“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

Kathy Valentine.

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 bass.

Their first two albums, Beauty and the Beat (1981) and Vacation (1982), were massive hits with the assistance of singles We Got the Beat, Our Lips Are Sealed and Vacation. Even before then, though, Valentine knew the band was onto something.