Play Dirty (album)
Encyclopedia
Play Dirty is the fourth studio album by British heavy metal
band, Girlschool
, released on Bronze Records
in 1983 and produced by Noddy Holder
and Jim Lea
from the hard rock
band Slade
.
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:
In 2005, Castle
subsidiary Sanctuary Records
re-issued the album with bonus tracks, although none were new to CD, having been on compilation albums.
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
, also Jim Lea
and Noddy Holder
from Slade
produced it."
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band, Girlschool
Girlschool
Girlschool are a British heavy metal band originating out of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene in 1978 and frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead. They are the longest running all-female rock band, still active after more than 30 years...
, released on Bronze Records
Bronze Records
Bronze Records is an independent English record label set up in 1971 by record producer Gerry Bron, and based in Chalk Farm, London.Bron had been producing Uriah Heep for Vertigo Records, and he set up this new label for future Uriah Heep releases, along with Juicy Lucy, Richard Barnes and Colosseum...
in 1983 and produced by Noddy Holder
Noddy Holder
Neville John "Noddy" Holder MBE is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock band Slade....
and Jim Lea
Jim Lea
Jim Lea , is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in Slade.-Career:...
from the hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of 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 Boy20th Century Boy"20th Century Boy" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan. It was released as a single in 1973 and reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart. The song did not feature on an original studio album but was included as a bonus track on a reissue of 1973 album Tanx.It later returned to the UK Top 20 in...
"/ "Breaking All the Rules" on 7-inch, the 12-inch adding "Like It Like That". "20th Century Boy20th Century Boy"20th Century Boy" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan. It was released as a single in 1973 and reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart. The song did not feature on an original studio album but was included as a bonus track on a reissue of 1973 album Tanx.It later returned to the UK Top 20 in...
" is a T. RexT. Rex (band)T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
cover. - "Burning in the Heat"/ "Surrender" as both the 7-inch and 12-inch single release. (1984)
In 2005, Castle
Castle Communications
Castle Communications was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane and Jon Beecher. The company was acquired by the American music distributor Alliance Entertainment in 1994 and in 2000 it was absorbed into Sanctuary Records Group...
subsidiary Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
re-issued the album with bonus tracks, although none were new to CD, having been on compilation albums.
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
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
, also Jim Lea
Jim Lea
Jim Lea , is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in Slade.-Career:...
and Noddy Holder
Noddy Holder
Neville John "Noddy" Holder MBE is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock band Slade....
from Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...
produced it."
Track listing
- "Going Under" (K. McAuliffe, K. Johnson) – 4:16
- "High & Dry" (J. Lea, N. Holder) – 3:10
- "Play Dirty" (K. McAuliffe, K. Johnson) – 5:04
- "20th Century Boy20th Century Boy"20th Century Boy" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan. It was released as a single in 1973 and reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart. The song did not feature on an original studio album but was included as a bonus track on a reissue of 1973 album Tanx.It later returned to the UK Top 20 in...
" (Marc BolanMarc BolanMarc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
) – 3:28 - "Breaking All the Rules" (K. McAuliffe, K. Johnson, G. Weston, D. Dufort) – 3:03
- "Burning in the Heat" (J. Lea, N. Holder) – 3:20
- "Surrender" (K. McAuliffe, K. Johnson) – 3:24
- "Rock Me Shock Me" (K. McAuliffe, K. Johnson, G. Weston, D. Dufort) – 4:28
- "Running for Cover" (K. McAuliffe, K. Johnson) – 3:12
- "Breakout (Knob in the Media)" (K. McAuliffe, K. Johnson, G. Weston, D. Dufort) – 3:23
2005 re-issue bonus tracks
- "1-2-3-4 Rock 'n' Roll" – 3:32
- "Don't Call It Love" – 3:24
- "TushTushTush may refer to:*subgroup of Georgians Tushs or Tushetians*A slang term for the buttocks*Any of the canine teeth of a horse*Tush, the Bats language of the Bats people, who live in Tusheti*Tush , a song by ZZ Top from their album Fandango!...
" – 2:13 - "Like It Like That" – 3:28
- "1-2-3-4 Rock 'n' Roll" (12" extended version) – 4:33
Band members
- Kim McAuliffe – rhythm guitar, vocals on tracks 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
- Kelly JohnsonKelly Johnson (guitarist)Bernadette Jean "Kelly" Johnson was an English guitarist, widely known in the UK in the early 1980s as the lead guitarist of the all-female British heavy metal band Girlschool.-Biography:...
– lead guitar, vocals on tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 - Gil Weston – backing vocals, bass
- Denise Dufort – drums
Additional musicians
- Lemmy - backing vocals
- Vicki Blue - backing vocals
- Mark Haircut - tambourine, backing vocals
- Paul SamsonPaul SamsonPaul Samson was a British guitarist, closely associated with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.Born Paul Sanson, after a period in several obscure bands, Samson formed his own eponymous outfit, Samson, in 1977, consisting of Chris Aylmer on bass guitar, and Clive Burr on drums...
- handclaps and general noise