Creativity Quote by Kathy Valentine

“But the Go-Go’s are a very original, kind of organic thing” is Kathy Valentine gently swatting away the idea that the band was manufactured pop, a prefab “girl group” assembled to sell a look. That opening “But” matters: it implies an argument already in the room. Someone, somewhere, has framed the Go-Go’s as product rather than project, as a novelty rather than a band with a scene, a history, and scars earned the hard way.

Calling them “original” isn’t just bragging; it’s a defense of authorship. The Go-Go’s wrote their songs, played their instruments, toured relentlessly, and came up through the L.A. punk ecosystem before they were radio-friendly. “Organic” is Valentine’s key word because it points to mess, chemistry, and time - the unglamorous stuff that doesn’t fit the tidy industry narrative. It suggests a band that grew the way bands are supposed to grow: by arguing in rehearsal rooms, by figuring out how to translate raw energy into hooks, by becoming themselves in public.

The subtext is also gendered, because women in rock have historically been treated as exceptions or facsimiles. “Organic” pushes back against the suspicion that female success must be engineered. It’s Valentine insisting the Go-Go’s didn’t just arrive as an image; they evolved as a unit. The line lands because it’s understated. No manifesto, no bitterness - just a musician reclaiming the origin story from the people who keep trying to edit it.