History: All-female Bands

The band Girlschool, from South London, formed in 1978 out of the ashes of Painted Lady, an all female cover band. While somewhat successful in the UK it was not until the early 80's when they became better known due to the success of The Go-Gos whoever bass player, Kathy Valentine, had been in Girls School in the 70's. Among their early recordings was an EP titled "The St. Valentines Day Massacre" which they recorded with Bronze label-mates Motorhead under the name Headgirl.
Also in the 1970s, a number of feminist folk music-based performers began fostering a Women's Music Movement, although it was not long before women with a background in rock music and jazz started women's bands to escape from the 'chick singer' trap. This included Jam Today, which started in a Peckham shed during the spring of 1976.
The 1980s, for the first time, saw all-female bands and female-fronted rock bands reach Billboards charts. When Joan Jett's I Love Rock 'n' Roll became the number 3 single on the Billboard Hot 100 year end charts for 1982 along with the Go-Go's We Got the Beat at number 25 it sent a strong message out to many industry heads that females who could play could bring in money. While Joan Jett played "no-frills, glam-rock anthems, sung with her tough-as-nails snarl and sneer", the Go-Go's were seen as playful girls, an image that even Rolling Stone magazine poked fun at when they put the band on their cover in their underwear along with the caption "Go-Go's Put out!". However musician magazines were starting to show respect to female musicians, putting Bonnie Raitt and Tina Weymouth on their covers. While The Go-Go's and The Bangles, both from the LA club scene, were the first all-female rock bands to find sustained success, it was individual musicians who helped pave the way for the industry to seek out bands that had female musicians and allow them to be part of the recording process.