''Play Dirty'' is the fourth studio album by British heavy metal band,

Girlschool Girlschool are a British rock band that formed in the new wave of British heavy metal scene in 1978. Frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead, they are the longest-running all-female rock band, still active after more than 40 yea ...

, released on

Bronze Records Bronze Records was an independent English record label founded in 1971 by record producer Gerry Bron on Oxford Street in London, eventually relocating to Chalk Farm. History Bron had been producing Uriah Heep for Vertigo Records, and he set up ...

in 1983 and produced by

Noddy Holder Neville John "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the English band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s. Known for his unique and powerful voice, Holder co ...

and Jim Lea from the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

. It was the first Girlschool album not to enter the UK Top 40 album chart and signalled a general downturn in their career, along with an inclination towards a softer rock sound. Kelly Johnson left the band soon after the release and an intended full US-tour never materialised. In the UK, two singles were lifted from the album, each having a picture-sleeve: *"

20th Century Boy "20th Century Boy" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan, released as a stand-alone single on 2 March 1973. It entered in the UK Singles Chart at number 3, on 10 March 1973 and peaked three weeks in a row at that position. It stayed a ...

"/ "Breaking All the Rules" on 7-inch, the 12-inch adding "Like It Like That". "

" is a T. Rex cover. *" Burning in the Heat"/ "Surrender" as both the 7-inch and 12-inch single release. (1984) In 2005,

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

subsidiary

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...

re-issued the album on CD with songs from the EP '' 1-2-3-4 Rock and Roll'' and other compilations as bonus tracks, and extensive sleevenotes by Record Collector magazine's Joe Geesin. Drummer Denise Dufort rated the album as her favourite of all the band's career: "Play Dirty as it has a more mature sound to it and I think it sounds a bit like

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), a ...

, also Jim Lea and

from

produced it".

Reception

From contemporary reviews, Josephine Hocking wrote in ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' called the album a "cliche-ridden Heavy Metal album" and noted that song like "Burning in the Heat" and "Play Dirty" proved "beyond any reasonable doubt that sexist lyrics and boring guitar solos can be done equally badly by women as by men."

Track listing

Personnel

;Band members * Kim McAuliffe – rhythm guitar, lead vocals on tracks 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 * Kelly Johnson – lead guitar, lead vocals on tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 * Gil Weston – bass, backing vocals * Denise Dufort – drums ;Additional musicians *

Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...

- backing vocals *

Vicki Blue Victory Tischler-Blue (born September 16, 1959) is an American film producer, director, writer, musician and photographer. She was born and raised in Newport Beach, California. Tischler-Blue began working in the entertainment industry at age 17, ...

- backing vocals *Don Garbutt - keyboards and explosions *Mark Haircut - tambourine, backing vocals *

Paul Samson Paul Samson (4 June 1953 – 9 August 2002) was an English guitarist, closely associated with the new wave of British heavy metal. Born Paul Sanson, his first band in 1968 was a local Kent based group called 'The Innocence' which consisted of ...

- handclaps and general noise ;Production * Produced by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea * Mixed by Jim Lea

Charts

References

External links

Official Girlschool discography
{{Authority control Girlschool albums 1983 albums Bronze Records albums Mercury Records albums