Girlschool: The School Report 1978-2008, 5CD Book Set Review

6th January 2023 0 By Jon Deaux

Girlschool were championed by Lemmy and Motorhead for being the 1st bunch of women who could play as hard and as fast as them. They were also the pioneers of take no prisoners rock n roll.

Before I get into the music that’s spread over these 5 discs, the packaging needs a mention. It was a true WOW moment. A lovely hardback book with an essay by John Tucker that is full of band quotes. There’s a shedload of rare photos and cover artwork splattered throughout as well. All of this gives a whole new insight into the biker chicks from Mars.

The music is still as powerful and exceptional as ever and the inclusion of a rare pre-Girlschool (Painted Lady) gig from 1978 is just the cherry on top of an already tasty cupcake. Although primarily a covers band at this point, they were putting their own spin on the classics of the likes of Chuck Berry, Bad Company, Bob Dylan, and the Spencer Davis Group. The recording itself is of bootleg quality, but to have it preserved for future generations to discover is simply brilliant.

There’s also demos from 1978-2002 that take up an entire disc. Demos are something that I really enjoy listening to. The demo of Just Don’t Care from 1978 and the demo of the 2002 track London, showcases the way perfectly how Girlschool has transformed over the years but still holds on to that whole, FUCK YOU vibe.

I absolutely adore this band. Always have and always will. This box is fabulous. Even for the casual fan The School Report is well worth a purchase.
Score 10/10

Track Listing:

DISC ONE
Demolition Girls (1979-1983)
1 Take It All Away (A-side)
2 It Could Be Better (B-side)
3 Emergency
4 Nothing To Lose
5 Demolition Boys
6 Not For Sale
7 Take It All Away
8 Breakdown
9 Race With The Devil
10 Yeah Right
11 Please Don’t Touch (with Motörhead)
12 Hit And Run
13 The Hunter
14 (I’m Your) Victim
15 Watch Your Step
16 C’mon Let’s Go
17 Tush
18 Don’t Call It Love (Wildlife EP)
19 Screaming Blue Murder
20 It Turns Your Head Around
21 You Got Me
22 Take It From Me
23 1-2-3-4 Rock And Roll

DISC TWO
Playing Dirty (1983-1988)
1 20th Century Boy
2 Play Dirty
3 Running For Cover
4 High & Dry
5 Going Under
6 Burning In The Heat
7 Nowhere To Run
8 Are You Ready?
9 Let Me Go
10 Running Wild
11 Love Is A Lie
12 Nasty Nasty
13 Back For More
14 All Day All Night
15 You’ve Got Me (Under Your Spell)
16 Let’s Go Crazy
17 Play With Fire
18 Head Over Heels
19 Action
20 Love At First Bite
21 Too Hot To Handle

DISC THREE
Still Not That Innocent (1992-2015)
1 My Ambition
2 Can’t Say No
3 Can’t Do That
4 Take Me I’m Yours
5 Innocent
6 Knife
7 Coming Your Way
8 Mad Mad Sister
9 Let’s Get Hard
10 Secret
11 You Say
12 Passion
13 Other Side
14 I Spy (Dio/Iommi Mix)
15 Legend
16 Metropolis

DISC FOUR
I Told You So – Singles, B-Sides (1980-1983)
1 Furniture Fire (B-side)
2 Nothing To Lose (7″ edit)
3 Bomber (St Valentine’s Day)
4 Emergency (St Valentine’s Day)
5 Tonight (B-side)
6 Demolition Boys (Live B-side)
7 Tonight (Live B-side)
8 Wildlife
9 Don’t Stop
10 Tush
11 Don’t Call It Love
12 1-2-3-4 Rock And Roll (ext ver)
13 Like It Like That (B-side)
Demos (1978-2002)
14 Let’s Spend The Night Together
15 Just Don’t Care
16 Nothing To Lose
17 Baby Doll
18 Not For Sale
19 Running Wild
20 Love Is A Lie
21 I Told You So
22 Have A Nice Day
23 London

DISC FIVE

The Pre-School Years – Painted Lady Live (1978)
1 I Wanted To Boogie
2 Be My Lover
3 Smoke On The Water
4 King of The Blues
5 Sometime World
6 Rub It In
7 I Saw You Standing There
8 All Along The Watchtower
9 Paper Plane
10 Johnny B. Goode
11 Shoot Shoot
12 How Can I Tell You
13 Can’t Get Enough
14 All Right Now
15 Knocking On Heaven’s Door
16 Gimme Some Loving
17 Honky Tonk Women
18 Change’s Coming
19 Hey Joe
20 You Keep Me Hanging On
Label – HNE Recordings
Release – 27th January