History & Biography What do you do when you want both heavy metal and rock ‘n’ roll in your rock? You do Heavy Metal Rock 'n' Roll of course. That was the title for the London, England-based Rock Goddess’ first single released by A&M in 1982. The trio was singer and guitarist Jody Turner, drummer Julie Turner and bassist (and Jody’s best school-mate) Tracey Lamb. The Turners were sisters. The band was founded in 1977. Julie was 9 years old. Jody was 13. Lamb was thirteen as well. John Turner, the father of the sisters, who had been a musician himself, ran a music shop, picked the girls' instruments, taught the girls their instruments, named the act and managed the trio. Having learnt how to play their instruments in a rehearsal space owned by their father, Rock Goddess - imagine living up to that name - played live for the first time at 101 Club in Clapham, south London in 1980. A mini-tour with the all-girl punk-turned-New Wave band The Gym Slips followed. The single was produced by Vic Maile who had also worked with Girlschool and Motörhead.
The band was deemed part of the NWOBHM movement during this period, but in reality the sound was more commercial than many of its counterparts. Still, the band had created a buzz, was on Girlfriend Records’ Making Waves compilation in 1981 with the song Make My Night and was added to the Reading festival line-up in 1982. The band played next to Bow Wow on a night headlined by Iron Maiden. It was apparently this performance, as well as a four-track demo, that sold A&M on the girls.
The introductory single preceded the My Angel EP and full-length Rock Goddess (rumoured to be called The Goddessa File at first) of 1983. Maile also produced the full-length. Early member keyboardist Donnica Colman had left prior to the debut’s release. The band was ruled out of a tour with UFO as Julie was too young to legally tour. A second album ended up appearing in the same year. It was called Hell Hath No Fury and produced by Chris Tsangarides who had just worked with Y&T. This one featured Dee O'Malley on bass who also played keyboards for the act. Dee was found after she had placed an ad in Sounds Magazine. Dee had been a guitarist originally. Coincidentally, Rock Goddess had hired stand-in bassist Kelly Johnson, of Girlschool, for one appearance. The American edition of Hell Hath No Fury ditched the cover artwork for a photograph of the band. It also ditched the title track! The debut was not issued in the USA.
The band was given an opening slot for Def Leppard and subsequently Saxon. Tracey Lamb had left and would join Girlschool in four years’ time after spending time in her project, She. Lamb had stayed long enough to be part of the Def Leppard tour, as well as gigs with Fastway. Also in the band She was Rock Goddess’ temporary 1983 second guitarist, Kat Burbella, who was from Hull and had joined in April 1983. Lamb was, reportedly, unhappy with the Turners’ full control. The new bass player was nineteen-year-old Dee O'Malley. Rock Goddess opened for Iron Maiden in Europe in 1983. The girls were rocking and good looking, but it was not impressive enough to make a dent and 1987’s Young & Free was the end. Fact was that the album was meant to be issued in 1985, but A&M had dropped the girls. The act appeared on UK TV on the ECT program. A keyboardist called Becky Axten had come and gone in 1986. Dee was pregnant and had left to become a full-time mother. The sisters tried their hand at a new act called The Jody Turner Band. The name was shortened to Turner next. Neither of these acts was all-girl.
The 1980s and 1990s were no different than these days. All bands would reform and so Rock Goddess was resurrected in 1994. The act was only Jody from the original line-up however. Accompanying the singer/guitarist was Japanese bassist Aki Shibahara and drummer Nicola Shaw (ex Sisterhood). There was a second guitarist called Isabella Fronzoni. She was from Ice Age. The name was changed in 1995 to Braindance, but this was not working and the girls disappeared again. Isabella had left earlier seemingly with the familiar complaint that the Turners were not doing right by the band.
The next reformation was in 2013. This one featured the original line-up. The band had been announced for the line-up of 2009’s Hard Rock Hell III festival, but that was a false alarm. Girlschool did play though! The reformed trio reported working on a new record called Unfinished Business. The act played at Headbangers Open Air 2015 and Keep It True Festival 2016. Tracey Lamb stayed until 2018 and was heard on the comeback 2017 EP, It's More Than Rock And Roll (yes, it is heavy metal too). It was released by the band’s Bite You To Death Records (which was named after an old Rock Goddess song) and distributed by Cargo Records. The group opened for Lita Ford in London in 2017. Rock Goddess was booked for the 2017 line-up of WinterStorm in Troon, Scotland. Jenny Lane replaced Lamb. The departure of Lamb was attributed to her “personal circumstances.”
A new record - the band’s fourth in over forty years - was issued in 2019. The record was announced for 2018, but was postponed due to “illness, manufacturing and scheduling factors.” Bite You To Death Records, which was the band’s imprint, released This Time alongside Hellion Records. Rubicon issued the record in Japan. The cover medusa was named Eve.
The act disbanded in the summer of 2022. There was COVID infection in the band and an appearance at Barcelona RockFest was cancelled. This was billed as a retirement from the “live circuit” and was due to “Logistical and financial obstacles.” The band had stated in interviews for This Time that it would not be another 30 years before another record would follow. Universal was due to release a box set of live and unreleased material for the band, but that was delayed inexplicably.
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