleased Tom Petty song, before Valentine left the band in 1980. During her time in the Textones,Phil Seymour recorded "We Don't Get Along", a song she'd written. The Go-Go's would later record this song as well as other songs she'd written during the Textones period, such as "Vacation" and "Can't Stop The World".[8]
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Valentine was asked to play bass, an instrument that she had not played extensively, as a substitute for the Go-Go's bass player Margot Olavarria, who had been ill and the band decided needed to be replaced. She says she learned their songs over four days and rehearsed with them twice before hitting the stage on New Year's Eve 1980 atWhisky a Go Go.[9] Valentine was asked to remain as a permanent member shortly thereafter. The Go-Go's were signed to I.R.S. Records in March 1981. "Can't Stop the World" was recorded for the Go-Go's debut album,Beauty and the Beat.
The second album featured Valentine's previous Textones song "Vacation" as the title track and first single, after re-working the arrangement with Go-Gos' guitaristCharlotte Caffey. On the Go-Gos' third LP,Talk Show, Valentine also co-wrote with Caffey the hit single "Head over Heels," and played lead guitar on several songs, including the single "Turn To You", album cuts "You Thought", "Beneath The Blue Sky", and "Good For Gone".
The band struggled with internal difficulties during the recording ofTalk Show, and tried to stay together after the departure of rhythm guitaristJane Wiedlin. Valentine moved to rhythm guitar duties, and Paula Jean Brown was hired to play bass. The Go-Go's broke up in May 1985.
After the break up, Valentine said that she felt lost and that her identity had become absorbed into being a Go-Go.[6] Returning to her rock roots, she formed the World's Cutest Killers, a line up she thought would be successful, featuring former Girlschool guitaristKelly Johnson, her old friend Jesse Sublett on bass, drummer (future A&R man) Craig Aaronson, and keyboardist Jebin Bruni. The group attracted the attention of producerMike Chapman and recorded demos, which were scrapped, and the band split up.[6][10] Several other bands and line ups went nowhere, and Valentine returned to school.[11] In 1990, the Go-Go's reunited for concerts and a CD of greatest hits, but split again soon after.[citation needed]
In 1992, Valentine began her longest collaboration and partnership with singer and bassistDominique Davalos. They formed the BlueBonnets, a blues-based group. With high-profile guests sitting in with the band, club goers lining up to see them, and performances at celebrity wedding receptions and parties, record company scouts took notice but the band went through line up changes — many fans thought the addition of Pinky Turzo on lead vocals was the group's pinnacle, although attempts to capture the magic in the studio proved fruitless — and eventually morphed into the Valentine/Davalos band The Delphines early in 1995.[12]
The Go-Go's began working together again, with Valentine co-writing "The Whole World Lost Its Head" onReturn To The Valley of The Go-Go's, a song which became the band's highest charting U.K. single. The band released a new CDGod Bless The Go-Go's in 2001, toured extensively for many years, and appeared in a popular DVD live concert,The Go-Go's Live In Central Park. Determined not to let the Go-Go's define her this time around, Valentine kept The Delphines going, and the band released two albums,The Delphines (1996) andCosmic Speed (2001).[13]
In 2005, Valentine released a solorecording,Light Years, that she co-produced, wrote, arranged and performed the guitar and vocal tracks.Light Years featured musician friends, including Kiss guitaristAce Frehley, Guns and Roses guitaristGilby Clarke, Lenny Kravitz, guitaristCraig Ross, and drummersClem Burke andPete Thomas.[14] She began the record while pregnant in 2002 and wrote several songs with then husband, attorney and musician Steven Weisburd.[citation needed]
In 2006, Valentine returned to her hometown to reside. She has been featured on the cover of the Fall 2010 issue ofTexas Music, a February 2007 issue of theAustin Chronicle,[6] and the February 2009 issue ofAustin Woman.[15]
In March 2014, atSouth by Southwest she was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame by members ofBlondie (Debbie Harry,Chris Stein, andClem Burke).[16] She and Davalos re-formed The BlueBonnets with a Texas line up, including Austin guitarist Eve Monsees.[12]
The band has released two albums,Boom Boom Boom Boom (2010) andPlay Loud (2014), and were invited to open forThe Waterboys American tour in Spring 2015. Their third album,Tonewrecker, was released on April 1, 2017. Valentine and Davalos also perform in the bandLady Band Johnson with front manJohnny Goudie.[citation needed]
On March 21, 2016, The Go-Go's announced plans for a farewell tour. However Valentine would not be part of the lineup.[17]
A number of her songs were featured in the 2018 debut of theBroadwaymusical,Head Over Heels, with a story suggested byPhilip Sidney'sArcadia set to the songs ofthe Go-Go's andBelinda Carlisle.[18] As a result, Valentine rejoined the band to perform their first show together as a quintet in six years at New York's Bowery Ballroom on January 31, 2018. In February 2018, posts on the group's official Facebook page confirmed that Valentine had rejoined the band. A summer tour is planned for 2020.
The original version of her Textones song, "Vacation", is the theme song of the Starz cable seriesHightown which debuted May 2020, and was renewed for a second season.
In 2020 the group announced an 11-date reunion tour however the tour was postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[19] In September 2021, The Go-Go's announced plans for a 2022UK tour withBilly Idol that would start in June 2022.[20]
Valentine and The Go-Go's were inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 30, 2021. The group celebrated their induction with a special show at theWhisky a Go Go in December 2021.[21] The group however were forced to cancel other West Coast dates scheduled for early January 2022 due to aCOVID-19 case involving someone with the tour.[22]
While working to complete her inter-disciplinary degree in English and Fine Arts, Valentine has also begun taking writing jobs and public speaking engagements. She was the keynote speaker at The American Heart Association's Go Red For Women annual event,[23] and for the MEOW Conference, where she also presented a Valor Award to her early inspiration Suzi Quatro.[24]
In 2014, Rainbow Light Nutritional Systems presented Valentine as part of its Game Changers promotional campaign.[25]
In 2013, she put together an all-female, all-star band for the Experience Music Project's Women Who Rock Exhibit.[26]
Valentine recruited underground influential musicians and Seattle-based singers to front the band and was musical director. She has also been hired to write music reviews for The Talkhouse, an online site devoted to music and music lovers. In 2016, Valentine was the featured speaker at Kids In A New Groove annual fundraiser. The same year, Valentine signed with U.T. Press to write a memoir.[27]
The original Textones version of Valentine's song "Vacation" is the theme song of the Starz seriesHightown.
Valentine's memoir,All I Ever Wanted, was published by theUniversity of Texas Press in March 2020.[28] The book has received universal praise and was #1 on Amazon's Rock Biography chart.
A broken wrist led to Valentine being replaced on a 2012 summer tour. On March 8, 2013, the Go-Go's official website said "irreconcilable differences" had led to her departure.[29] On May 24, 2013, she sued her former bandmates for "breach offiduciary duty and abuse of control...in an attempt to deprive [her] of her position and interest in the group, including her right to receive her full 20% share of the benefits and revenues generated by the group's substantial reputation, fame, and goodwill."[30][31][32] In early 2014, the lawsuit that Valentine brought against her former bandmates was settled out of court.[citation needed] Valentine rejoined the Go-Go's in 2018 and toured with them in summer 2018.[33]
Valentine is divorced from Steven Weisburd, with whom she has a daughter. Valentine and Weisburd were partners in The Townsend, a bar and performance venue in downtown Austin from 2016 to 2020.[34][35][36]
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