Essential Classics
Demolition
BRONZE, 1980
Girlschool’s first album had all the
destructive force its title implied,
and it arrived at the perfect time.
In 1980, as the NWOBHM hit its
peak, Demolition matched Iron
Maiden’s debut and Saxon’s
Wheels Of Steel for raw energy,
and its dirty, streetwise “heavy
metal rock‘n’roll” had Girlschool
acclaimed as ‘the female
Motörhead’.
Across the album’s ten rowdy
tracks, the highlights included
Motör-powered head-bangers
such as Demolition Boys and
Emergency, and a rollicking
version of The Gun’s 1968 hit
Race With The Devil. Girlschool
had delivered a great album –
and to sneering sexists, a kick
in the balls.Hit And Run
BRONZE, 1981
It was inevitable that Girlschool
would be compared to the most
famous all-female rock’n’roll band
of the 70s, The Runaways. And in
the year that ex-Runaway Joan
Jett’s hit album I Love Rock ’N Roll
was released, Girlschool had their
greatest success – the Headgirl
EP. and their second album, Hit
And Run, both reaching No.5 in
the UK before the band headlined
at the Reading Festival.
The album had a flavour of The
Runaways’ punk/glam rock in
C’mon Let’s Go; a moment of
comedy in Yeah Right, with Enid
mimicking her nagging mum;
a boisterous, role-reversing cover
of ZZ Top’s womanising anthem
Tush; and best of all, a title track
full of swagger.Girlschool
Celebrated as ‘the female Motörhead’, Girlschool became stars of
the NWOBHM scene. But what were their best records?I
t was Kim McAuliffe, rhythm guitarist,
lead vocalist and founder of Girlschool,
who defined the group most succinctly.
“Deep down, we’re a rock’n’roll band,”
she said. “Like Motörhead. Heavy metal
rock’n’roll, we call it.” And nobody
understood that better than Motörhead
leader Lemmy, an inf luential ally in
Girlschool’s rise to fame in the early 80s.
For an all-female band operating in the
male-dominated arena of heavy rock,
sexist bullshit was commonplace. Gerry
Bron, who had Motörhead and Hawkwind
on his label Bronze Records, said of his
decision to sign Girlschool: “I went to an
early rehearsal and was surprised how
well they played their instruments. How
terribly chauvinistic of me.”
But Lemmy was better than that. When
Girlschool opened for Motörhead on
a 1979 tour, he stated authoritatively:
“They’re fucking great.” He was
outspoken in his support of this and
other female bands: “People treat them
like second-class citizens, because they’re
chicks,” he said. “It’s really poor.” And the
close relationship between Motörhead
and Girlschool was cemented in 1981
with the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre E.P.- released under the hybrid name of
Headgirl, with the two bands united on
a blistering version of Johnny Kidd & The
Pirates’ Please Don’t Touch.
McAuliffe is the sole constant in
Girlschool’s long history, having formed
the band in London in 1975 as Painted
Lady. The classic line-up came together in
1978: McAuliffe and bassist/vocalist Enid
Williams were joined by lead guitarist
Kelly Johnson and drummer Denise
Dufort. They took the name Girlschool
from the B-side of Paul McCartney And
Wings’ hit Mull Of Kintyre.
The debut album Demolition, released
in 1980, established Girlschool as rising
stars of the New Wave Of British Heavy
Metal, and while their success was brief and
modest compared to that of Iron Maiden
and Def Leppard, the tenacity of McAuliffe
has seen the band through lean years
and numerous personnel changes. The
tragedy in Girlschool’s story is the loss of
Kelly Johnson, who quit in 1984, returned
in 1993, but withdrew again in 1999 after
being diagnosed with cancer. She died in
2007 at the age of 49. Girlschool will always
perform those great songs they recorded
with Kelly in the 80s, but as Kim McAuliffe
said: “Kelly was great, and we miss her a lot.”
Paul ElliottGET
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