I spent a significant amount of time this weekend thinking up ideas for my first entry of the week. It seemed like an uphill battle. My mind was consumed with a million other things – an upcoming audition for a band seeking a lead guitarist, my sister’s wedding plans, and that amazing invention called Playstation. And then it happened.

Kelly Johnson died.

I didn’t find out from a newscast or even MTV’s “news” report. Allison Robertson and the Donnas sent out a bulletin on Myspace. So did Girlschool. Other members my Myspace community followed suit shortly thereafter. Today’s MTV world and all those pop-tarts might not understand – hell, they probably have no idea who Kelly Johnson is – but her death (while not unexpected) is a huge loss for the rock world. She passed away after a six-year battle with cancer of the spine on Sunday, July 15.

Blog of Sound contributor Donnaholicbr sent me a message asking if I was going to do an entry about Kelly. It was a no-brainer. Kelly has been as influential to me as Allison Robertson has.

Back up. Some of you don’t know that my name is Laura, and yes, I’m one of thousands of female rock guitarists. I sling a Les Paul and an SG and wail through a Peavey Valveking (and if Marshall would realize that the average musician can’t afford to even look at their amps, I’d have one of those.) I listen to Motley Crue, The Donnas, RATT, Poison, L7, Vixen, and yes, Girlschool. When I answer ads for “guitarist wanted” I list my musical influences as Ace Frehley, Keith Richards, Allison Robertson, and Kelly Johnson. That’s not to say that I play like these musicians. I’ve been listing these
masters since I learned how to play (well, not Allison. We started playing around the same time – we were probably both learning scales at the same time.) But these are the guitarists who I’ve tried to emulate and have had profound influence on my playing style. Today, if pressed, I’d say I play more like Allison Robertson and Kelly Johnson than Ace or Keith.

Which is why Kelly’s death (again, while expected) hits like a grenade in the stomach.

Girlschool was the first real all-female metal band. While The Runaways are often called the first all-female metal band, Girlschool took it to a whole new level. With the exception of some mid-career moves, this was all killer, no filler metal. It wasn’t poppy. This was metal. Close your eyes, forget they’re women. This was metal. Kelly Johnson was the lead guitarist grinding out this mayhem. She was with the band through their first four albums (and arguably their best albums) before leaving in 1983 after the release of “Play Dirty” to live in L.A.

While I’m much too young to remember Girlschool’s very first releases, I discovered them sometime when I was in junior high school. I don’t remember the date but it was the year my parents bought me my first electric guitar. It was a shiny black “lead guitar” model from the J.C. Penny catalog. I remember going through the catalog, foaming at the mouth, pointing to this guitar and begging for it. It wasn’t anything great and it only cost somewhere around $120. But it was the best $120 my parents could have ever spent. For my birthday and Christmas that year (my birthday falls three days before Christmas) my parents gave me the guitar and amp as a book I still have “Teach Yourself Lead Guitar.” This book is still in my guitar case. It’s dog-earred now and missing pages but was a good resource (later I found better ones.) At the end of the book there was a two-page discography where the author listed some guitarists to listen to. Amongst the Eric Claptons, George Harrisons, and Stevie Ray Vaughns was a single female guitarist – Kelly Johnson.

I remember that at the time I was obsessed with women playing rock and roll. Afterall, I was the same kid who loved Jem and had the complete Barbie and the Rockers set. And there was a movie starring Justine Bateman and Julia Roberts (and coincidentally Britta Phillips, the singing voice of Jem and later the bass player for indie band Luna) called Statisfaction that I was obsessed with. So when I saw that the book’s author had listed a single female guitarist I figured she had to be good. The next time my parents took me to the music store (I lived in a one horse town and if you wanted to go anywhere, you needed car) I picked up a copy of “Screaming Blue Murder” – the only Girlschool album the store had. I wore it out.

Yes, indeed there was a reason Kelly Johnson had been listed in the book’s discography. She was good. Very good. She played metal licks with ease, making the band rival Motorhead. While I could be mistaken, I believe Kelly was the first woman to ever be featured on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine. For good reason. In addition to her prowess, Kelly was a revolutionary. It was unusual for women to play metal. Scratch that, rock and roll in general. There were plenty of female singers in the 1960s through the early 1980s but if you were looking for women to pick up instruments and play them until their fingers bled, chances were good that you weren’t going to find them.

Kelly Johnson, along with Kim McAuliffe, Enid Williams, and Denise Dufort,inspired an entire generation of girls to walk into the music store, head passed the pianos and flutes and pick up Les Pauls. No one will ever forget the contributions Kelly and Girlschool made to rock and roll. Her death marks the passing of yet another rock and roll great.

Kelly Johnson (1958-2007) was one of the founding members of UK metal band. Girlschool. She passed away Sunday, July 15, 2007 after a six-year battle with cancer of the spine. This annoucement was sent out on Myspace from Girlschool: “It is with extreme sadness to tell you that Kelly Johnson, original member of Girlschool passed away on Sunday the 15th of July after fighting a 6 year battle with cancer of the spine.”
For all of you that would like to send wishes to celebrate Kelly’s memory, Please add and post to the Kelly Johnson Tribute Page and the Official Girlschool Page.
You can also visit the forum at the official website www.girlschool.co.uk

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