Welcome back to the Deep Dive. When you think
about American rock history, especially women
pioneers in punk and new wave, well, the name
Catherine Valentine, Cassie Valentine, it's got
to be right up there. Absolutely. Most people
know the headlines, right? Rock and Roll Hall
of Famer, basses for the Go -Go's. Huge hits.
Yeah, The Essentials. But that's really just
the starting point. Exactly. And our sources
today, they really paint this picture of just
extraordinary creative range. It goes so far
beyond just those platinum albums. So our mission
here for you listening is to give you that deep,
really structured understanding of Valentine's
Roll, not just, you know, a member of a legendary
band. Right. But as this dynamic musician in
her own right, a guitarist first, actually, a
composer, a memoirist, a real cultural figure.
We're definitely going beyond the hits today.
We want to explore the real architecture of her
career, how a guitarist becomes a bassist basically
overnight. Yeah, the story's wild. And how she
handled the volatile band stuff, the big lawsuit.
Which is pretty crushing, yeah. And how she kept
coming back to her own roots, that identity,
especially in the Austin and L .A. scenes, the
blues and rock stuff. We've got a ton of sources
that confirm these core identities. Musician,
songwriter, memoirist. It's all there. And just
to get us grounded chronologically, born January
7, 1959, Austin, Texas. And her career spanned,
I mean, decades before getting that ultimate
validation right. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
induction with the Go -Go's. That was October
2021. Yeah. So we're going to explore the sheer.
you know, dedication and persistence it took
to bridge that huge gap. OK, let's dig in. Where
did it all start? What was the spark? It's always
so interesting, isn't it? Trying to trace back
where that spark, that moment of epiphany happens
for a rock star. And for Valentine, it wasn't
like in some smoky L .A. club. It was watching
TV halfway across the world. That's exactly right.
The real defining moment, the sources say, came
when she was just 14. This was 1973. She was
an only child raised by her single mom, who was
an English expatriate living in Austin. And they
were visiting England, and she saw Suzy Quatro
performing on Top of the Pops, the iconic UK
music show. And the sources really emphasized
this wasn't just like, oh, cool, a rock star.
It was like a fundamental revelation for her.
Totally. Because up to that point, the whole
idea of a woman really fronting a band, playing
aggressive rock music. Yeah. It just wasn't something
she'd seen in the mainstream. Not in that way.
No. Quattro wasn't just a singer with a band
behind her. She was this undeniable force, playing
bass, demanding your attention. Valentine herself
said seeing Quattro blew her mind. Wow. It just
shattered that whole idea that rock stardom was
only for guys. And that realization, well, it
pretty much set her on her path right then and
there. So that moment, that cultural lightning
strike, it translated pretty quickly into action
and even a change in schools. Yeah, pretty much
right after. In ninth grade, she switched from
public school to this alternative school called
Greenbrier. And that's where she started playing
guitar. And it moved fast. She got an electric
guitar, got an amp as soon as she was back in
Austin. And then she just started diving into
the local music scene. And that Austin scene
in the late 70s. It was incredibly rich, wasn't
it? It wasn't just punk starting up. There was
so much Texas blues rockabilly history there.
Oh, absolutely. And that's such a crucial piece
of her musical DNA. Yeah. She explicitly credits
that Austin scene for giving her such a diverse
background. She names names, right? Oh, yeah.
Jimmy Vaughn, the fabulous Thunderbirds. Huge
influences on her guitar playing. So she had
these chops rooted in blues, which is, you know.
Pretty different from the kind of stripped down
three chord punk that was also blowing up. Gives
her a different flavor from maybe some of her
L .A. contemporaries later on. Definitely. And,
you know, it gave her credibility locally, too.
And there's that great little story connecting
her to Texas music royalty. Doug Psalm. Yeah,
the Sam story is fantastic. It says a lot about
that Austin community feel. Doug Psalm, you know,
Sir Douglas Quintet, legend. Right. He let her
sit in with his band just to play the Chuck Berry
tune, Carol. Wow. Talk about pressure. Right.
