Cherry Red will issue Girlschool: The School Report 1978-2008 5CD box set on January 27. Limited exclusive signed postcards will be included with pre-orders while supplies last.
This in-depth box set delves right back to the band’s pub rock roots right up until the present. A celebration of Girlschool’s 40 plus years of rocking the globe, kicking off with their independently released 45 "Take It All Away" b/w "It Could Be Better".
Formed at school in the mid-70s, when friends Kim McAuliffe on guitar and bassist Enid Williams joined forces as Painted Lady, Girlschool formed in 1978, swept up as part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement that also gave us Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Saxon, recruiting lead guitarist Kelly Johnson and drummer Denise Dufort in April 1978.
Debut LP Demolition made it into the UK Top 30 in 1980, and the girls even found time while recording their follow up album Hit And Run (1981) with producer Vic Maile, to record the St Valentines Day Massacre EP with label mates Motörhead as HeadGirl.1982’s Wildlife EP would be Enid’s last outing with Girlschool for a while, as she was replaced on bass by Gil Weston for Screaming Blue Murder (1982).
Their fourth album, Play Dirty (1983), was issued in the States on Mercury Records, who also picked up the option to release their fifth, Running Wild (1985). The first album to be released without Kelly Johnson, it saw founder members Kim McAulliffe and Denise Dufort joined by Gil Weston, Jackie Bodimead (lead vocals, keyboards) and Cris Bonacci (guitar).
A new deal with GWR saw albums Nightmare At Maple Cross (1986) and Take A Bite (1988), by which time the bass slot had been filled by former Rock Goddess Tracey Lamb. Their eighth studio album, the self-titled Girlschool came out in 1992 and 2002’s 21st Anniversary – Not That Innocent marked the beginning of a more prolific time for the band, as they would follow it up with Believe (2004), Legacy (2008).
CD 4 features many rare B-Sides and non-album cuts, as well as demos dating from 1978 up to 2002 and CD5 boasts an ultra rare live recording from the pre-Girlschool Painted Lady.
This five disc set comes with an extended essay from NWOBHM expert John Tucker, and features plenty of pages of rare photos and sought after memorabilia.
Pre-order here.
Tracklisting:
Disc One: Demolition Girls (1979-1983)
"Take It All Away" (A-side)
"It Could Be Better" (B-side)
"Emergency"
"Nothing To Lose"
"Demolition Boys"
"Not For Sale"
"Take It All Away"
"Breakdown"
"Race With The Devil"
"Yeah Right"
"Please Don’t Touch" (with Motörhead)
"Hit And Run"
"The Hunter"
"(I’m Your) Victim"
"Watch Your Step"
"C’mon Let’s Go"
"Tush"
"Don’t Call It Love" (Wildlife EP)
"Screaming Blue Murder"
"It Turns Your Head Around"
"You Got Me"
"Take It From Me"
"1-2-3-4 Rock And Roll"
Disc Two: Playing Dirty (1983-1988)
"20th Century Boy"
"Play Dirty"
"Running For Cover"
"High & Dry"
"Going Under"
"Burning In The Heat"
"Nowhere To Run"
"Are You Ready?"
"Let Me Go"
"Running Wild"
"Love Is A Lie"
"Nasty Nasty"
"Back For More"
"All Day All Night"
"You’ve Got Me (Under Your Spell)"
"Let’s Go Crazy"
"Play With Fire"
"Head Over Heels"
"Action"
"Love At First Bite"
"Too Hot To Handle"
Disc Three: Still Not That Innocent (1992-2015)
"My Ambition"
"Can’t Say No"
"Can’t Do That"
"Take Me I’m Yours"
"Innocent"
"Knife"
"Coming Your Way"
"Mad Mad Sister"
"Let’s Get Hard"
"Secret"
"You Say"
"Passion"
"Other Side"
"I Spy" (Dio/Iommi Mix)
"Legend"
"Metropolis"
Disc Four: I Told You So – Singles, B-Sides (1980-1983)
"Furniture Fire" (B-side)
"Nothing To Lose" (7″ edit)
"Bomber" (St Valentine’s Day)
"Emergency" (St Valentine’s Day)
"Tonight" (B-side)
"Demolition Boys" (Live B-side)
"Tonight" (Live B-side)
"Wildlife"
"Don’t Stop"
"Tush"
"Don’t Call It Love"
"1-2-3-4 Rock And Roll" (ext ver)
"Like It Like That" (B-side)
Demos (1978-2002)
"Let’s Spend The Night Together"
"Just Don’t Care"
"Nothing To Lose"
"Baby Doll"
"Not For Sale"
"Running Wild"
"Love Is A Lie"
"I Told You So"
"Have A Nice Day"
"London"
Disc Five: The Pre-School Years – Painted Lady Live (1978)
"I Wanted To Boogie"
"Be My Lover"
"Smoke On The Water"
"King of The Blues"
"Sometime World"
"Rub It In"
"I Saw You Standing There"
"All Along The Watchtower"
"Paper Plane"
"Johnny B. Goode"
"Shoot Shoot"
"How Can I Tell You"
"Can’t Get Enough"
"All Right Now"
"Knocking On Heaven’s Door"
"Gimme Some Loving"
"Honky Tonk Women"
"Change’s Coming"
"Hey Joe"
"You Keep Me Hanging On"
