History: All-female Bands

In 1975, the Canadian duo of sisters, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, recorded the first of a string of albums. Joan Jett's first group The Runaways were an early commercially successful, hard-edged, all-female band, releasing their first album in 1976; other members included Cherie Currie (vocals), Sandy West (drums), Jackie Fox (bass) and Lita Ford.
In the United Kingdom, the advent of punk in the late 1970s with its "anyone can do it" ethos lead to the formation of such bands as The Slits, The Raincoats, Mo-Dettes, and Dolly Mixture among others, and the formation of other groups where the female members influenced the music and lyrical content (Au Pairs, Delta 5) or were the featured artist within the ensemble, notably Siouxsie and the Banshees and X-Ray Spex. The expansion of punk into Europe gave rise to Switzerland's die Kleenex/LiLiPUT.
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.