“The Go-Go’s asked if I could play bass. ‘Sure,’ I said. I had never been the bass player in a band, but I figured how hard could it be?”: Kathy Valentine switched away from guitar for The Go-Go’s –until her solo skills were called upon again

In 1980 Kathy Valentine was a 21-year-old punk guitarist from Austin, Texas, who’d never have guessed she’d wind up joining LA power-poppers the Go-Go’s. But when she got together with Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey and Gina Schock, Valentine changed her game and switched to . Their first two albums, (1981) and (1982), were massive hits with the assistance of singles , and .

Even before then, though, Valentine knew the band was onto something. “Making my way through the demo tape, one thing became clear through the distortion of the cassette player: the Go-Go’s had some really good songs,” she says. “Each tune had a distinct personality and sound, and all of them were powered by great drumming and melodies.

“They blended punk, pop, surf and rock like no one else. For the rest of the day and through the night, I played those 19 songs. The next day, I did the same.

I had never sustained such an undiluted, deep focus.” As part of the zeitgeist in the early ‘80s, providing a sugary-sweet alternative to some of LA’s grittier groups, they were welcomed to the scene. “The Go-Go’s came out of the LA punk scene,” she says.

“And the punk scene absolutely embraced women. Newcomer amateurs, gays, non-whites – without punk rock, there’s a massive wealth of music and talent the world would have never known.” The band’s downfall came as fast as their success: a year after their third album, 1984’s – which featured Valentine on bass.