Thacker Mountain Radio Hour Features Member of the 80s Rock Group, The Go-Go’s

The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour will conclude its spring season this week with a special appearance by Kathy Valentine, bassist for the rock group, The Go-Go’s. Valentine will read from her new memoir, All I Ever Wanted, and play songs from her new solo album of the same name. Texas novelist Paulette Jiles and blues slide guitarist Harlem Slim will also appear. All three guests will perform remotely via self-recorded performances.

The show is hosted by Jim Dees and Thacker house band, The Yalobushwhackers, also with prerecorded performances.

The broadcast can be heard Thursday, April 23, at 6 pm on WUMS (92.1 FM in Oxford), and online. The show will rebroadcast Saturday, April 25, at 7 pm on Mississippi Public Broadcasting (90.3 FM in Oxford) and at 9 pm Saturday on Alabama Public Radio.

Due to health concerns, the radio show suspended audience-attended live shows at Off Square Books and the Lyric for the remainder of its April schedule. The weekly program has continued with shows originating in its studio.

“Our sound engineer, Jeffrey Reed, has a world-class studio, Taproot Audio Design, in his house,” says host Dees. “Most of our cancelled guests still want to promote their new books and records, so our producer, Alice Pierotti, encouraged them to send in their performances, do-it-yourself style. We’re really excited Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s responded with a reading from her new book and new music.”

Kathy Valentine was just twenty-one when she was hired as bassist for the-then-fledging rock band, the Go-Go’s, in 1980. Eighteen months later, the band had a multi-platinum-selling album and arena tour. The group is credited with being the first all-female band to play instruments themselves, write their own songs, and have a number one album.

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.” Valentine co-wrote several of the band’s classics including “Vacation” and “Head Over Heels.”

Valentine’s account of those years, All I Ever Wanted—A Rock and Roll Memoir (University of Texas Press) 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 and the devastation after the collapse of the band.

This year, the Go-Go’s were scheduled to reunite for an eight-city tour before the coronavirus pandemic forced postponement. For her Thacker appearance, Valentine will read excerpts from her book and spin selections from her new album.

Paulette Jiles’s novel, Simon the Fiddler (William Morrow), is an atmospheric story, set at the end of the Civil War. The titular character is an itinerant fiddle player who travels with a ragtag band of musicians. He enjoys the shadowy night life until he meets the charming young Irish lass who steals his heart—with complications, of course. Publisher’s Weekly said, “Jiles’s limber tale satisfies with welcome splashes of comedy and romance.”

Paulette Jiles is a novelist, poet, and memoirist. She lives on a ranch near San Antonio, Texas.

“The Original Harlem Slim” is the stage name for blues musician Tito Deler, a New York City modern soul man. Deler is reportedly working on a new release for Blue Front Records with Jimmy “Duck” Holmes.

After this week’s show, The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour will continue to be heard at the above-listed times every Thursday and Saturday throughout the spring and summer. The show will feature past broadcasts from recent seasons, vintage performances, as well as, Dees says, some surprises.