Girlschool, originally named Painted Lady, is an English group formed in 1978 by Kim McAuliffe and Dinah Williams, who were soon joined by Kelly Johnson and Denise Dufort. A group whose particularity is to have always been made up exclusively of women for 40 years !
A first single "Take it all away" was released in 1979, a single that unfortunately went completely unnoticed except for Ian Kilmister, leader of the Motörhead. Which offers the girls the first part of the tour that his group must do in the months that follow.
A media exposure of the most positive which allows the girls to sign with the label Bronze Records, label which allows them to release their first album “Demolition” one year later in 1980. The album knows a significant success across the Channel and produces finally a first title classified with the single "Race with the devil".
A great adventure which gained momentum from 1981 when the album "Hit and run" was released, an album which was to be a hit in the entire Anglo-Saxon sphere and propel girls to the rank of global phenomenon, in particular thanks to the single that bears the name of the album.
The same year, they collaborated with Mötorhead on the mini album "St Valentine's Day Massacre", a fruitful collaboration since the single "Please don’t touch" which was to be extracted from it was a significant success.
The years go by but unfortunately are not necessarily alike. The year 1982 saw the release of the album "Screaming blue murder", which was also a significant success but struggled to produce any major single. Just like "Play dirty" which was released a year later in 1983. It would be even worse for the album "Running wild" which was released in 1985 and which was not even classified.
The adventure will continue thereafter but everything that comes out will only have a limited level of success...
To discover or rediscover.
Discography (among others ...) :
Take it all away 1979
Emergency 1980
Nothing to lose 1980
Race with devil 1980
Yeah right 1980
Hit and run 1981
C’Mon let’s go 1981
Don’t call it love 1982
Wildlife 1982
It turns your head around 1982
20th century boy 1983
Going under 1983
High 'n' dry 1983
Burning in the heat 1984
Surrender 1984
I’m the leader of the gang (I am) 1986
Never too late 1986
All day all night 1987
Play with fire 1987
Head over heels 1988
Fox on the run 1988
Tear it up 1988
One more 1992
Wild at heart 1992
Take me I'm yours 1992
Coming your way 2002
Mad mad sister 2002
A love too far 2002
Let's get hard 2004
Crazy 2004
Hold on tight 2004
Other side 2008
I spy 2008
Still waters 2008
Come the revolution 2015
Treasure 2015
Painful 2015
It is what it is 2023
Cold dark heart 2023
Are you ready ? 2023
Clips :
1979 ... the beginnings to say the least punchy and which immediately set the trend : with these girls, it does not laugh and it will beat up hard, very hard !
1980 ... an entry into the 1980s which is also particularly punchy ! The style of the girls has nothing to envy that of the men on the beating side, that's for sure ...
1980 ... the fact remains that this group has real talent. Certainly, it hits hard but what they offer is not without interest, it is clear !
1980 ... they finally get a semblance of the beginning of recognition. The success is limited to England but it's always better than nothing as they say !
1980 ... an incredible energy and especially rare among girls in this decade of 80. A literally energized group that almost makes you dizzy ...
1981 ... the style is refined year after year. More structured, more inspired, it allows girls to achieve the greatest success of their career here. HU-GE !
1981 ... a year 1981 which will undoubtedly remain as their best vintage. They obtain here a second notorious success which makes them definitively fit into the musical legend of the 80s. Bravo girls !
1982 ... the rest will prove to be more complicated to manage than expected. The sound evolution only lasts a while and the girls quickly come back to their basics. Race result : free fall in the Charts ...
1982...after that this will not prevent the album from having a very honorable run in the Charts. The essential is preserved as they say...
1982...which also shows that the group still has a substantial base of fans to say the least. Let's hope it lasts...
1983...at the rate of only one official title per year, it is clear that this is not how the girls are likely to reverse the trend. Too bad because they didn't lack much to do great things...
1983...this new opus will be the last to appear in the Charts. So the girls will have to make the most of it...
1983...only one official title per year but others which still deserve to be highlighted. Which is the case with this one and the one that preceded it...
1984 ... the year 1984 is no exception to the rule, it will also be a single title that year. The delay now taken on the competition is irreparable and this despite a title of quality yet obvious ...
1984...another unofficial title that it is useful to bring back to light. It now remains to be seen how the girls will approach the second part of the decade...
1986 ... after a year 1985 downright empty, we find the girls in this year 1986 in a relative form. Sufficient in any case to land a little hit in the land of kangaroos ...
1986...this one will go somewhat under the radar but that doesn't stop us from talking about it anyway...
1987 ... a sound that has hardly changed since their debut has been their main mistake. Unfortunately, they will pay a heavy price for this error ...
1987... such a shame they failed to combine new influences with their basic fundamentals. Such is life...
1988 ... an adventure to say the least original and which will have lasted almost 10 years. Unfortunately, the girls will not have been able to adapt to the new musical trends of the moment ...
1988 ... a refusal to adapt which will inexorably precipitate them towards a pure and simple disappearance in the long term. Frankly shame ...
1988...disappearance of the Charts certainly but surely not disappearance at all. Because it is clear that they still have things to offer at first sight...
1992...they attack this new decade of the 90s with the firm intention of not giving up and regardless of whether there is success or not...
1992...a new opus which inevitably delights the core fans to the highest degree. On the other hand, given the lack of success in the Charts, where have these famous fans really gone...
1992...what penalizes them once again is that they are unable to reinvent themselves, which allows the competition to be light years ahead...
2002...we totally lose sight of them for almost 10 years but here they are again. With which musical project, good question...
2002...at first glance, the same ! What a shame that they didn't take advantage of these 10 years to finally ask themselves the right questions...
2002...afterwards there is still quality in all that. It's simply that they weren't missing much to be able to eventually return to the forefront...
2004... anyway they are absolutely not discouraged and hope that one day when the other the miracle will happen...
2004...unfortunately it does not take the way. The efforts to evolve are too minimal and inevitably they continue to go under the radar...
2004...they continue their adventure at their own speed and without really taking into account the now considerable gap which separates them from the competition...
2008...we find them 4 years later at approximately the same level where we left them 4 years previously. Clearly, there is nothing to be done regarding a possible evolution of the style...
2008...we will therefore have to be content with all that. On the other hand they still exist which is already a feat in itself all the same...
2008...and they remain one of the very rare 100 % female groups in their chosen field, which is no small thing either...
2015...and one more decade, one more ! We thought we wouldn't see them again and yet here they are again...
2015...a desire to believe in it until the end which undoubtedly commands respect, that's clear. We can only bow as they say...
2015...each time we say to ourselves that this title may be the last and each time they come back again and again...
2023...air holes follow air holes but here they are again ! The girls are still so motivated at first glance...
2023...impossible to stop them at this stage at first sight. They will go as far as they can and it doesn't matter once again whether there is success or not...
2023...so last title or not ? They are the only ones to answer the question, that’s clear. So we're going to say to be continued...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :