GIRL – Wasted Youth

Girl’s debut album ‘Sheer Greed’ wasn’t a massive success upon release in January 1980.  It reached a modest #33 on the UK album chart and spawned two flop singles. With Iron Maiden, Saxon, Judas Priest and Motorhead all scoring top five hits on the album charts during the year, so with that in mind, Girl’s chart placing seemed somewhat modest.  However, what the young band had lacked in sales they made up for with a sheer weight of live appearances.  Regulars at the legendary Marquee, the band also supported a lot of famous rock acts throughout 1980 and 1981 and rarely seemed to be off the road.

Continue reading

L.A. GUNS – Another Xmas In Hell EP

In the US, Christmas music is big business. You can find a festive album to suit pretty much every one of your holiday moods. There are countless Christmas albums from country artists; you can play it traditionally with the easy listening approach with She & Him’s retro pop or Lowen & Navarro’s world of log fires and woolly jumpers. You can opt for retro rock ‘n’ roll and a swingin’ yuletide with the brilliant Brian Setzer, or even funky festivities with James Brown. In a world where even Bad Religion – a punk band fronted by one of the world’s most outspoken athiest academics – have a Christmas album, the gloves are off. We live in a post-irony world.

In December 2019, L.A. Guns’ ‘Another Xmas In Hell’ appeared on streaming services with little to no fanfare. A five track release, it finds the US hard rockers putting their own slant on a couple of very familiar festive favourites and a couple of lesser known gems.

Continue reading

Massive 6CD edition of Girl’s ‘Wasted Youth’ to be released in January

Following Cherry Red’s 2CD reissue of Girl’s debut album ‘Sheer Greed’, the label are set to release a massive 6CD edition of the band’s second album ‘Wasted Youth’ in January 2020.

The band was the launch pad for the careers of Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen and LA Guns vocalist Phil Lewis.  The band found themselves on the fringes of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and glam scenes and were a popular live draw in the early 80s.

Continue reading

GIRL – Sheer Greed

Often associated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, glam rock band Girl formed in London in 1979. Gaining a following on the live circuit, they quickly signed to Don Arden’s Jet Records – home to Electric Light Orchestra and Magnum – and released their debut album ‘Sheer Greed’ the following year. Decades on, if ‘Sheer Greed’ is mentioned at all, it’s by association. The band’s frontman, Philip Lewis, later joined L.A. Guns and guitarist Phil Collen replaced Pete Willis in Def Leppard, first appearing on the band’s third album – 1983’s multi-million selling ‘Pyromania’. Girl were always a reasonably good band in their own right, of course, and although by no means perfect, ‘Sheer Greed’ has enough good moments to remind listeners why they perhaps deserve a little more credit of their own.

Continue reading