Girlschool

British rock band
the band

Girlschool are a British rock band that formed in the new wave of British heavy metal scene in 1978. Frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead, they are the longest running all female rock band, still active after more than 40 years. Formed from a school band called Painted Lady, Girlschool enjoyed strong media exposure and commercial success in the UK in the early 1980s with three albums of "punk tinged metal" and a few singles, but lost their momentum in the following years. In the 1990s and 2000s, Girlschool focused on shows and tours and made few studio albums. During their career they travelled the world, playing in many rock and metal festivals and co headlining with or supporting important hard rock and heavy metal bands. They maintain a worldwide cult following, and are an inspiration for many female rock musicians. Despite frequent changes of line up, all original members who are still alive—Kim McAuliffe, Enid Williams and Denise Dufort—had been in the band until 2019, when Willams quit. Original lead guitarist and singer Kelly Johnson died of cancer in 2007.

In 1975, school friends and neighbours from Wandsworth, South London, Kim McAuliffe (rhythm guitar, vocals) and Dinah Enid Williams (bass, vocals) formed an all girl rock cover band called Painted Lady, together with Tina Gayle on drums. Deirdre Cartwright joined the new band on lead guitar, Val Lloyd replaced Gayle on drums and they started playing the local pub scene. "The reason we were all girls was we couldn’t find any blokes who wanted to play with us! This was the natural thing to do", McAuliffe explained to Gary Graff in 1997 about the all female composition of the band. Her place in the band was briefly taken by visiting American Kathy Valentine, who approached the band through an advertisement in the British music newspaper Melody Maker. recruiting lead guitarist Kelly Johnson and drummer Denise Dufort in April 1978. The new line up changed their name to Girlschool—taking it from "Girls' School", the B side of the hit single "Mull of Kintyre" (1977) by Paul McCartney and Wings— and immediately hit the road, touring small venues in France, Ireland and Great Britain. This was the start of an enduring relationship between the two bands. After the tour and a few other shows supporting Welsh band Budgie, Doug Smith became the manager of Girlschool and obtained an audition with the British label Bronze Records, at the time home of Uriah Heep, Motörhead and Juicy Lucy. Bronze's owner Gerry Bron himself attended the audition; he was impressed by Girlschool's stage presence and musicianship, offering them a contract with his label in December 1979.|align=left|width=33%

The British rock movement known as the new wave of British heavy metal (frequently abbreviated as NWOBHM), which started in the late 1970s and broke in the mainstream in the early 1980s, was just exploding in the United Kingdom and the band gained the support of a strong label at exactly the right time to exploit the moment and form a solid fan base. The band entered the recording studio with experienced producer Vic Maile in April 1980. Vic Maile had been working as live sound engineer for many important acts, like The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Kinks and Jimi Hendrix, producing also the first two seminal albums of Dr. Feelgood and a few punk bands in the late 1970s. He captured the raw but powerful sound of Girlschool in ten short songs, with lead vocals shared by Williams, McAuliffe and Johnson. Girlschool released their debut album, Demolition, in June 1980, alongside the singles "Emergency", "Nothing to Lose" and "Race with the Devil". Demolition reached No.28 in the UK Album Chart in July 1980. In the same period, albums and singles from Judas Priest, Saxon, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Motörhead and other bands of the NWOBHM reached high positions in the UK charts, while the same bands did tours and concerts all over Europe. Girlschool participated in this frenzied touring activity, travelling in Great Britain and visiting Europe both as headliner act and as support to label mates Uriah Heep and Motörhead. On 20 August, Girlschool and Motörhead were filmed performing live at the Nottingham Theatre Royal for the Rockstage programme, broadcast by the ATV station on 4 April 1981. In this period, the band was subjected to intense media coverage by music magazines, radio and TV, interested in the novelty of a successful British all female metal band. The barrage of interviews and promotion did not stop the production of songs and the girls released the new single "Yeah Right" in November 1980. The EP contains the cover of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates’ song "Please Don't Touch" and two self covers, with Motörhead performing Girlschool's "Emergency", and Girlschool playing Motörhead's "Bomber". Dufort played drums on all songs, because Motörhead's drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor was recovering from a neck injury. She also played the drums during the BBC One Top of the Pops TV show of 19 February 1981, where the two bands performed "Please Don’t Touch" under the moniker Headgirl. The EP reached No.5 in the UK Single Chart in February 1981 and was certified silver in December 1981, the best sale performance for both bands at the time. The album Hit and Run was released in April 1981, where it went gold. Hit and Run was not released in the USA until 1982, with a different track listing including songs from Demolition. The success of their second album made Girlschool a rising attraction in the boiling British hard rock and heavy metal scene, ensuring headliner slots in medium sized arenas in their sold out UK tour or guest slots in stadium size concerts of major attractions like Black Sabbath and Rush. The Friday Rock Show on BBC Radio 1 would later broadcast the Reading set, but the recording has not received an official release. She recovered fast enough to complete a Japanese tour, to do other European shows supporting Rainbow on their Difficult to Cure tour and to start working on new material for the next album. However, the gruelling schedule of recordings, promotional work and concerts had started to take its toll on the group, with bassist Enid Williams the first to give up, right after the release of Wildlife in March 1982, an EP designed to launch the upcoming album. On the recommendation of Lemmy, Williams was replaced by Ghislaine 'Gil' Weston,