Getting up there with a Texas icon, just nailing
a Chuck Berry riff. It shows she wasn't just
some kid hanging around. She was already seen
as a dedicated guitarist, accepted by the local
scene. even though she was young. So she's soaking
up this Texas blues foundation, but then punk
rock hits. That wave was just unavoidable, wasn't
it? Totally unavoidable. And it gave her the
energy and the structure for her first real bands.
Inspired by the Ramones, Blondie, The Usual Suspect.
Yeah, exactly. The energy, the DIY attitude.
So she forms this punk band, The Violators, in
Austin. This is around 1978. Okay. And they were
right in the thick of it locally, playing at
Rolls. which was Austin's very first punk club.
Ols, legendary spot. Yeah, it was a real crucible
for Austin punk. And that's where she really
honed her identity as a guitarist and a songwriter,
you know, long before bass was even on the radar.
Which leads us right to the move. She heads to
L .A., what, age 19, late 78? Yep, packed her
bags for L .A. And she didn't go alone, musically
speaking. She brought those collaborations with
her. Right, she teamed up with Carla Olson again.
From the Violators. Exactly. They co -founded
the Techstones. And the Techstones weren't just
messing around. They were a serious working band.
They put out some singles. They did. Two singles.
Yeah. One even featured an unreleased Tom Petty
song, which tells you something about the kind
of connections and material they had access to.
That's pretty cool. Yeah. She left the band in
1980, but that period was absolutely foundational.
It really cemented her as a songwriter. And this
is where it gets really interesting, right? The
songs she wrote back then as a guitarist in this
pre -fame band, they ended up being huge later
on. This is probably the single most important
point about her early career. It's about the
long game of intellectual property. Okay. So
first, Phil Seymour records her song, We Don't
Get Along, on his 1980 solo album. That already
proved her stuff was commercially viable. Right.
But the really critical thing the sources highlight
is that the Go -Go's later recorded that same
song, We Don't Get Along. And two other songs
she'd written or developed back in her Textones
days, the massive future hit Vacation. Wow. And
Can't Stop the World. So her contribution to
the Go -Go's wasn't just stepping in on bass.
She brought a briefcase full of songs with her.
Exactly. proven pre -existing intellectual property
that's huge. It shows her value was multifaceted
from day one. Okay, so having that songwriting
foundation makes her entry into the Go -Go's
even more fascinating. She's ready to contribute
songs, but the way she actually gets in the band,
it's like this emergency forcing this massive
musical shift. Yeah, the timing was just urgent.
The Go -Go's needed a bass player. Now, their
original bassist, Margot LaVaria, was sick and
ended up being replaced. Right. So Valentine,
who was already known around the L .A. scene
as this great rock guitarist, she gets the call
to fill in. But here's the kicker, the almost
unbelievable part. She wasn't really a bass player,
was she? Not extensively, not professionally.
Nope. Primarily a guitarist. So the challenge
was immense. How fast did she have to switch
from six strings to four? It's become kind of
legendary. It speaks volumes about just her raw
musical talent. and her ability to perform under
insane pressure. She apparently learned all their
songs. Which were already pretty sharp, energetic
tracks. Right. High -energy punk, new wave stuff.
Right. She learned them in just four days. Four
days. Four days. Rehearsed with the band only
twice before her first gig. That is absolutely
nuts. Baptism by Fire doesn't even cover it.
She had to master not just the notes, but the
whole feel and function of a different instrument,
the anchor. In less than a week. Incredible.
So where was this debut gig? Must have been intense.
Oh, yeah. Her first show with them, New Year's
Eve, 1980, at the Whiskey A Go -Go. The Whiskey?
On New Year's Eve? Can you imagine? One of the
most famous rock clubs on the planet. Biggest
party night of the year. With a band that was
already getting serious buzz. She must have killed
it. Had to have. Because they asked her to join
permanently almost immediately after that gig.
