The Slits

The Slits
File:Cut cover.jpg The Slits on the cover of Cut (1979)
Background information
Years active	1976–1981
Members	Ari Up Viv Albertine Tessa Politt Palmolive Kate Korus Suzi Gutsy Budgie

The Slits are an all female punk rock band. The quartet was formed in 1976 by members of the bands The Flowers of Romance and The Castrators. The members were Ari Up (Arianna Forster) and Palmolive (Paloma Romera) (who later left to join The Raincoats), with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt replacing founding members Kate Korus and Suzi Gutsy. Palmolive was replaced by male drummer Budgie (aka Pete Clarke), formerly of The Spitfire Boys and later to join Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Career

At their outset, the Slits played a brand of brash, fun, snotty, catchy punk rock. However, their originally extremely raw and raucous live sound, captured on a legendary Peel Session, was cleaned up and considerably polished by the time of their reggae influenced, dub heavy, Dennis Bovell produced 1979 debut album Cut (Island Records). As well as the exceptional music this album contained, it was also notable for its cover art, a photo depicting the band naked save for mud and loin-cloths.

Their sound and attitude became increasingly experimental and avant-garde during the early 1980's, when they formed an alliance with Bristol post punk mavericks The Pop Group, sharing a drummer (Bruce Smith) and releasing a joint single, "In The Beginning There was Rhythm/Where There's A Will" (Y Records). However, by the time of their second 'official' LP release Return Of The Giant Slits (a 'semi-official' bootleg of poorly recorded early material having been released in the interim by Rough Trade), many felt that their initial energy, exuberance and innovativeness had deserted them. Various Slits became involved with On-U dub-jamming project New Age Steppers along with free improvisers such as Steve Beresford and also a young Neneh Cherry. The Slits remain an important band in British rock history, and had such fans as Johnny Rotten and legendary British DJ, John Peel.

Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt reformed the band with new members in 2006 and released the EP "Revenge Of The Killer Slits".

Discography

Studio albums

• Cut (Island Records, 1979)
• Return of the Giant Slits (CBS, 1981)

Live albums

• Bootleg Retrospective (Rough Trade, 1980)
• Live at the Gibus Club

Compilation albums

• The Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit, 1988)
• In the Beginning (Jungle Records, 1997)

Singles

• "Typical Girls"/"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Island, 1979) UK #60
• "In The Beginning There Was Rhythm" (split single with The Pop Group), (Y Records/Rough Trade, 1980)
• "Man Next Door" (Y Records/Rough Trade, 1980)
• "Animal Space" (Human Records, 1980)
• "Earthbeat" (CBS, 1981)

Trivia

The Slits also appear in Don Letts' The Punk Rock Movie (1979) and live footage of the band playing at London's Vortex Club is included in the Punk! The Early Years DVD.

References

• Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
• Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7

External links

• The Slits Official Homepage
• Punk 77 - The Slits
• Interview with Tessa Pollitt
• Ari Up official page
• Don Letts Interview on punk/dub/The Slits era
• Public Image interview mentions Tessa Pollitt/The Slits
• Historical dialectic of punk and dub fusions
• The Clash DJ Scratchy remembers The Slits and his Dub Punk roots
• Live footage of the Slits at the Vortex Club, 1977
• Revenge of the Killer Slits review at Silent Uproar
• October 2006 Interview with Ari Up & Tessa Pollitt