Girlschool's third album Screaming Blue Murder was recorded in February and March 1982 under the direction of Nigel Gray, the successful producer of The Police and The Professionals. The album had a worldwide release in June 1982

Girlschool remained anyway a strong live attraction and their 1982 world tour led the band for the first time in the US to play in stadiums, supporting Iron Maiden and Scorpions. NWOBHM acts like Judas Priest and Def Leppard started to be very popular in America and the girls and their record label had no intention to fall back in the conquest of that large market. who was also tired of the music the band had been playing for four years without a break. The other members struggled to convince her to stay and the chance to record with British celebrities Noddy Holder and Jim Lea as producers persuaded the guitarist to carry on with Girlschool. were hired to produce only a single, with the following album already scheduled to be recorded in Los Angeles with Quiet Riot producer Spencer Proffer. Girlschool had produced before. The album contains covers of the Slade songs "High & Dry" and "Burning in the Heat" and of T. Rex’s "20th Century Boy", which was also released as a single. Play Dirty failed to enter the top 50 chart in the UK and had a lukewarm reception by fans and critics at home. A struggle between Bronze and PolyGram for the worldwide contract of the band resulted also in poor promotion for the album in the USA. quit the band before completing the US tour, hurting the promotion of the album in America. She went to live in Los Angeles with Vicki Blue, former bassist of The Runaways. and musical focal point of the band, the almost bankrupt Bronze Records failed to extend the band's recording contract for a follow up album. She were playing in London clubs at the time, trying to get a record contract and attract the attention of the British music press. The new Girlschool, now a five piece group, signed with the PolyGram American subsidiary Mercury Records, once home of the American all girls rock band The Runaways. The band was paired with producer Nick Tauber, who had produced the first albums of Thin Lizzy and the most successful albums of Toyah and Marillion, contributing also to the launch of the British glam metal act Girl. The resulting album Running Wild, sported ten keyboard laden tracks much different from Girlschool's most successful music. The record label decided to release the album only in the US in February 1985, reflects the opinions of Dufort and McAuliffe, which described years later the album as rubbish or even worse. which was released in 1985 and reissued on DVD with the title Live from London in 2005. The band did some shows supporting the glam rock band Hanoi Rocks in Great Britain, before joining Deep Purple's comeback world tour, where Girschool played in a supporting role all over the USA. A tour of India and the Far East completed their live activities for 1985. Vocal duties were shared on stage between McAuliffe and Bodimead, who also played keyboards. At the end of the tour, Jackie Bodimead left the band to pursue a solo career. but it did not enter the British charts and was released in North America only a year later. The following European tour saw the girls supporting the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth. In January 1987, after five years with the group, bassist Gil Weston Jones left Girlschool to spend more time with her American husband. To promote the album, Girlschool did a UK tour with Gary Glitter, followed by a North American tour. In 1989, they travelled across Europe with Dio After their return from Russia, GWR did not renew their contract and the band practically broke up. A brief tour of Spain was Girlschool's only activity of 1990, A few months later, the same musicians reunited again under the new name Strange Girls, with Lydie Gallais replacing Dufort on drums. The band wrote a few songs and produced a demo,

Girlschool went back in action in 1992, recruiting Jackie Carrera on bass and recording Girlschool, their first self produced album, which was distributed worldwide by the British indie label Communiqué Records. The lower visibility of the album distributed by an indie label marked the definitive transition to cult status for the band, renouncing to many expectations of big sales. Girlschool were now their own managers, relying on their solid live show and on their reputation with promoters and other artists to get gigs and work. In 1993, her place as lead guitarist was taken back by Kelly Johnson, who returned after nine years to England from LA, where she had played in a band with Kathy Valentine and written and produced her own music. The plethora of compilations of old Girlschool material that had started to be released from 1989 kept the band alive on the CD market and guaranteed enough visibility to get a good number of gigs every year in every part of the world, often supporting other NWOBHM acts like Motörhead or Saxon. Girlschool continued their live activity in the 1990s, culminating with a participation to the Wacken Open Air festival on Friday, 6 August 1999. In all this time the band had been writing new songs They were replaced by new lead guitarist Jackie 'Jax' Chambers and by Enid Williams, who finally rejoined the group after eighteen years. Johnson, who had been diagnosed with cancer,

