Girlschool-Tear It Up

Bio By She Rox All Female Bands: If there has ever been any band in the history of music that could fill the pages of a long book based simply on their career it would be England’s Girlschool, founded in 1975 by then school mates Enid and Kim, the band formed under the name Painted Lady before changing it to Girlschool in 1978, along with drummer DuFort and original lead guitarist Kelly Johnson, Girschool began a long run as one of the very few all female metal based bands in the male dominated heavy metal scene of the early 1980’s, so long in fact that Girlschool is fact the longest running all female band in history. By their second full length album Girlschool had proven themselves that quickly to their male counterparts that they were far more then some might have perceived and their high energy punk tinged metal won fans over, 1981 would be the highlight of the band’s career with their second release “Hit “n“ Run“ making it to a number 5 slot of the U.K. album charts, a success that was proceeded by the 1980 collaboration with Motorhead on the Ep ’s Day Massacre, under the name “Headgirl“ which spawned the U.K .top 5 hit “Please Don’t Touch“. By the mid 1980’s the band saw several lineup changes that eventually left Denise and Kim the only original members left but also saw the addition of heavy weight musicians enter such as Australian born guitar genius Cris Bonnacci, and fellow British all female rockers Rock Goddess bassist Tracey Lamb, through out the eighties the band kept churning out the rock but success in the states eluded them and even with a solid U.S fan base, Girlschool never really gained the credit they deserved, even with the line up changes the band was far from a training ground for musicians and most of the members we would rejoin at some point including original guitarist Kelly Johnson before her death in 2007. Girlschool admit now that they still play cause it’s fun, no longer with any desire to achieved any type of chart success per say, they do it for their fans. Girlschool has played all over the world, released 12 studio albums and currently about to release the 13th in 2015 “Guilty As Sin“, they also have under their belt, 11 compilation albums, 4 live albums, 4 Ep’s and 13 singles. Girlschool has a rich legacy of history that perhaps one day will be rivaled by another all female band, but to date has not, pioneers not only for women in hard rock and heavy metal, but an example of what determination really means. Tear It Up, from the 1988 album, Take a Bite with Kim McAuliffe-Vocals & Guitar, Cris Bonacci-Guitar, Denise Dufort-Drums, Tracey Lamb-Bass. Like the band at ** Huge thanks to Hannu Ojala for the rare and amazing live pics of the band!