The discography of Girlschool, a British all-female heavy metal band, spans over 30 years of a career and consists of thirteen studio albums, six EPs and a large number of compilations. The band was formed in 1978 by Kim McAuliffe, Enid Williams, Kelly Johnson and Denise Dufort. Their first release was the single "Take It All Away" for the small British rock/punk label City Records (November 1979). The song did not chart, but came to the ear of Lemmy Kilmister and of Motörhead manager Doug Smith, who made Girlschool the supporting band on the Overkill tour and managed to get them a contract with the wealthy label Bronze Records.
During the explosion of the new wave of British heavy metal phenomenon, Girlschool released for Bronze four studio albums and many singles, which entered the British charts. Their greatest success came with the split EP St. Valentine's Day Massacre, recorded with Motörhead, which reached number five on the UK Single Chart. The band's following album Hit and Run peaked at number five on the UK Album Chart.
The band success in the United Kingdom rapidly declined in the following years, with the consequence of Girlschool signing for the US label PolyGram in 1985. As a five-piece group they released the album Running Wild, only for the American market, without any charting success. Alone among the band's studio albums, Running Wild would not be reissued in any format until its 2014 CD release. The band signed a new contract with the British label GWR in 1986 and released other two studio albums, before going into quiescence.
In 1989, Castle Communications, a company specialized in cheap reissues of old recordings, obtained the rights for Girlschool’s back catalogue from the bankrupt Bronze Records and later from GWR. During the 1990s, Castle licensed the songs to various labels specialized in mid-priced editions, reissuing also the band studio albums on economic double album compilations on CD. When Castle was acquired by Sanctuary Records in 2000, the rights of the songs changed hands again. In 2004, the new label released re-mastered editions full of bonus tracks of Girlschool's first four studio albums. The Sanctuary Records Group, which was absorbed by Universal Music Group in 2007BBC News, "Universal Music to buy Sanctuary", 15 June 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2010. but was later divested by the latter through a sale in 2012, now owns the rights to Girlschool's old material, while Warner Music Group handles all global distribution and sales. Universal owns the rights to Running Wild, the band's only Mercury album released exclusively in the United States. The American rights to their other albums originally issued by Mercury were transferred to Warner Music's Alternative Distribution Alliance.
The band continued their recording career with four self-produced albums distributed by British indie label Communiqué, which received good reviews but no significant sale results. Their eleventh album Legacy was instead released by Wacken Records in 2008 and distributed by SPV/Steamhammer, followed by two more albums in 2011 and 2015 for WMG's German label UDR.
Girlschool's songs appear also on many heavy metal compilations published all over the world, often associated with other notable bands of the NWOBHM, such as Motörhead, Tygers of Pan Tang, Saxon, Angel Witch and Tank.
Albums
Studio albums Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications(sales thresholds)UKCANNZUS1980Demolition Released: 30 June 1980 Label: Bronze (BRON 525) Format: LP, CS, CD 28 — — —1981Hit and Run Released: 10 April 1981 Label: Bronze (BRON 534) Format: LP, CS, CD 5 50 49 182* CAN: Gold1982Screaming Blue Murder Released: 7 June 1982 Label: Bronze (BRON 541) Format: LP, CS, CD 27 84 — 207 1983Play Dirty Released: 8 November 1983 Label: Bronze (BRON 548) Format: LP, CS, CD 66 — — 207 1985Running Wild Released: 1 February 1985 Label: Mercury (422-824611-1) Format: LP, CS — — — — 1986Nightmare at Maple Cross Released: May 1986 Label: GWR (GWLP 2) Format: LP, CS, CD — — — — 1988Take a Bite Released: 3 October 1988 Label: GWR (GWLP 21) Format: LP, CS, CD — — — — 1992Girlschool Released: November 1992 Label: Communiqué (CMG CD006) Format: CD — — — — 200221st Anniversary: Not That Innocent Released: 14 January 2002 Label: Communiqué (CMG CD024) Format: CD — — — — 2004 Believe** Released: 26 July 2004 Label: Communiqué (CMG CD027) Format: CD — — — — 2008Legacy Released: 24 October 2008 Label: Wacken Records - SPV/Steamhammer (SPV92732 CD) Format: CD — — — — 2011 Hit and Run – Revisited Released: 26 September 2011 Label: Wacken Records - UDR (UDR 0051) Format: LP, CD — — — — 2015 Guilty as Sin Released: 13 November 2015 Label: UDR (UDR 056P01) Format: LP, CD — — — — 2023 WTFortyfive? Released: 28 July 2023 Label: Silver Lining Music (SLM050P42) Format: LP, CD — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country. * the album was a compilation of songs from Demolition and Hit and Run ** the album was also re-issued by the band themselves in combination with the DVD Around the World
Live albums Year Album details 1995 Girlschool Live Released: 1 November 1995 Label: Communiqué (CMG CD013) Format: CD 1997 King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Girlschool Released: 17 June 1997 Label: King Biscuit Flower Hour (70710-88032-2) Format: CD 1998 Race with the Devil Live Released: 24 April 1998 Label: Receiver (RRCD 254) Format: CD 2002 Race with the Devil Released: 6 June 2002 Label: Disky (SI 794122) Format: CD