Wow. And then, just a few months later. March
1981, the go -go sign with IRS records. Things
took off. That speed, that adaptability, switching
from lead guitarist to the rhythm engine of what
became the biggest all -female band ever, it
just set the stage. And her songwriting, those
Textones tunes, paid off right away. Absolutely,
no question. Look at the classic albums on that
amazing debut, Beauty and the Beat, 1981. They
recorded Can't Stop the World. straight out of
her earlier writing period. You're right. But
her back catalog became absolutely essential
for the follow -up, Vacation, in 82. Yeah, the
title track basically defines that album, and
that was hers. It was. Her text stone song, Vacation.
Now, they did rework it a bit, mostly the arrangement.
She worked on that with Charlotte Caffey, the
guitarist. But that collaboration turned a solid
punk -era song into the ultimate summer pop anthem,
became the title track, the first single. It
showed just how valuable her existing songs were
to the band's success. Instantly. Okay, then
we get to Talk Show in 1984. And that songwriting
partnership with her, Kathy, really clicks again,
right? Produces maybe their biggest single. Yeah,
they co -wrote the monster hit Head Over Heels
for Talk Show. Huge song. Huge. But here's where
it gets nuanced again. Something that often gets
lost when people just say, Kathy Valentine, go
-go's bassist. By this point, on talk show, she
wasn't just playing bass. Right. This is fascinating.
The sources say she played lead guitar on several
tracks on that album. Exactly. Lead guitar. What
does that tell you when the band's official bassist
is playing lead guitar on tracks like The Single
Turn to You? Well, it tells me she's a killer
guitarist who... Maybe wasn't content just holding
down the low end. That's part of it. Yeah. Her
identity was rooted in guitar, but it also hints
at maybe some internal stuff happening. Like
what? Well, she played lead not just on Turn
to You, but also You Thought, Beneath the Blue
Sky, Good for Gone. Multiple tracks. So maybe
the official lead guitarist, Charlotte Cafe,
was maybe struggling a bit or maybe roles were
shifting. It could suggest that. Or maybe just
tremendous trust in Valentine's skills across
the board. But it definitely suggests that the
dynamic during the talk show recording was, let's
say, fluid or maybe tense. It certainly proves
that calling her just the bass player really
misses a huge part of her contribution, even
on their biggest albums. And sadly, whatever
that internal friction was during the talk show
sessions, it seems like it led directly to the
band breaking up. It really did. The difficulties
internally were massive, according to the sources.
It hit a breaking point when Jane Weedland, the
rhythm guitarist, left. Okay. They tried to keep
it going. Valentine actually moved back to rhythm
guitar. Wow. Full circle. Back to guitar. Yeah.
And they hired Paula Jean Brown for bass. But,
you know, the magic, the core dynamic, it was
broken. The Go -Go's officially broke up just
months later, May 1985. So, boom, the Go -Go's
end in 85, going from those massive stadium crowds,
platinum records, to suddenly nothing. That must
have been a huge shock, a real vacuum. Oh, absolutely.
She talked about feeling completely lost, like
her entire identity had just been absorbed into
being a go -go. Which you hear from a lot of
musicians in huge bands. It's a classic story.
And that feeling, that identity crisis, really
kick -started the next phase for her. A period
of, like, aggressive musical experimentation
to try and reclaim her own thing. Get back to
that guitar -centric rock identity. And that
meant moving away from the polished go -go sound,
back towards something maybe raw. Definitely.
First up was this band called The World's Cutest
Killers. Great name. Right. Even the name tells
you she's shifting back to a more rock, maybe
slightly punk or hard rock aesthetic. And the
lineup was pretty serious, wasn't it? Oh, yeah.
The ambition was there. It featured Kelly Johnson,
former guitarist for Girl School. Wow, girl's
school. That's a deep cut connecting with another
pioneering woman in hard rock. Exactly. A fascinating
choice. Plus her old Austin pal Jesse Sublett
on bass, Craig Aronson on drums. He later became
a big A &R guy. Right. And Jeb and Bruni on keyboards.
Yeah. A solid lineup. And they got a big name
producer involved too, Mike Chapman. Yeah, Mike
Chapman, who'd worked with Blondie, the knack.
I mean, huge hits. So getting him involved suggests
they were really aiming for a proper record deal.
Maybe major success. What happened? They recorded
demos, but while the sources say the demos got
scrapped, the band just fizzled out, split up.
Ah, that's tough. Yeah, a big setback. It kind
of showed that starting over without that go
-go's machine behind her was going to be a real
uphill battle. And the sources mentioned that
after this, and maybe some other attempts didn't
pan out, she actually stepped back for a bit.
Went back to school. That's right. Took some
time away from the music biz grind, went back
to school. It suggests a period of, you know,
really deep reevaluation after the craziness
of the Go -Go's years. Which, interestingly,
foreshadows her later academic pursuits, too.
Exactly. That desire for knowledge beyond just
music was already there. But the music kept pulling
her back in, didn't it? Which leads to this really
long -running project, the one that seems closest
to her blues and roots rock heart, the Blue Bonnets
and then the Delphines. Yeah, this partnership
with Dominique Davalos, who's a singer and bassist,
started way back in 1992. And it's incredibly
important because it shows her commitment to
these genres, the stuff she grew up on, separate
from pop. So the Blue Bonnets started as a blues
thing. Pretty much. A blues -based group. They
had some lineup changes over the years. Fans
really point to when Pinky Terzo came in on lead
vocals as a kind of high point. But the core
idea was letting Valentine get back to that Texas
blues rock guitar style. And this eventually
evolved. Right. Around early 95, the Blue Bonnets
kind of morphed into the Delphines. That became
the main Valentine Davalos band. They put out
two albums, a self -titled one in 97 and Cosmic
Speed in 2001. Okay. And the crucial thing here,
thinking back to that identity crisis, is that
Valentine was apparently really determined to
keep the Delphines going, even as the Go -Go's
reunion tours were happening. So like consciously
building and maintaining something separate,
her own thing. Exactly. An independent, creative
identity away from the big pop machine. And that
desire for creative control for her own voice,
that must have led directly to her solo album
Light Years in 2005. Oh, for sure. Light Years
was hugely ambitious. She co -produced it, wrote
everything, arranged it, played guitar, sang
the whole deal. Her chance to really show off
all those skills, lead guitarist, singer -songwriter,
outside of any band structure. Totally. And just
look at the guest list she pulled together for
that record. It says so much about the respect
she commanded in the wider rock world. Beyond
just New Wave. Yeah, who played on it? Get this.
Ace Frehley from Kiss on Guitar. Ace Frehley.
Wow. Gilby Clark from Guns N' Roses. Craig Ross,
who plays with Lenny Kravitz. And then drummers
Clem Burke from Blondie and Pete Thomas from
Elvis Costello's Attractions. That is a serious
lineup. Heavy hitters. Right. It totally validates
her standing as a serious rock musician, period.
Not just a pop star from the 80s. Show she could
hang with anyone across different rock genres.
And eventually, that deep connection to Roots
Rock, to her origins, it pulled her back home
physically, didn't it? Back to Austin in 2006.
Yeah, the homecoming. Moved back to Austin to
live full time. And it wasn't just personal.
It was professional, too. She immediately started
getting recognized locally again. Covers of local
magazines. Yep. Texas Music, the Austin Chronicle,
Austin Woman, all featured her. really highlighted
her reconnecting with that scene. And that reconnection
got cemented with a big local honor a few years
later, in 2014. Yeah, inducted into the Austin
Music Hall of Fame, which is great in itself.
But get this. Who inducted her? Who? Members
of Blondie. Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, and Klembert.
No way! That's amazing. Talk about full circle.
