Headgirl

Headgirl was a collaboration between Motörhead and Girlschool in 1980, the result being the St. Valentine's Day Massacre EP, though the groups were credited as MotörheadGirlschool on the EP.

The collaboration between Motörhead and Girlschool started in March, 1979, when Motörhead began their first big tour with Overkill and Girlschool were their opening act. Lemmy had heard Girlschool's single "Take It All Away" and thought they were "fucking excellent" and liked the idea of girls being in a band. In his opinion, Kelly Johnson was as good as any guitarist that he had ever seen in his life and "wanted to stick it up these pompous bastard guitarists' asses". In late December 1980, Motörhead's drummer, Phil Taylor, broke his neck, preventing his continuing to play, so Motörhead's producer, Vic Maile, suggested they record a single with Girlschool. Lemmy chose "Please Don't Touch" by one of his favourite groups of the past, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, for the flipside. The bands recorded each others' songs — Girlschool performed "Bomber" and Motörhead performed "Emergency", although Denise Dufort played drums throughout.^[1][2] The record was released on February 14, 1981, as St. Valentine's Day Massacre EP and reaching #5 in the UK Singles Chart, it became the biggest hit either band ever had in the charts. On February 6 the bands had been filmed in concert for a Nottingham TV show called Rockstage and on February 19, billed as "Headgirl", they appeared on Top of the Pops playing "Please Don't Touch".^[3] With Girlschool as special guests on the Motörhead 2005 'Inferno UK Tour', Lemmy joined the band at the end of their set at Brixton Academy on November 19 to play "Please Don't Touch" for the first time ever live.^[4]

In 1981 a Japanese 12" single was released on the Bronze/Victor label, based around "Please Don't Touch" under the name Motorschool. Issued in a picture sleeve, it included "Bomber" played by Girlschool, "Emergency" and "Bomber" played by Motörhead, and "Emergency" and "Yeah Right" played by Girlschool. Lyrics to the songs were printed in English and Japanese.^[5]

Bronze used the Headgirl collaboration again in 1981, this time for a 12" vinyl release in Holland called Hard Rock On 12 — the record plays "Please Don't Touch", "Stay Clean", "Metropolis" and "Demolition Boys" but listed entirely different tracks on the sleeve.^[5]

Kelly Johnson, formerly of Girlschool and also guitarist with Headgirl, died on July 15, 2007, aged 49, following a six-year battle with cancer of the spine.

References

1. ^ Burridge, Alan (April 1991). "Motörhead". Record Collector (140): 19. 
2. ^ Kilmister, Ian and Garza, Janiss White Line Fever (2002) — Simon & Schuster pp. 126,143-144 ISBN 0-684-85868-1.
3. ^ Burridge, Alan Illustrated Collector's Guide to Motörhead Published: 1995, Collector's Guide Publishing ISBN 0-9695736-2-6.
4. ^ Burridge, Alan (April 2006). "Motörhead". Motörheadbangers 26 (75). 
5. ^ ^{a b} Burridge, Alan; Mick Stevenson (July 1993). "Motörhead". Record Collector (167): 73 and 75.