Compilation albums Year Album details 1986 Race with the Devil Released: 1986 Label: Raw Power / Castle Communications (RAW LP013) Format: double LP 1989 Cheers You Lot! Released: 1989 Label: Razor Records (METALPM 127) Format: LP, CS, CD 1991 C'mon Let's Go Released: September 1991 Label: Castle - Marble Arch (CMA CD 149) Format: CS, CD 1991 The Collection Released: 1991 Label: Castle (CCSCD 314) Format: LP, CD 1993 The Best of Girlschool Released: 1993 Label: Castle - Dojo (DOJO CD 103) Format: CD 1994 From the Vaults Released: 1994 Label: Castle - Sequel (NEM CD 642) Format: CD 1997 Emergency Released: 1997 Label: Snapper (SMD CD 126) Format: CD 1998 The Collection (2CD) Released: 1998 Label: Renaissance - Castle (CCSCD 830) Format: CD 1999 Can't Keep a Good Girl Down Released: 18 November 1999 Label: Delta Music (47 005) Format: CD 2002 The Very Best of Girlschool Released: 2002 Label: Castle - Sanctuary (NEM CD 642) Format: CD 2003 Wild at Heart Released: 2003 Label: Pickwick (781022) Format: CD 2007 The Singles (2CD) Released: 2007 Label: Lemon Recordings - Cherry Red (CD LEM DD101) Format: CD 2012Private Lessons (2CD) Released: 2012 Label: Southworld Recordings Format: CD 2013The Bronze Years (4CD) Released: 2013 Label: Lemon Recordings (CD LEMBOX 210) Format: CD
Split albums Year Album Other artist Songs 1998 British Steel: Heavyweights of Metal Live & Loud Label: Music Collection International Angel Witch, Samson, Tank "C'mon Let's Go", "Emergency", "Take It All Away" 2003 The Second Wave: 25 Years of NWOBHM Label: Communiqué Oliver/Dawson Saxon, Tygers of Pan Tang "Passion", "Mad Mad Sister", Coming Your Way", "Believe", "Innocent"
Extended plays Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications(sales thresholds) NotesUK 1981St. Valentine's Day Massacre Released: 13 February 1981 Label: Bronze 5 UK: Silvera collaboration between Motörhead and Girlschool.Hard Rock on 12 Inch / Stay Clean Released: 1981 Label: Bronze —split EP by Motörhead and Girlschool, containing the songs "Please Don't Touch" and "Demolition Boys" (live) 1982Live and More Released: January 1982 Label: Victor —released only in Japan before the 1982 tour 1982Wildlife Released: 29 March 1982 Label: Bronze 58 19831-2-3-4 Rock and Roll Released: August 1983 Label: Bronze —released also as a 7 inch single, with an edited version of "1-2-3-4 Rock and Roll". 2015Propaganda! Released: 2015 Label: UDR/Morriello Music — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.
Singles Year Titles Peak chart positions Album UK AUS 1979"Take It All Away / It Could Be Better"—— Non-album track 1980"Emergency / Furniture Fire"——Demolition"Nothing to Lose / Baby Doll"——"Race with the Devil / Take It All Away"49—"Yeah Right / The Hunter"——Hit and Run 1981"Hit and Run / Tonight"32—"C'mon Let's Go / Tonight (live)" 42— 1982"Don't Call It Love / Wildlife" —— Screaming Blue Murder 1983"20th Century Boy / Breaking All the Rules"—— Play Dirty 1984"Burning in the Heat / Surrender" ——1986"I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am) with Gary Glitter / Never Too Late" —12Nightmare at Maple Cross1987 "All Day All Night / Play with Fire" —— 1988"Head over Heels" (US only promo single)——Take a Bite"Fox on the Run" (US only promo single)—— "—" denotes singles that did not chart, have not charted yet, or were not released.
Other appearances Year Song Album Comments1986"Nowhere to Run"Reform School Girls soundtrackRhino Records RNLP 70310 1989 "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" (live) Gary Glitter's Gangshow: The Gang, the Band, the Leader Recorded during the 1989 tour in support of Gary Glitter. 1994 "Twas the Night Before Christmas" X-Mas: The Metal Way Metal version of a Christmas classic. 2008 "Auld Lang Syne" We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year deluxe edition Metal version of a Christmas classic previously released for download on Eagle Rock Entertainment website. "Metropolis" Sheep in Wolves' Clothing: A Tribute to Motorhead Motörhead cover recorded with Eddie Clarke for Motörhead fan club tribute album, which preceded its release on Legacy by a few months
Video albums Year Video details Notes1985Play Dirty Live Released: 1985 Label: Castle (CMV 1017) Format: VHS The show was filmed in London on 7 December 1984, before the US-only release of the album Running Wild. It was directed by Marc Over and released in the USA by PolyGram Videos.2005Live from London Released: 2005 Label: Iguana Project (B0009U5DGW) Format: DVD This is a re-release in DVD of Play Dirty Live by the British label Iguana Project, specialized in new editions on DVD of old material. The DVD has the same content of the VHS, with the addition of a presentation of the musicians.Around the World Released: 2005 Label: self-released Format: DVD Self-released DVD, containing live footage from tours in the 2000s, interviews and photos. It was sold through the Girlschool Official website combined with the album Believe.
Music videos Year Song Director Ref 1980 "Race with the Devil" ??? "Emergency" ??? "Yeah Right" ???1982 "Don't Call It Love" ??? "Tush" ??? 1983 "20th Century Boy" Sebastian Harris "Play Dirty" 1985 "Running Wild" ??? 1986 "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" ??? 1988 "Fox on the Run" Jean Pellerin 2004 "Come On Up" ??? 2005 "Emergency" ??? 2023 "Are You Ready?" ???
Notes
References
External links Official discography Reference discography database