Everything about The Slits totally explained
The Slits are a
UK 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
Suzy Gutsy. Palmolive was replaced by male
drummer Budgie (aka Pete Clarke), formerly of
The Spitfire Boys and later to join
Siouxsie & the Banshees.
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, singing and playing keyboards.
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.
In their first ever visit to that country the band did a short tour of Japan in October 2007.
As of March of 2008, The Slits are embarking on a US tour with Brooklyn band Shellshag. Dates include appearances at the
SxSW festival.
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 Francisco 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
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
Former band member Kate Korus famously bit the ear of Shane MacGowan at a 1976 Clash concert.Further Information
Get more info on 'The Slits'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://the_slits.totallyexplained.com">The Slits Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