Her punk heroes inducting her into her hometown
hall of fame. Incredible, right? Such a perfect
recognition of her roots by the very people who
inspired her way back when. And the Bluebonnets
reformed then, with a real Texas focus, still
keeping that blues rock thing going. Yep. She
and Dominique Davalos got the Bluebonnets going
again, but this time with a proper Austin lineup.
Brought in great local players like guitarist
Yves Monzis. And they've been active since, putting
out records. Oh yeah, consistently. released
Boom Boom Boom Boom in 2010, Play Loud in 2014,
Tone Wrecker in 2017. They even toured opening
for the Waterboys across the U .S. in 2015. Wow.
So it's not just a side project. It's a real
working band. Absolutely. It proves her commitment
to that genre, regardless of what else is happening.
It's clear where her musical heart is. Okay,
so while Valentine is busy rediscovering her
roots, building this blues rock identity back
in Austin, The pull of the Go -Go's, that massive
legacy, it's still there. And the reunions got
pretty complicated, didn't they? Even volatile.
Yeah, the reunion path was definitely not smooth.
The first ones were kind of brief, you know.
They got back together briefly in 1990, did some
shows, put out a greatest hit CD, then split
again. Okay. But when they got back together
again in the mid -90s, Valentine's songwriting
actually became really key to making the reunion
financially viable, it seems. How so? They had
new chart success. In the UK, surprisingly. That's
right. She co -wrote a new song, The Whole World
Lost Its Head, for the compilation Return to
the Valley of the Go -Go's. And that song became
their highest charting single ever in the UK.
Wow, really? Higher than the Big 80 since? Apparently
so, in the UK charts. It showed that Creative
Spark was still there, and maybe there was still
an audience. Which led to a proper comeback album.
Yeah, that success kind of paved the way for
the 2001 album, God Bless the Go -Go's. And after
that... They toured pretty extensively for a
number of years. Things seemed okay for a while.
But those internal tensions, the ones that were
maybe hinted at back during the talk show era,
they eventually resurfaced, leading to a really
public, messy split in the early 2010s. Yeah,
this is the really difficult chapter. The sort
of trigger, oddly enough, was a physical injury.
Valentine broke her wrist in 2012. Ouch. Yeah.
So she obviously couldn't play the summer tour
that year. And she was replaced temporarily.
But the temporary replacement ended up becoming
permanent. In March 2013, the official Go -Go's
website just put out a statement saying she was
out. Cited irreconcilable differences. Irreconcilable
differences. That phrase can cover a lot of ground.
It sure can. And in this case, it clearly wasn't
just, you know, musical disagreements or wanting
to go separate ways amicably. It led Street to
a major lawsuit. Right. She sued the rest of
the band. This wasn't just walking away. It was
a fight. What was the core of the lawsuit? It
got really serious. She sued them in May 2013.
The claim was for breach of fiduciary duty and
abuse of control. Okay. Fiduciary duty. For listeners,
that basically means the people managing the
band's business have a legal obligation to act
in the best financial interest of all the members,
right? Exactly. So the lawsuit was basically
alleging that the other members were using their
power within the band structure, maybe the corporate
structure, to try and squeeze her out financially.
To deliberately cut her out of her share. Her
rightful earnings. That's what the suit claimed.
An attempt to deprive her of her position and
interest in the group, including her full 20
% share of the band's income and benefits. So,
yeah, it suggests the irreconcilable differences
were really fundamentally about trust, control,
and money. Deep stuff. That's incredibly rough.
How did it get resolved? Did it go to court?
No, like most of these high -stakes band astutes,
it was settled privately. Out of court. sometime
in early 2014. But the damage was clearly done.
The trust was broke. Oh, definitely. You could
feel the tension. The proof was when they announced
a farewell tour for 2016. Valentine was very
noticeably not part of that lineup. It really
looked like that was it. The end of her time
with the Go -Go's for good. So if the lawsuit
created this huge, bitter divide, what could
possibly bring them back together just a couple
of years after that? What force was that strong?
