One of the Go-Go’s Is Coming to the Midland/Odessa Area

One of the members of the 80s band The Go-Go's will be coming to the Midland/Odessa area to discuss her new book.

According to NewsWest 9, Go-Go's bassist Kathy Valentine will be at the Ector Theatre talking about her book "All I Ever Wanted: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir."

The event is part of the Odessa Arts' Authors @ The Ector series and will be happening this Thursday, April 14. The event will be followed by a book signing.

The book is about Valentine's experiences with the band and about finding success and finding yourself when it all falls apart.

Valentine was born in Austin, Texas on January 7, 1959, and credits the Austin music scene for her diverse musical roots.

When she joined the Go-Go's, she was asked to play bass to replace the bassist who had just left the group due to an illness. Bass was the one instrument she had not played a lot but she learned all the songs of the Go-Go's in four days before hitting the stage with the group on New Year's Eve 1980 at Whisky a Go-Go, a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California.

Valentine was asked to be a permanent part of the Go-Go's after that and the band was signed by I.R.S. Records in March 1981, "Beauty and the Beat," their debut album, was released in July 1981 and hit #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart on March 6, 1982.

The Go-Go's were the first all-female band that wrote their own material and played all their own instruments to hit #1 on the Billboard Top 200.

Valentine will begin speaking at 7:00 pm on April 14, doors open at 6:00. Tickets are $10 for students, $20 for Odessa Arts Members, and $25 for non-members.