The Slits were a mostly all-women band. The punk rock trio was formed in 1977 by members of the bands The Flowers of Romance and The Castrators. The members were Ari Upp (Ariana Foster), with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollit replacing founding members Palmolive (Paloma Romera) (who left to join The Raincoats), Kate Korus and Suzi Gutsy. They were also augmented by male drummer Budgie (aka Pete Clarke, formerly of The Spitfire Boys and later to join Siouxsie and the Banshees, and indeed marry Siouxsie herself). 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.

Cut is the debut album by The Slits. It was originally released in September 1979 on the Island Records label (ILPS 9573) in the UK and on Antilles (AN 7077) in the U.S. Although it only made a brief impact on the UK top 30 at the time, in 2004 it was voted at no 58 in the Observer's list, The 100 Greatest British Albums .

The album was re-released on CD in Europe in 1990 and in 2000 within the Island Master series (IMCD 90 and IMCD 275). In 2005 Koch Records licensed the master to Cut from Island Def Jam (who still held the rights to the album) and reissued the album on CD for the first time ever in the United States; previously, the album had been only available to Stateside fans on CD as an English import, since the album's original American release (on the Island subsidiary Antilles, during Island's association with Warner Bros. Records) had long since gone out of print.

Personnel

*Ari Up - vocals

*Viv Albertine - guitar

*Tessa Pollitt - bass guitar

*Budgie - drums

*Dennis Bovell - sound effects

Photography by Pennie Smith

Notes

References

*

Category:The Slits albums

Category:1979 albums

Category:Debut albums

Category:Island Records albums

Category:Universal Deluxe Editions

br:Cut (albom The Slits)

fr:Cut (album)

it:Cut (The Slits)

Artist/Band Information

The Slits were a British 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), who died of cancer in October 2010, and Palmolive (Paloma Romero, 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 the drummer Budgie (aka Peter Clarke), formerly of The Spitfire Boys and later of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Although not all line-ups were exclusively female, the three main female members appeared on most record covers and publicity photos, and the group was generally presented as a female band.

Career

1976-1982

The group supported fellow punk band The Clash on their 1977 White Riot tour along with the Buzzcocks and the Subway Sect. 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.http Tour Info MASTER/78-10-00.

Captured on a Peel Session, the Slits' originally raw and raucous live sound was cleaned up and polished by the time of their debut album. A mixture of reggae rhythms, scratchy guitars, anger and mischief, the Dennis Bovell produced debut album Cut was released in September 1979 on Island Records with Neneh Cherry joining as additional vocalist. The album's sleeve art depicted the band naked, except for mud and loincloths. (Palmolive left before the recording sessions for Cut, partly because she disliked the others' concept for the sleeve).

The Slits's 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 a drummer (Bruce Smith) and releasing a joint single, "In The Beginning There was Rhythm" / "Where There's A Will" (Y Records), followed by a bizarre, uncommercial, untitled album of mostly homemade demo recordings, and a few more singles. The band toured widely and released another album, Return of the Giant Slits before breaking up in early 1982. Ari Up went on to be part of the New Age Steppers.

2005-2010

Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt reformed the band with new members in 2005, and in 2006 released the EP Revenge of the Killer Slits. The EP featured former Sex Pistols member Paul Cook and Marco Pirroni (ex-Adam and the Ants, and Siouxsie and 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. Other members of the reformed band were No (of The Home Office) on guitar, German drummer Anna Schulte, and Adele Wilson on guitar.

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 US, where they opened for Sonic Youth at New York's McCarren Park Pool. Pitchfork Media, 6 July 2007. In their first ever visit to that country, the band undertook a short tour of Japan in October 2007.

In 2008, the band again toured America. Adele Wilson left the band and No was replaced by the American guitarist, Michelle Hill. In November 2008, the band played Ladyfest in Manchester, and visited London Astoria the following month. In January 2009 The Slits' MySpace page listed former guitarist Viv Albertine as one of the groups current members, however Albertine's own MySpace blog states that she only rejoined to play two shows.

In January 2009, the Los Angeles based Narnack Records announced they had signed the band to a recording contract. A biography - Typical Girls? The Story Of The Slits by Zoe Street Howe was published in the UK by Omnibus Press in July 2009.

A full-length album entitled Trapped Animal was released in 2009, and the band continued to perform live.

Group founder Ari Up died unexpectedly in October 2010.http The band's final work, the video for the song "Lazy Slam" from Trapped Animal, was released posthumously according to Ari Up's wishes.

Viv Albertine announced on her Twitter page that she and Tessa Pollitt intend to release the "last ever Slits song", titled "Shoulda Coulda Woulda" from 1981 on cassette tape with hand drawn covers.

Members

Discography

Studio albums

*Cut (Island (UK) / Antilles (USA), September 1979) - UK #30

*The Slits/Bootleg Retrospective/Untitled (Y, May 1980)

*Return of the Giant Slits (CBS, October 1981)

*Trapped Animal (Narnack, 2009)

Later albums and compilations

*Double Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit, November 1988)

*In the Beginning (Jungle, 1997)

*Live at the Gibus Club (Castle Music / Sanctuary, February 2005 - recorded January 1978)

Singles and EPs

*"Typical Girls" / "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Island (UK) / Antilles (USA), September 1979, also issued as a 12-inch EP with additional alternate versions) UK #60

*"In the Beginning There Was Rhythm" (Y, March 1980, split single with The Pop Group)

*"Man Next Door" / "Man Next Door (version)" (Y, June 1980)

*"Animal Space" / "Animal Spacier" (Human (UK), 1981, also issued as a 12-inch EP on Human (USA) with different tracks)

*"Earthbeat" / "Earthdub" / "Begin Again, Rhythm" (CBS, August 1981 (UK), December 1981 (U.S.), 7 inch single with the first 2 tracks, and 12 inch EP with 3 tracks)

*"American Radio Interview (Winter 1980)" / "Face Dub" (CBS, October 1981, bonus record included with Return of the Giant Slits album, side one plays at 33 rpm)

*The Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit, February 1987)

*Revenge of the Killer Slits (2006)

Bibliography

*Zoe Street Howe, Typical Girls? The Story of The Slits, Omnibus Press, 2009. (ISBN 1847727808)

References