Well, ironically, it was the very thing they'd
been fighting over. Their songs, their shared
legacy, their intellectual property. How did
that work? Broadway. In 2018, a musical called
Head Over Heels debuted on Broadway. Ah, I remember
that. Based on some old text, but said to go
-go songs. Exactly. based on Sir Philip Sidney's
Arcadia, believe it or not. But the entire score
was Go -Go's hits and some Belinda Carlyle solo
stuff too. And Valentine's songs like Head Over
Heels and Vacation were obviously central to
it. So a big Broadway show. That creates a huge
amount of new interest, new publicity. It almost
demands the classic lineup be seen together,
doesn't it? For validation, for promotion. That
seems to be the strategic read, yeah. The musical
success basically put their brand back in the
spotlight in a massive way. It made their shared
history valuable again, maybe valuable enough
to overcome the personal issues. And it worked.
It brought Valentine back. It did. Directly because
of the musical success, Valentine officially
rejoined the band. They played their first show
back together as the classic five -piece lineup
in six years at the Bowery Ballroom in New York,
January 2018. She confirmed she was back in February.
And then they started making plans again, planned
tours, got derailed by COVID in 2020 like everyone
else, but then announced a big UK tour with Billy
Idol for 2022. the classic lineup was back. Incredible
turnaround. Okay, before we get to her writing
and everything else, we have to loop back to
that song writing point again. We mentioned Vacation
started as a Textone song. Right. That original
version, the pre -Go -Go's version, has actually
had its own resurgence recently, hasn't it? Like
four decades later. Yeah, this is such a cool
example of how creative work can just endure.
That original Textone's recording of Vacation,
the grittier, punkier version she wrote way back
when she was just a guitarist in this relatively
unknown band. Yeah. It got picked as the theme
song for the Starz cable series Hightown, which
debuted in May 2020. No kidding. That's fantastic.
Isn't it? It's just this amazing testament to
how good that original song was and how durable
good songwriting can be. It proves that valuable
IP, valuable art, it finds a way. It can find
a new life, generate new income, decades after
it was created, even the first version. So the
last decade or so for Valentine, it really shows
this incredible evolution, doesn't it? This focus
on more intellectual pursuits, reflection. She's
not just resting on the rock star laurels. She's
actively studying. Yeah, that return to academia
we mentioned earlier. It wasn't just a brief
thing. She's seriously working towards finishing
an interdisciplinary degree. English and Fine
Arts. Okay. And you can really see how that academic
discipline, that focus on language and structure,
probably directly fed into the quality of her
memoir. Right, All I Ever Wanted, which got fantastic
reviews when it came out. Universal praise, pretty
much. It was published by the University of Texas
Press. In March 2020, she'd signed the deal back
in 2016. It hit number one on Amazon's rock biography
chart. Wow. And the praise wasn't just for, you
know, the gossipy band stuff. People really responded
to the quality of the writing itself. The honesty
about her whole journey, the punk scene, addiction
struggles, finding her own voice outside the
go -go's machine. It really cemented her identity
as a serious writer. And she's used those writing
chops elsewhere, too, hasn't she? Not just the
memoir. Yeah, absolutely. She started writing
music reviews for the Talk House. Which is cool,
right? Stepping into that critic role, offering
her unique perspective as someone who's been
deep inside the music industry. Yeah, seeing
it from both sides. Exactly. And beyond the writing,
she seems to have really embraced public speaking,
advocacy work. Yeah. Using her platform. Definitely.
She's done keynote speaking for some pretty significant
organizations. The American Heart Association's
Go Red for Women event, for example, and also
the MEOW conference. M -E -O -W. What's that?
It stands for Musicians for Equity, Opportunity
and Women. really focused on supporting women
in the music industry. Ah, okay. And it was at
that MEOW conference where that incredible, perfect,
full -circle moment happened, wasn't it? The
Suzy Quatro connection. This is just the emotional
payoff, isn't it? In 2013, at that conference,
Kathy Valentine, the teenage girl whose world
was rocked, seeing Suzy Quatro on TV back in
73, she got to present a Valor Award to Suzy
Quatro. Wow. That gives me chills. Right. It's
just this perfect connection. The spark from
1973 directly leading to this moment of recognition
and respect 40 years later. The student honoring
the master. It powerfully underlines that whole
theme of female representation in rock. Absolutely.
