Girl - Sheer Greed - Live In Osaka '82 (2 CD - Import)

It’s fair to say that London’s Girl were either a little too late to the glam rock party, or if they had been around five years later, would have cleaned up on the hair metal scene that they were without doubt a huge influence on.
The band formed in 1979, and featuring singer Phil Lewis, guitarists Gerry Laffy and Phil Collen, eventually joined by Gerry’s brother Simon on bass, they rocked hard enough to capitalise on the burgeoning New Wave Of British Heavy that was sweeping across the UK, a scene led by Iron Maiden, Saxon and Def Leppard.
Signing to Jet Records, home of ELO, Girl released debut LP “Sheer Greed” at the beginning on 1980, breaking into the Top 40, helped along by major tours with UFO and Pat Travers, and by lead single ‘Hollywood Tease’, a track that would be re-recorded later in the decade by Phil Lewis with LA Guns.
With a sound that added a raw-edge, almost punk like thrash to their hard rock, a cover of KISS’s ‘Do You Love Me?’ demonstrated their overtly glammy roots, making them a little at odds with the leather clad, studded wrist bands and cut-off denim crew that might otherwise be following Motorhead, Angel Witch or Tygers Of Pan Tang. Produced by Chris Tsangarides (Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, and Anvil among many others) and Nick Tauber (UFO, Marillion, Girlschool, Venom), their solid debut demonstrated all of the energy of one of their raucous live club shows.
Girl would split up in 1982 after their second album “Wasted Youth”, with Phil Collen going on to greater fame and fortune with Def Leppard for their “Pyromania” album and beyond. Phil Lewis would join the aforementioned LA Guns with former Guns N’ Roses alumnus, Tracii Guns. Phil Collen would rejoin Simon Laffy in Man Raze, along with Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook.
Disc One includes three bonus tracks; their cover of the Kinks classic, ‘You Really Got Me’, ‘Love Is A Game’, written by Russ Ballard and the original, ‘Little Miss Ann’. As a further bonus, Girl’s concert at the Exposition Hall, Osaka, Japan in May 1982 on their final tour is included on Disc Two. Featuring ‘My Number’, ‘Heartbreak America’ and ‘Hollywood Tease’ from their debut, plus a cover of ZZ Top’s ‘Tush’, the concert concludes before a rapturous and appreciate Japanese audience with ‘This Town’.