The Slits

The Slits
The Slits in NYC 2007
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Punk rock Post-punk
Years active	1976 – 1981 2006 - present
Label(s)	Island Records CBS Y Records
Members
Ari Up Hollie Cook NO Tessa Pollitt Anna Schulte
Former members
Kate Korus Suzy Gutsy Palmolive Viv Albertine Bruce Smith Budgie Adele Wilson

The Slits are a post-punk 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 Suzy Gutsy. Palmolive was replaced by male drummer Budgie (aka Pete Clarke), formerly of The Spitfire Boys and later to join Siouxsie & the Banshees.

Contents 1 Career 2 Discography 2.1 Studio albums 2.2 Live albums 2.3 Compilation albums 2.4 Singles 3 Trivia 4 References 5 External links 5.1 Interviews 5.2 Video

Career

At their outset, the Slits played a brand of brash, fun, snotty, catchy punk rock naturally suited to supporting The Clash on their 1977 White Riot tour along with the Buzzcocks and the Subway Sect (documented both on- and offstage by Don Letts in The Punk Rock Movie). As also captured on a legendary Peel Session, the Slits' originally extremely raw and raucous live sound was subsequently cleaned up and considerably polished by the time of their reggae influenced, dub heavy, Dennis Bovell produced 1979 debut album Cut (Island Records). The album's cover art depicts 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 the On-U dub-jamming project New Age Steppers, along with free improvisers such as Steve Beresford and also a young Neneh Cherry. The band has had such fans as Johnny Rotten, Frank Zappa and British DJ, John Peel. Albertine also collaborated with Singers & Players and The Playgroup. Ari Up has appeared on albums with Rip Rig & Panic, The Slackers, Dubblestandart, and several others. Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt reformed the band with new members in 2006, and released the EP "Revenge Of The Killer Slits". The EP features former Sex Pistol Paul Cook and Marco Pirroni (ex-Adam & the Ants, and Siouxsie & the Banshees) as both musicians and co-producers. In fact, Cook's daughter Hollie is a member of the current line-up. She is a backing singer. The band toured the United States for the first time in twenty five years during 2006's "States of Mind" tour. In 2007 they toured Australia as well as returning to the United States where they opened for Sonic Youth at NYC's McCarren Park Pool.^[1] According to www.myspace.com/theslits, they are set to do a mini-tour of Japan for the first time ever in October 2007.

Discography

Studio albums

• Cut (Island Records, 1979)
• Return of the Giant Slits (CBS, 1981)
• Revenge Of The Killer Slits (EP),(2006)

Live albums

• Bootleg Retrospective (Rough Trade, 1980)
• Live at the Gibus Club
• Typical Girls - Live in Cincinnati & San Fransisco USA (Basic Records, 1980)

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

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Slits drummer, Palmolive, dated Clash frontman, Joe Strummer. Ari Up's mother Nora married John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols. 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. The Slits are namechecked in the song 'Losing My Edge' by LCD Soundsystem

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 Site
• The Slits at MySpace
• Punk 77 - The Slits
• Women of 1970's Punk The Slits
• Ari Up official site
• Palmolive official site

Interviews

• 3am Magazine Tessa Pollitt interview

Video

• PUNKCAST#1062 Live @ Syrup Room, Brooklyn on Nov 3 2006 (Realplayer, mp4)
• PUNKCAST#1184 Live @ McCarren Park Pool, Brooklyn on Jul 28 2007 (Realplayer, mp4)