And she didn't just honor past heroes. She worked
to help the next generation, too, as a musical
director. Yeah. Also in 2013, she put together
this all -female, all -star band for the Experience
Music Project's now Mopop Women Who Rock exhibit.
Okay. She acted as musical director, brought
in influential musicians, singers, really used
her position to create a platform and showcase
female talent. Again, pushing back against that
historically. male -dominated industry vibe.
And on a more personal entrepreneurial level,
her return to Austin involved more than just
music, right? There was a business venture too.
That's correct. For a few years, she and her
then -husband, Stephen Weisberg, were partners
in a place called the Townsend. I think I remember
hearing about that, a bar and venue downtown.
Yeah, pretty stylish place. It was a bar and
performance venue, operated from 2016 to 2020.
So she was really investing back into the Austin
cultural scene, providing a space for live music,
being part of that ecosystem. So all these different
threads, the music, the writing, the advocacy,
the business, it all kind of comes together,
leading to that ultimate recognition for her
core work with the Go -Go's. Exactly. After the
long journey, the ups and downs, the lawsuits,
the reunions, the validation finally arrived.
October 30, 2021. Kathy Valentine and the rest
of the Go -Go's were inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame. Finally, a recognition of
just how pioneering they were, how much they
changed things for women in rock. Absolutely.
It was long overdue for many people. And how
did they celebrate? They did a special show,
right? They did. The absolute perfect celebration.
A special show at the Whiskey -A -Go -Go in December
2021. Back at the whiskey, where she had that
insane four -day prep debut gig all those decades
ago. Exactly. Yeah. Closing that massive loop,
unfortunately, some subsequent dates got canceled
because of a COVID case in the touring party.
But that moment, celebrating the Hall of Fame
induction back at the Whiskey, that really sealed
it. Her place in rock history, undeniable. Hashtag
OUTRO. So if we try to wrap up this deep dive
on Kathy Valentine, the big theme that just keeps
jumping out is... Well, it's versatility, isn't
it? And this constant process of self -definition.
Absolutely. She starts as a guitarist, becomes
the bassist and anchor for this massive pop band,
like impossibly fast. Right. And brings this
huge songwriting contribution with her, stuff
written before she even joined. Yeah. Generating
those massive hits, then navigating that whole
post -fame identity thing by going back to her
blues rock roots. And crucially committing to
the writing, the academic side, really building
a multifaceted identity. Yeah. And if you connect
that to the bigger picture. Her story really
shows a value of just creative persistence, especially
the work done outside the big spotlight. And
her willingness to fight for her own value, right?
Even through that really tough lawsuit, it showed
this dedication to like creative and financial
self -sovereignty. Definitely. And that fight
for identity combined with the discipline she
clearly developed, that led directly to the success
of that incredible memoir. Yeah. And just the
fact that Vacation, a song she wrote for the
Techstones, a band she left before the Go -Go's
even hit big, that that song is not only the
title track of a huge album, but is still finding
life now as a theme song for a TV show. 40 years
later. It's just such a powerful lesson, isn't
it, about the enduring value of creativity, about
intellectual property. It makes you think the
art we create, maybe when we feel it matters
least, maybe that's the stuff that lasts the
longest. So the big thought maybe to leave you.
listener with is this. How often do we overlook
that earliest creative work, that thing you're
doing now, maybe for some small project you think
won't go anywhere? It might actually contain
the most essential, the most durable, creative
DNA of your entire life's work. It's a real argument
for just valuing every single thing you create,
no matter how small the stage feels at the time.
You just never know when the world might finally
catch up and decide that first raw vision is
ready for its close -up or, you know, its theme
song moment.