Kathy Valentine

Breaking out of Hollywood’s underground club scene in the late 1970s, The Go-Go’s were pioneers in female rock, writing and arranging their own work and offering up a raw, punky style which challenged much of the era’s middle-of-the-road pop.

Bassist Kathy Valentine brought a good deal of musical proficiency and stage talent thanks to her work with Austin, Texas punk outfit, The Textones.

She also contributed meaningfully to the band’s catalog, including some of its biggest hits. 1982’s “Vacation,” launched with an unforgettable MTV video featuring the band waterskiing, ran quickly to the Top 10 and became one of The Go-Go’s most enduring songs. Spirit landed it as the theme to ‘Rugrats Vacation,’ the first long-form episode of Nickelodeon’s popular kid show, as well as in Michael Moore’s controversial ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ and the ongoing commercial campaign for Splish Splash water parks.

Valentine’s “Head Over Heels” proved to be another chart topper in 1984 (the song was featured as main title song in the Sony comedy, ’13 Going On 30’. Throughout the band’s active 1980s run, she contributed several of their most beloved album cuts, including such tracks as “Can’t Stop The World,” “We Don’t Get Along,” “I’m The Only One,” and The Whole World Lost Its Head.”