Girlschool. Enid Williams (vocals/ bass guitar), Kim McAuliffe (vocals/Guitar), Kelly Johnson (Vocals/guitar) and Denise Dufort (drummer), before the Rafters gig, Manchester, May 1978.

This photograph was taken in the year Girlschool formed. I relished watching the band show the world that ‘girls’ certainly could command the stage and play rock and roll. The music industry tended to dismiss all–girl groups as just a gimmick, but there were male musicians and managers who purposefully encouraged women. In 1979, when Girlschool released their first punky, heavy metal single “Take It All Away” Lemmy, pioneer of new wave British heavy metal with his band Morörhead, thought it “fucking excellent”. He collaborated with the band for the rest of his life.