Girlschool

Born in London in 1978 in the wake of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Girlschool initially brought together Kim McAuliffe, Kelly Johnson, Enid Williams and Denise Dufort around a direct, fiery hard rock and heavy metal sound, marked by the energy of punk and rock’n’roll. Early on associated with Motörhead, Girlschool toured with Lemmy's band and recorded with them the EP St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1981 under the name Headgirl, a milestone in their career. The first albums, Demolition (1980), Hit and Run (1981) and Screaming Blue Murder (1982), established a raw, fast, no‑frills sound, before a smoother phase on Play Dirty (1983) and Running Wild (1985), which briefly moved Girlschool toward a more polished hard rock. From the mid‑1980s the band returned to a rougher formula with Nightmare at Maple Cross (1986) and Take a Bite (1988), while maintaining a steady live presence in Europe, the United States and Japan. Despite numerous lineup changes and the death of Kelly Johnson in 2007, Girlschool has remained active around Kim McAuliffe and Denise Dufort, releasing records including Believe (2004), Legacy (2008), Guilty as Sin (2015) and WTFortyfive? (2023).