Girlschool - Running Wild & Live In London (CD/DVD)

Girlschool initially formed in 1978 when school friends Kim McAuliffe (vocals/rhythm guitar) and Enid Williams (vocals/ bass) teamed up with Kelly Johnson (vocals/lead guitar), and Denise Dufort (drums).  They meshed hard rock with punk energy for a sound that caught the ear of Motorhead's Lemmy and resulted in the band supporting them on the 1979 Overkill tour, signing with their management and label and even releasing a single where they recorded Johnny Kidd & The Pirates' "Please Don't Touch" together along with covers of each other's songs.  They released four albums and a handful of singles over the next few years and also went through some lineup changes with Gil Weston (formerly in the punk band the Killjoys with Kevin Rowland of Dexy's Midnight Runners fame) replacing Williams in 1982 and guitarist Cris Bonacci and keyboard player/vocalist Jackie Bodimead replacing Johnson in 1984.  This last lineup change not only saw them go from a four-piece to a five-piece, but it also saw them shift towards a more polished, mainstream sound, something that had been hinted at on the preceding album Play Dirty.  That brings us to Running Wild & Live In London, which was originally released on VHS and then later reissued on DVD (under several different names including Play Dirty Live and Live From London), and has now been released for the first time on CD along with the DVD.  The show was recorded at The Camden Palace in London on December 7, 1984, and was released to support the upcoming release of Running Wild (the set included five songs from that album), which in hindsight was an interesting time in the band’s history with the aforementioned shift to a five-piece and the change to their sound.  When the album was released in February it was only released in the States and when its follow-up was released in 1986 they had gone back to their earlier sound, and were back to a four-piece with Bodimead no longer in the band.  In addition to the Running Wild tracks, the remainder of the set draws primarily from Hit and Run and Play Dirty with only two songs taken from other albums.  Interestingly, not only did their earlier tracks maintain the heavier and faster punk-tinged edge in the live show, the newer more AOR / hair metal tracks tended to also be a little heavier live.  As for the performance, the band definitely knew their way around the stage and sound great here giving an enthusiastic, high-energy show.  Even though this lineup was very short-lived, Running Wild & Live In London is a great representation of the band, especially at this point in their career.  (Unfortunately, I haven’t had access to the DVD, so I can’t comment on that part of this release)

(HNE Recordings)