Music Monday is a very occasional feature where I talk about music that is often forgotten these days and which deserves to be remembered.

Back when I was young, Heavy Metal was a pretty male genre of music. Most of the bands were male and most of the fans were too. It had grown up among the young, working class men of the industrial towns in the British Midlands. But even though it was sweaty and unfashionable, it was also pretty open and accepting, and it wasn’t entirely male.

Today I thought I’d highlight a couple of the female heavy metal bands who made a name for themselves back in the 1980s.

First up is a band who were every bit the match for more famous Motörhead (with whom they also collaborated with), Girlschool. This band was as uncompromising, heavy and in-your-face as anyone else out there. Girlschool were pretty big news in the early 1980s, and they’re still active now. Here they are with the first track from their 1980 album, Demolition. The track is “Demolition Boys”:

Another band who could give anyone a run for their money in terms of energy and sheer musical aggression were Rock Goddess, formed by sisters Jody and Julie Turner while they were still at school (Julie was only 9 at the time and was still at school when their first album was released). The band never really hit the major league, but they did support bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. This track is from their second album, Hell Hath No Fury. The track is “Hold Me Down”:

These weren’t the only female metal bands of the time, of course, and there were plenty of bands with individual female members (Doro Pesch in Warlock being probably the most prominent), but they were still a rarity and you probably won’t hear much about them when people talk about the history of heavy metal. You should.