Born on June 20: Kelly Johnson (Girlschool), the art of the female riff

She was born in 1958 in Edmonton, near London, and never much liked the name Bernadette Jean, which her parents gave her. Kelly is indeed more glamorous!

As a child, she alternated between piano and bass guitar before finally and brilliantly opting for the six-string. Even before meeting the three wild girls with whom she founded Girlschool at the age of 19, Kelly was already writing her own songs. For a few years, along with singer and rhythm guitarist Kim McAuliffe, bassist Enid Williams, and drummer Denise Dufort (with her Pippi Longstocking face), they embodied the new wave of English female hard rock. A veritable gang quickly embraced by Lemmy, Motörhead's chief ranter and bassist, who took them under his wing, pushed his label Bronze Records to sign them, invited them on tour with his trio, and even went so far as to record "Please Don't Touch" with them in 1981.

In barely two years, they produced three albums before the first dissensions appeared. The aptly named "Demolition" (1980) and its two successors, "Hit and Run" (1981) and "Streaming Blue Murder" (1982), would leave their mark on this fizzled-out New Wave of British Heavy Metal. But Girschool and especially Kelly Johnson can undeniably be credited with one of the genre's anthems with their "Race With the Devil," which in less than three minutes encapsulates the quartet's qualities. And Kelly is simply imperious in it!

After "Play Dirty" (1983), a fourth album that flopped despite production by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea (Slade), Kelly left the ship for about ten years. She then traveled the west coast of the United States and worked first with ex-Runways member Vicki Blue and then with ex-Go-Go's Kathy Valentine in World's Cutest Killers, but without generating much public interest. Perhaps somewhat disappointed, she gave up music for a while to learn sign language and offer her expertise to an association helping the deaf. Given the devastation caused by excessive volume, particularly on Pete Townshend (The Who), her initiative was certainly amusing.

In 1993, she returned home and reunited with her former bandmates for incessant tours until 1999 when doctors diagnosed her with spinal cord cancer. After a six-year battle, she passed away on July 15, 2007, at the age of only 49. Today, Girlschool perpetuates her memory in a way by continuing to play concerts throughout Europe. And no bar or club is too small for them!

Some concerts:

November 26: DVG Club - Kortrijk (Belgium)`Stéphan

Also starting in August in England, Sweden, Finland, and Germany

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Kelly Johnson with Girlschool on the TV set of "Génération 80" in Brussels (Belgium) on December 19, 1982