GIRL - THE UK GLAM METAL BAND WHICH GAVE PHIL COLLEN AND PHIL LEWIS THEIR BIG BREAK

By request, here is a song from a relatively obscure UK glam metal band of the early 80`s named GIRL. I would imagine i recieved this email from a Londoner asking me to feature the song WASTED YOUTH, the title track of the band's second album, because of the mention i made of dethroned DEF LEPPARD guitarist PETE WILLIS a couple of blogs back. PHIL COLLEN, the guitarist in DEF LEPPARD post 1983, was the one who replaced Willis and was the guitarist in GIRL. GIRL weren't just handicapped by a dodgy band name but also by substandard songwriting, with meaningless lyrics and oft times energetic but very unfocused guitar and drum interplay. GIRL released three studio albums - SHEER GREED (1980), WASTED YOUTH (1981) and KILLING TIME (1987), the latter released long after PHIL COLLEN had quit to fill the vacancy in Def Leppard. For the most part, GIRL stuck to the glam metal formula, never more evident than their cover of the KISS song DO YOU LOVE ME? on the debut SHEER GREED, but on occasions, particularly on WASTED YOUTH, the band displayed a bit more of a punk edge. I knew of the band's debut album but to be perfectly honest i never knew they ever released a second and third album. WASTED YOUTH is not my favourite, UK punk rock or punk-ish rock is not my thing, but the riff in the song actually packs a punch, a good melody but the lyrics are crap. Singer PHIL LEWIS left around the time Collen did and joined american west coast glam metal band LA GUNS, where he officially remains to this day.