The Texas Observer

She’s Got the Beat

THE GO-GO’S WERE USED TO HAVING THEIR STORY WRITTEN FOR them. It’s happened to any band that has weathered a press junket: the same handful of anecdotes, origin myths, and quotes trotted out in every interview, profile, and concert preview. Let’s get that out of the way quickly, then. When the Los Angeles-based five-piece first began gigging at clubs on the Sunset Strip in the late ’70s, most of them were novices. “Every story mentioned how the Go-Go’s could barely play when they started, and look at them now,” bassist Kathy Valentine, an

Austin native, would write years later. “It gave

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Texas Observer

The Texas Observer9 min readLGBTQIA+ Studies
‘Drag Is So Healing’: Austin’s Queens Defy Ban
In an orange prison jumpsuit and chains, a tall, lean drag queen writhed to a cover of “War Pigs” by Brass Against, which sounds like someone swapped Black Sabbath’s lead singer for a woman and added a highly caffeinated marching band. As she lip-syn
The Texas Observer5 min read
Ghosts From Texas’ Past
Initially, the inside of the historic building on Cedar Street in Austin’s expensive Hyde Park neighborhood seems ordinary: Fluorescent lights line a narrow, carpeted hallway off of which branch offices, most just big enough for a desk and a few shel
The Texas Observer2 min read
Editor’s Note
Republicans like to say they believe in limited government and oppose wasteful spending. But as Senior Writer Justin Miller’s cover story argues, Governor Greg Abbott’s $20 billion border wall puts the lie to this myth. It is not the job of states to

Related Books & Audiobooks