St. Valentine's Day Massacre (EP)

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For other uses, see Saint Valentine's Day massacre (disambiguation).

St. Valentine's Day Massacre
EP by
Headgirl
Released13 February 1981[1]
RecordedDecember 1980
StudioJacksons Studios, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
GenreHeavy metal
Length9:33
LabelBronze
ProducerVic Maile
Motörhead chronology
Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers (EP)
(1980) 		St. Valentine's Day Massacre
(1981) 		No Sleep 'til Hammersmith
(1981)
Girlschool chronology
Demolition
(1980) 		St. Valentine's Day Massacre
(1981) 		Hit and Run
(1981)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

St. Valentine's Day Massacre is an EP recorded by members of Motörhead and their Bronze Records labelmates Girlschool, under the moniker Headgirl. It reached number five in the UK Singles Charts in 1981.[3]

Recording[edit]

When Girlschool were recording in Rickmansworth with producer Vic Maile, he had the idea that Motörhead and Girlschool should record a single together.[3] The result was this three-track EP, on which the bands duetted on a cover of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates' "Please Don't Touch." The bands also covered each other, with Motörhead performing Girlschool's "Emergency" and Girlschool playing Motörhead's "Bomber." The EP was recorded while Motörhead's drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor was unavailable to perform due an injury, so Girlschool drummer Denise Dufort played on all three songs. The artwork features the two bands dressed as prohibition era gangsters and their molls.

In his autobiography White Line Fever, vocalist/bassist Lemmy Kilmister took aim at critics who accused him of being a sexist, citing his work with Girlschool. He stated: "When I find good women rockers, I'll lend them a hand. I'll never get any kind of credit for helping advance women in rock 'n' roll, but I have." In 2011, he admitted to John McNair of Mojo, "Truthfully, it's the women that I've lost I think about, not ex-members of Motorhead. Wendy O. Williams was a great woman. Fucking mental. And Kelly Johnson from Girlschool - she died young as well, which was a terrible, terrible shame. I had a small affair with Kelly. She was a good looking girl and a great guitarist. People used to say, "She's all right for a girl,' and I'd be like, 'She's better than you, motherfucker!' On a good night Kelly played like Jeff Beck."

Release[edit]

The EP was released in 1981 in 7" and 10" vinyl formats, with the same cover and track listing. It reached No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart.[4] A bootleg St. Valentine's Day Massacre exists, a double 12" vinyl album with white labels. It contains recordings of Motörhead and Girlschool's sets from a 1981 Rockstage TV Special from the Theatre Royal in Nottingham.[4] On 19 February 1981, under the name Headgirl, the two bands played "Please Don't Touch" on BBC TV's Top of the Pops to support the release of the EP.[4] They also performed the song on episode 62 of the German TV show Musikladen, that aired on 4 April 1981.[5]

The songs "Please Don't Touch" and "Emergency" were both on the 1984 compilation album No Remorse and then subsequently the 1996 Castle Records reissue of Ace of Spades. However, the tracks were omitted from the 2005 Sanctuary Records 2 cd deluxe edition, which is part of Sanctuary's remaster series of the first six studio albums released under Bronze and GWR.[6]

Critical reception[edit]

Joel McIver points out in his 2011 book on the band Overkill: The Untold Story of Motorhead, "Although the EP reached number 5 on the UK singles chart and even the critics gave it a begrudging thumbs-up, more than a few purists regard it as a sidestep into less serious, almost novelty territory that marked the beginning of a worrying tendency on Motorhead's part to get involved in projects that were beneath them." AllMusic: "This glorious artifact documents one of the most peculiar detours in Motörhead's uniformly pedal-to-the-metal career."

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleWriter(s)PlayersLength
1."Please Don't Touch"Johnny Kidd, Guy RobinsonLemmy, Kelly, Eddie, Enid, Kim & Denise2:49
2."Bomber"Kilmister, Clarke, TaylorKelly, Enid, Kim & Denise3:30
3."Emergency"Denise Dufort, Kelly Johnson, Kim McAuliffe, Enid WilliamsLemmy, Eddie & Denise3:03

Personnel[edit]

Charts[edit]

Chart (1981) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[7] 5

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[8] Silver 250,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "News". Record Mirror: 4. 7 February 1981. Retrieved 18 December 2020 – via flickr.com.
  2. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Motörhead St. Valentines Day Massacre review". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  3. ^ a b Kilmister, Ian and Garza, Janiss White Line Fever (2002) — Simon & Schuster pp. 142-144 ISBN 0-684-85868-1.
  4. ^ a b c Burridge, Alan Illustrated Collector's Guide to Motörhead Published: 1995, Collector's Guide Publishing ISBN 0-9695736-2-6.
  5. ^ "Backstage - die Sendung für Trash, Kitsch und Kult". Musikausstudiobremen.de. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  6. ^ Ace of Spades, Motörhead, Sanctuary Records, SMEDD243, 2005 Liner Notes, page 10 & 11
  7. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  8. ^ "British single certifications – Motorhead & Girls School – St. Valentine's Day Massacre Ep". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type St. Valentine's Day Massacre Ep in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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