Preceded by the publication of the re mastered editions of their first four albums, Girlschool released the studio album Believe in July 2004. The wish to explore new territories is obvious in some tracks of the album, which is the first one entirely composed by the new line up at Chambers’ home studio. The changed line up brought a new balance in the band, with Chambers involved in the composition of all songs. In 2005, the band re released Believe in a new package with a DVD containing footage taken from concerts of the 2000s and sold it through their official website. A US and European tour followed Believe first release, but the project for releasing in 2004 a live DVD tentatively titled Girlschool Live at the Garage never materialised. In June 2005, Girlschool did a UK tour with Vixen During the same year, they were also on stage at summer festivals in the Netherlands and England and opened for Alice Cooper in Spain. Bang Your Head!!! 2007, Wacken Open Air 2008 and Wacken Rocks 2009), France (Hellfest Summer Open Air 2009), England (Hard Rock Hell 2007 and 2009, Bloodstock Open Air 2009) and the USA (Power Box Festival 2007) and in smaller settings, like the Rock of Ages Fest in England in 2007 and the Metal Female Voices Fest in Belgium in 2008. Girlschool were opening act for Heaven & Hell in 2007, and for Hawkwind and Motörhead in 2009. The band performed a tribute gig on 20 August 2007 at the Soho Revue Bar in London, with many of Johnson's friends and former Girlschool's members and a concert for Cancer Research UK at Rock of Ages Fest in Tamworth on 8 September 2007. celebrates both the departed guitarist and the 30th anniversary of Girlschool, making them the so far longest running female rock band in the world. and the song "Legend" is especially dedicated to her. The album received excellent reviews and the German label SPV/Steamhammer guaranteed the worldwide distribution. Girlschool performed a special show celebrating their 30th anniversary on 16 December at the Astoria 2 in London. Girlschool were among the many female singers performing on veteran German hard rock singer Doro Pesch’s single "Celebrate", released in 2008. Jackie Chambers and Enid Williams were also present on stage at Doro’s 25th anniversary celebration concert on 13 December 2008 in Düsseldorf. At the beginning of 2010, Girlschool contributed to the release of the cover of their single "Emergency" by Cornish youth music charity Livewire, in order to raise funds for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The band went on tour in Europe with the Canadian metal band Anvil in 2010. The band spent time in studio re recording their classic 1981 album Hit and Run, during 2011. The new version of the LP, titled Hit and Run – Revisited, was released on 26 September 2011 to celebrate the original album's 30th anniversary. Girlschool continued to tour Europe and South America in 2011 12 and returned in Japan in 2013. In early 2015, they recorded a new album titled Guilty as Sin with producer Chris Tsangarides, which was released on 13 November 2015. On 30 January 2019, it was announced on the band's website that "Girlschool have parted ways once again with bassist Enid Williams" and that Tracey Lamb would return to replace her. On 27 February 2023 Girlschool's labelmates Alcatrazz released the single "Don't Get Mad Get Even" which saw them contribute vocals. On 25 April the band announced their first album in eight years WTFortyfive?, due to be released in July. The same day they released the first single "Are You Ready?" and its accompanying music video.

Revolver magazine editor Christopher Scapelliti aptly described Girlschool's music as a "punk metal mix tough, but poppy enough for radio". Artists like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, T. Rex, Suzi Quatro have been influential on the Girlschool members. Punk rock had a direct influence in the birth of new wave and new wave of British heavy metal and that music was still popular when the band was formed. Moreover, both Denise Dufort and Gil Weston had played in punk bands before joining Girlschool. "We're both too heavy to be New Wave and too punk to be a heavy metal band", McAuliffe explained to Robbi Millar of Sounds in 1980. "We were signed to an American label ( ) there was a certain amount of pressure exerted on us to sound more American" was McAuliffe's explanation, speaking about the tame sound of the album Running Wild. Some of their songs deal also with more serious matters, such as exploitation and abuse of women, especially in the early 1980s, when metal was rapidly taking the place of punk music in the tastes of many young males in Great Britain. or for their off stage drinking bouts during their period of maximum media exposition and chart success. On the contrary, Girlschool's change of musical style in 1984 and their sudden predilection for the US market were not well received by the British press and by their fans at home. alienated the love of British fans, whose perception of the band was still that of roughneck companions to Motörhead, instead of competitors of Mötley Crüe and Ratt. arriving as far as to associate Girlschool with the American feminist Riot Grrrl movement. Reviewers and critics have also often associated the production of recent all female metal acts to the sound and music of Girlschool, identifying them as a band that, just like The Runaways before them, helped in paving the way to the presence of women in rock music. However, Williams remembered in 2004 how, in her experience, Girlschool were more inspirational for young male musicians than for female ones in starting rock bands. Only the American all female rock band The Donnas publicly acknowledged the influence of Girlschool on their music.