Top of the Pops in April 1981 to promote the single "Hit and Run". On the contrary, Girlschool's change of musical style in 1984 and their sudden predilection for the US market were not well received by the British press and by their fans at home. The change of attitude and image, exemplified by the music video for "Running Wild" on rotation on MTV, which showed the girls playing with heavy make-up, combed hair and fancy costumes, imitating a trendy American glam outfit, alienated the love of British fans, whose perception of the band was still that of roughneck companions to Motörhead, instead of competitors of Mötley Crüe and Ratt. In the time span of two years, Girlschool passed from headliner act to having serious difficulty to find a gig in the UK: "Nobody seems to want us in Britain anymore", confessed McAuliffe to journalist Malcolm Dome in 1984. The return of Girlschool to the sound of their beginnings came too late to win back the large fan base of their heyday and the band fell to cult status already in the late 1980s. Legacy Pete Makowski in an article of the August 1980 edition of Sounds defined Girlschool "the leading pioneers in the battle against sexism". However, even if Enid Williams showed an interest in feminism, the band never openly expressed opinions about female discrimination, happy of being appreciated simply as musicians instead of 'female musicians'. Nonetheless, being a successful all-female group in the macho heavy metal scene was a statement of sexual equality, as many reviewers remarked, arriving as far as to associate Girlschool with the American feminist Riot Grrrl movement. Reviewers and critics have also often associated the production of recent all-female metal acts to the sound and music of Girlschool, identifying them as a band that, just like The Runaways before them, helped in paving the way to the presence of women in rock music. However, Williams remembered in 2004 how, in her experience, Girlschool were more inspirational for young male musicians than for female ones in starting rock bands. Moreover, important female metal bands of the 2000s, such as Crucified Barbara and Drain STH, denied even of knowing the music of Girlschool. Only the American all-female rock band The Donnas publicly acknowledged the influence of Girlschool on their music. Band members Current members Kim McAuliffe – rhythm guitar, lead and backing vocals (1978–present) Denise Dufort