(Los Angeles, CA) – January 30, 2020 – From Kathy Valentine, a member of the groundbreaking, all-female rock band – The Go-Go’s – comes All I Ever Wanted – A Rock ‘N’ Roll Memoir (on sale 4/9/20; hardcover; $26.95; ISBN: 978-1-4773-1233-9). Beginning in March, Valentine will embark on a number of special book and musical appearances where she will read selections from the memoir and discuss her experiences before, during, and after the Go-Go’s rise to fame. Performing songs, signing books and in conversation with a host of friends, colleagues and kindred spirits, these get togethers promise to be more than a typical literary event.
Coinciding with All I Ever Wanted, Valentine is releasing a soundtrack with each new work inspired by the chapters of her memoir.
Pre-orders available, here. See below for full itinerary with more events to be announced shortly.
Kathy Valentine’s story is a roller coaster of sex, drugs, and of course music; it’s also a story of what it takes to not only find success but, find yourself, even when it all comes crashing down. At twenty-one, Valentine was in the iconic venue The Whisky in Los Angeles when she met a guitarist from a fledgling band called the Go-Go’s and the band needed a bassist. The Go-Go’s became the first multi-platinum-selling, all-female band to play instruments themselves, write their own songs, and have a number one album. Their debut, Beauty and the Beat, spent six weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 and featured the hit songs “We Got the Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed.” The record’s success brought the pressures of a relentless workload and schedule culminating in a wild, hazy, substance-fueled tour that took the band from the club circuit to arenas, where fans, promoters, and crew were more than ready to keep the party going. For Valentine, the band’s success was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream but, it’s only part of her story. All I Ever Wanted traces the path that took her from her childhood in Texas, where she all but raised herself, to the height of rock ’n’ roll stardom, devastation after the collapse of the band that had come to define her, and the quest to regain her sense of self in the aftermath.
Valentine also speaks candidly about the lasting effects of parental betrayal, abortion, rape, and her struggles with drugs and alcohol—and the music that saved her every step of the way. Populated with vivid portraits of Valentine’s interactions during the 1980s with musicians and actors from the Police and Rod Stewart to John Belushi and Rob Lowe, All I Ever Wanted is a deeply personal reflection on a life spent in music.
(photo credit: from authors collection)
“Like a scorching guitar solo emerging from the prettiest pop song, Kathy Valentine’s All I Ever Wanted blows away every other music memoir out there. It’s the raw, real story of a Texas girl who raised herself and became a legend through sheer grit and talent, from raucous rocker to pop princess and back again. In prose that is powerful and relatable and unsentimental and funny and scary, Valentine takes readers from the depths of a dark childhood to the electric heights of superstardom. It’s a stunning journey, masterfully told.”
— Augusten Burroughs, author of Running With Scissors
“All I Ever Wanted” Book Events with Kathy Valentine & Special Guests where noted:
March 28 Woodstock Bookfest Woodstock, NY
April 3 Book People Austin, TX (with John Doe)
April 4 SABF San Antonio, TX
April 7 Book Soup/W. Hwd Library Los Angeles, CA (with Kathleen Hanna)
April 8 Green Apple San Francisco, CA (with Gina Schock)
April 15 NY Public Library New York, NY (with Anthony DeCurtis)
April 20 Greenlight @ St. Joseph’s Brooklyn, NY (with Lizz Winstead)
April 26 Cactus Music Houston, TX
May 2 Books in the Basin Festival Odessa, TX
May 7-8 Mom 2.0 Conference Los Angeles, CA
May TBA Parnassus Nashville, TN (with Ann Powers)
May TBA Lark & Owl Georgetown, TX
May 17 Antone’s Austin, TX (with Jody Denberg)
May 19 Nowhere Books San Antonio, TX (with Jenny Lawson)
May 22 Fabled Books Waco, TX
May 28 Once Somerville Boston, MA (with Tanya Donnelly)
August 15 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Cleveland, OH
More Events TBA