The Slits

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The Slits
The Slits.jpg
A reformed lineup of the Slits performs in 2007
Background information
OriginLondon, England
Genres Punk rock, post-punk, dub, experimental rock
Years active1976–1982, 2005–2010
Labels Island, Y, CBS, Narnack
Past members Ari Up
Palmolive
Suzy Gutsy
Kate Korus
Tessa Pollitt
Viv Albertine
Budgie
Bruce Smith
Hollie Cook
Michelle Hill
NO
Anna Schulte
Adele Wilson
Neneh Cherry
Little Anna

The Slits were a punk rock band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma Romero, who played briefly with Spizzenergi and later left to join the Raincoats), with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt replacing founding members Kate Korus and Suzy Gutsy. [1] Their 1979 debut album, Cut , has been called one of the defining releases of the post-punk era. [2]

Contents

Career

1976–1982

The Slits formed in 1976 when Ari Up went to a Patti Smith gig. After having an argument with her mother, Ari was approached by Palmolive and Kate Korris with the offer to form a band. The next day they had their first rehearsal.

The group supported the Clash [3] on their 1977 White Riot tour along with Buzzcocks, the Jam, the Prefects and Subway Sect.[ citation needed ] Club performances of the Slits during this period are included in The Punk Rock Movie (1978). In November 1978, the Slits toured with the Clash again on the "Sort it Out Tour" and were joined by the Innocents who opened the shows. [4] Joe Strummer said the group would be "great" with intense gigging. [5]

Palmolive left the band in 1978 and debuted with The Raincoats on 4 January 1979. [6] She was replaced by the drummer Budgie (Peter Clarke), formerly of the Spitfire Boys and later of Siouxsie and the Banshees. [1] With the change of drummer came a change of musical style. The Slits' originally raw, raucous and drum-dominated live sound, as captured on two Peel Sessions in 1977 and 1978, was cleaned up and polished to a more bass-orientated sound with the Budgie line up, and their new style drew heavily from reggae, dub and world music.

Ari Up playing with the Slits at the Beat the Blues Festival, Alexandra Palace, 15 June 1980 The Slits-24.jpg
Ari Up playing with the Slits at the Beat the Blues Festival, Alexandra Palace, 15 June 1980

Their Dennis Bovell-produced debut album Cut was released in September 1979 on Island Records, with Neneh Cherry joining as additional backing vocalist. [1] The album's sleeve art depicted the band naked, except for mud and loincloths. [1] It is often claimed that Palmolive left partly because she did not like the album artwork, [7] including by Palmolive herself, [8] but Viv Albertine has stated that Palmolive had been asked to leave the band several months previously, [9] and she does not appear on the record.

The Slits' sound and attitude became increasingly experimental and avant-garde during the early 1980s, when they formed an alliance with Bristol post-punk band the Pop Group, sharing drummer Bruce Smith and releasing a joint single, "In the Beginning There Was Rhythm / Where There's a Will..." (Y Records). This was followed by an untitled compilation album of mostly homemade demos and live performances from before the release of Cut. The band toured widely and released their second studio album, Return of the Giant Slits , before breaking up in early 1982. [1] [7] Ari Up went on to be part of the New Age Steppers. [1]

2005–2010

Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt reformed the band with new members in 2005, as Viv Albertine was unwilling to rejoin, and in 2006 released the EP Revenge of the Killer Slits. [3] The EP featured former Sex Pistols member Paul Cook and former Adam and the Ants members Chris Constantinou and Marco Pirroni as both musicians and co-producers. [10] Cook's daughter Hollie played with the band, singing and playing keyboards. Other members of the reformed band were No (of the Home Office) on guitar, German drummer Anna Schulte, and Adele Wilson on guitar. [11]

The band toured the United States for the first time in twenty-five years during 2006's 'States of Mind' tour, and followed this with tours of Australia and Japan, as well as opening for Sonic Youth at New York's McCarren Park Pool. [12] Adele Wilson and No left the band, to be replaced by American guitarist Michelle Hill. A biography – Typical Girls? The Story of the Slits by Zoë Street Howe was published in the UK by Omnibus Press in July 2009, [13] and the band's third full-length album entitled Trapped Animal was released three months later. [14]

Founding member Ari Up died in Los Angeles in October 2010 at the age of 48. [15] The band's final work, the video for the song "Lazy Slam" from Trapped Animal, was released posthumously according to Ari Up's wishes. [16] A final song, the unreleased 1981 recording "Coulda Woulda Shoulda", was due to be released in early 2011. [17]

Personnel

Members

Lineups

19761976–19781978–19801980–1982
  • Ari Up – vocals
  • Kate Korus – guitar
  • Suzy Gutsy – bass guitar
  • Palmolive – drums
  • Ari Up – vocals
  • Viv Albertine – guitar
  • Tessa Pollitt – bass guitar
  • Budgie – drums
  • Ari Up – vocals
  • Viv Albertine – guitar
  • Tessa Pollitt – bass guitar
  • Bruce Smith – drums
1982–20052005–2010

Disbanded

  • Ari Up – vocals
  • Hollie Cook – backing vocals
  • NO – guitar, backing vocals
  • Adele Wilson – guitar
  • Michelle Hill – guitar
  • Tessa Pollitt – bass guitar
  • Anna Schulte – drums
  • Anna Ozawa – melodica, keyboard

Timeline

The Slits

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles and EPs

Documentary

In 2018 a documentary film was released, Here To Be Heard: The Story of The Slits. [22]

The band’s name appears in the lyrics of the Le Tigre song "Hot Topic." [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Raincoats</span> British experimental post-punk band

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The Flowers of Romance was an early punk band, formed in mid-1976 by Jo Faull and Sarah Hall, girlfriends at the time of Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols. The band did not release any recordings and, like London SS and Masters of the Backside, are more famed for the number of band members that later became well known, including: Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, Keith Levene, and Palmolive and Viv Albertine of The Slits. Despite never playing live, they were interviewed by SKUM fanzine in which Sid Vicious proclaimed "I'll just be the yob that I am now".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neneh Cherry</span> Swedish singer-songwriter

Neneh Mariann Karlsson ; born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk and post-punk bands in her youth, including the Slits and Rip Rig + Panic.

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<i>Cut</i> (The Slits album) 1979 studio album by the Slits

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Ariane Daniele Forster, known by her stage name Ari Up, was a German vocalist best known as a member of the English punk rock band the Slits.

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Paloma McLardy, known as Palmolive, is a Spanish drummer and songwriter who was a member of influential early punk bands. She founded the Slits toward the end of 1976. After leaving that group in 1978, she joined the Raincoats and performed on their first album, The Raincoats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viv Albertine</span> Australian-born British musician and writer

Viviane Katrina Louise Albertine is an Australian-born British musician, singer, songwriter and writer. She is best known as the guitarist for the punk band the Slits from 1977 until 1982, with whom she recorded two studio albums. Prior to joining the Slits, Albertine was a member of the Flowers of Romance.

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Trapped Animal is the third and final studio album by English punk band the Slits. It was released on 6 October 2009, and was their first album since their 2006 reunion which initially resulted in the EP Revenge of the Killer Slits. Founding vocalist Ari Up and bassist Tessa Pollitt returned, although the rest of the band underwent significant lineup changes introducing Hollie Cook on backing vocals, Adele Wilson on guitar, Little Anna on keyboards and melodica and Anna Schulte on drums. Trapped Animal received mixed to negative reviews from critics upon release. The Slits continued to tour the album until the following year when Up died after a two year battle with breast cancer, causing the band to disband permanently.

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References

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