Kelly Johnson

Jul 18 2007 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

SHE was slim and blonde, wearing menacing eye make-up, and in her black leathers she was the bad boy’s dream of a rock and roll girl, making her guitar sing and wail and howl.

And many of those boys prayed for her when they posted a message on the internet, saying that she was fighting for her life against cancer of the spine.

They remembered Kelly Johnson when she was the singer and lead guitarist in Girlschool, an all-female band, which stepped into the male preserve of heavy metal music with great gusto.

Of course, there had been great female rock and pop stars in the past – Helen Shapiro, Sandie Shaw, Debbie Harry and Chrissie Hynde. But they were girls among boys.

Girlschool was all girl.

They were formed in 1978, during the dying embers of punk, from an earlier group of Londoners called Painted Lady. The line-up was Kim McAuliffe (guitar), Enid Williams (bass), Kelly (lead guitar), and Denise Dufort (drums).

They quickly secured a recording contract with the City label, releasing the single Take It All Away. Kelly, whose hair was in the style of Farrah Fawcett, was the looker, but the philosophy of Girls Together was the unifying force.

As their reputation grew, they were a support act to Motorhead. This drew them to the attention of Gerry Bron, of Bronze Records, who admitted later that he had wondered if they could really play their instruments. But their first Bronze single, Race with the Devil, made the Top 50.

They worked with Motorhead, firm friends, on various projects including the St Valentine’s Day Massacre EP, on which they both performed under the joint name of Headgirl. The EP, with a version of Please Don’t Touch, which had been a hit for Johnny Kidd and the Pirates in an earlier era, entered the Top Five and gained them a slot on Top of the Pops.

Their debut album Demolition (1980) had not charted, but the second, Hit and Ruin, was a big success.

In 1984, Kelly left the group and tried for a solo career in the USA, but rejoined in 1993.

By then she had learned sign language and worked with the deaf. Cancer was diagnosed, and from 2000 this pioneer of girl rock was unable to play. She died in London.

Kelly Johnson, songwriter and musician; born June 20, 1958,died July 15, 2007.