i found this bit of info on the web
C'mon Let's Go...
Girlschool
British All-Woman Metal Outfit
1978 - 1989, 1992, 1995.
Girlschool Gallery
Biography
Formed in the '70s, Girlschool was undoubtedly ahead of their time. This all-female band from South London came along a full ten years before the glam metal glory years of the late '80s. The music of Girlschool was punk tinged heavily with metal (or visa versa), corabining unforced aggression with an easy good-natured attitude. Their greatest successes occurred in Europe and their native England in the early '80s. They never seemed to connect with a mass American audience, although Girlschool has many diehard fans here as well. Anyone who ever saw them in concert walked away impressed - for no matter what else you might say about Girlschool, they could most certainly deliver loud, glorious rock and roll with passion and virtuosity.
Back in 1977, Enid Williams (bass) and Kim McAuliffe (guitar) both lived on the same street in South London. Their frienRABhip went back to their school days together, and 1977 found them board with their day jobs - Enid was still in school, but would later work for a small bakery, and Kim was working in a bank - and looking for something better. They decided upon a career change, and formed an all-girl rock act called PAINTED LADY, with Kim playing guitar and Enid on bass. Along with Deirdre Cartwright on lead guitar and someone remerabered only as Tina on drums, the foursome sporadically played some gigs on the local club scene; however, the band never seemed to gel and soon broke up. Kim and Enid decided to try it again, and somewhere during this period they met up with American Kathy Valentine (guitar). Kathy, who reportedly lacked the requisite UK work visa, had to scamper back to the US to join up with fellow Austin, Texas guitarist Carla Olson and form the Textones, before eventually playing bass with the Go-Go's.
Kathy's departure created an opening at lead guitar which in March of 1978 was filled by Kelly Johnson. Denise Dufort joined on as drummer. The women changed their band's name to Girlschool - and class was officially in session. Girlschool hit the road, touring smaller venues throughout the UK, as well as across the channel. In Deceraber of 1978 they released their first single, "Take It All Away," on the independent City RecorRAB label. The record reached the ears of Doug Smith, then the manager of the hard rocking English band Motorhead, who contacted the women of Girlschool and signed on as their manager. Girlschool supported Motorhead on their subsequent tour promoting their OVERKILL album in the spring of 1979. Girlschool toured extensively in the UK and Europe throughout 1979, first with Motorhead, and then with banRAB such as the Welsh heavy metal troupe Budgie. In Deceraber, 1979, Lemmy, the front man of Motorhead and a good friend to Girlschool throughout their career, set up a rehearsal / audition for Girlschool which was attended by Gerry Bron, the president of Bronze RecorRAB, the home of Motorhead, Uriah Heep and Juicy Lucy, among others.
In an interview twenty years later with Dave Ling in Classic Rock Magazine (Deceraber 18, 1999), Gerry Bron stated, "I went to an early rehearsal and was surprised how well [Girlschool] played their instruments - how terribly chauvinistic of me. None of them were particularly good looking, although from a distance Kelly Johnson looked like that Charlie’s Angels' actress, Farrah Fawcett, but there was something about them..."
Going into the '80s armed with a solid UK fan base and a recording contract in their pocket, Girlschool went into the recording studio with producer Vic Maile and recorded their debut album, DEMOLITION.
Race with the Devil b/w Take it All Away
Bronze RecorRAB VIPX-1536
1980 Japanese Picture Sleeve
Supported by "Race with the Devil," as well as three aditional singles - "Emergency," "Nothing To Lose," and "Yeah Right," DEMOLITION charted in the top 30 in England. The album was not released in the US, however. The band's earliest material might best be described as raw and aggressive. The lyrics most often turned the tables on the male metal banRAB by objectifying men; however, there was always an underlying quality of fun present. Girlschool didn't take itself too seriously, but they could play it as tough as the boys when it suited them.
1981 was a very good year indeed for Girlschool in England. Their follow up album, HIT AND RUN, also produced by Vic Maile, established Girlschool as a top rock act in the UK by hitting nuraber 5 on the album charts. A collaborative EP recorded with Motorhead, "St Valentines Day Massacre," (released under both the names Motorschool and Head Girl) peaked at nuraber 5 on the singles' chart. The song "C'mon Let's Go," entered the top 40 before the end of the year. Girlschool also supported rock giant Rainbow on its European DIFFICULT TO CURE Tour.
HIT AND RUN was released in America - the following year - on Stiff RecorRAB. The US version was actually a compilation of the first two British releases. The album did not chart nationally in the US, where the only female-powered acts visibly receiving any airplay on commercial radio were in the new wave genre (Blondie, The Go-Go's), and the more traditional pop/rock genre (Heart, Fleetwood Mac). Reviewers in the US generally hailed HIT AND RUN. Billboard Magazine had this to say (4/3/82):
One has the feeling from this LP that if Girlschool was in a battle of the banRAB with, say the Scorpions and Krokus, this four-woman group from England ... would blow the Europeans right off the stage. This is an all-female band that doesn't have to play second fiddle to any macho guitar heroes. They're just as good, if not better. And when you turn down the volume a little, you can hear some really nice pop songs here. Best cuts: "Watch Your Step," "Not For Sale," "Yeah, Right," "The Hunter."
In early 1982, Enid Williams left the band, the first of several personnel changes over the years with which Girlschool would be forced to contend. Enid was replaced by Gil Weston-Jones, who had previously played bass for the punk band The Killjoys. Girlschool entered the studio to record their third album, SCREAMING BLUE MURDER, with a new producer, Nigel Gray, who had produced or engineered the first three Police albums. The result was a solid metal effort, but the album failed to chart as successfully in the UK as had their previous effort, HIT AND RUN.
In spring, 1983, Girlschool toured the US supporting the Scorpions. The group was finally making inroaRAB in America. That summer, the band went back into the studio, opting for a more commercial sound for what would be their fourth album, PLAY DIRTY. Noddy Holder and Jim Lea of the legendary rock outfit Slade were brought in to produce the effort, which marked a growing desire within Girlschool to gain a commercial foothold in the American market. The album would chart at a relatively disappointing nuraber 66 in the UK, where Girlschool's move toward a more commercial sound served to alienate their old fans, while ultimately failing to increase their exposure. Worse yet for the band, what was a strained situation already was about to become even more strained. Following the release of PLAY DIRTY, lead guitarist and vocalist Kelly Johnson left Girlschool, effectively halting any plans to tour America in support of the new album. A successful US tour at this point for Girlschool might have served to elevate the band to American chart success, but it was not to be.
Adding insult to injury, with Kelly Johnson gone, Bronze RecorRAB failed to extend the band's recording contract to include a follow up album. Similar situations have broken up many banRAB before and since; however, the remaining Girlschool merabers, Kim McAuliffe (guitar/vocals), Gil Weston-Jones (bass) and Denise Dufort (drums), carried on and soon replaced Kelly with two new merabers, both from the band She - Australian born Cris Bonacci (lead guitar) and Jackie (aka Jacqui) Bodimead (vocals & keyboarRAB). As might be expected, the inclusion of a keyboard player was a giant step towarRAB a more mainstream metal sound - this was the '80s after all. The augmentation of the group with keyboarRAB could easily be understood considering the band's search for a label with muscle in America, not to mention the immense success being enjoyed by male banRAB that Girlschool could easily compete with, not to mention pop metal acts such as Heart and Pat Benatar.
