Download All I Ever Wanted by Kathy Valentine PDF book free online – From All I Ever Wanted by Kathy Valentine PDF: A Go-Go’s bassist 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 find success and find yourself, even when it all comes crashing down
At twenty-one, Kathy Valentine was at 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 after its end. 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.
Related: What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Oyeyemi Helen
Table of Contents
Review
“Valentine recounts in vivid detail the gloriously debauched path of the Go-Gos through early rock success…[she] captures both the carefree bliss of being young, beautiful, rich and talented, and the darkness that such freedom can breed.”, Los Angeles Times Published On: 2020-04-02
“[A] vibrant new autobiography.”, Washington Post Published On: 2020-05-05
“[An] excellent recent memoir.”, New York Times Published On: 2020-07-29
“[All I Ever Wanted] is wonderful. It’s also an easy read, the prose as rhythmic and pulsating as [Valentine’s] musicianship…All I Ever Wanted isn’t a Rocky-like tale of victory, with a final act which sees The Go-Go’s on top of the world conquering all comers. This is the story of a musician, a lifer, who simply refused to quit.”, L.A. Weekly Published On: 2020-02-27
“In her candid new book, All I Ever Wanted…Valentine reflects on the highs of global stardom, the lows of substance abuse, and the aftermath of one of the ’80s great pop bands.”, Austin Monthly Published On: 2020-03-01
“A revealing new book…[All I Ever Wanted is] not a dirty tell-all of life in the Go-Go’s, but rather a cathartic analysis of [Valentine’s] own life. The struggles and successes that made her the strong, sober, self-sufficient, musician and mother that she is today.”, Please Kill Me Published On: 2020-03-16
“For those who enjoy the name-dropping in a celebrity’s book, Valentine has lots. From John Belushi to Rod Stewart, Lenny Kravitz to the Rolling Stones, she shares her adventures with some of the biggest names in music and movies. For those who love a good rags-to-riches story, there’s poverty, loneliness, drugs, love, fame, heartbreak, happiness and finally contentment. And for those into music history, Valentine takes us through her songwriting and playing with the Textones, the Go-Go’s and the Delphines, how she wrote her first song, “Can’t Stop The World,” and probably her most well-known tune, “Vacation,” and how guitar has always been her first love.”, Glide Magazine Published On: 2020-03-23
“Raw and engrossing…Far from judgmental or cloying, All I Ever Wanted is a candid and self-aware memoir that provides a street view of a remarkable time in both Austin and LA’s musical histories as well as a thoughtful perspective on the pressures, successes and failures of the music business and what it means to be a bold and hungry young woman within it.”, Ovrld Published On: 2020-03-18
“Valentine recounts in candid detail her life’s ups-and-downs, including some unsettling revelations.”, Page Six Published On: 2020-03-25
“An open and often surprising read.”, Billboard Published On: 2020-03-25
Review
“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. 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, New York Times best-selling author of Running with Scissors and Toil & Trouble
About the Author
Kathy Valentine is a working musician and songwriter known for being part of the all-female band the Go-Go’s. She wrote or cowrote many of the band’s most renowned songs, including “Vacation” and “Head Over Heels.” In addition to playing music and writing songs, Valentine has worked as an actor, public speaker and spokesperson, and producer. In 2017 she created “She Factory,” an event series to raise money for women-centered nonprofits. She currently lives in her hometown of Austin with her daughter, where she plays in a band and is completing her first college degree.
