The Slits
COVER THIS!
Picture This – THE SLITS
THE SLITS
April 1979
ZIG ZAG
R.I.P. Ari Up
Punk Misfits THE SLITS Released Their Funky Punky Reggae Debut Album ‘CUT’ 40 Years Ago…
6 September 2019
40 years ago, on 7 September 1979, all-female DIY punk misfits THE SLITS, led by the late great charismatic Ari-Up (John Lydon‘s stepdaughter) released their wayward, kooky and utterly cool debut album ‘CUT’. A superb anti-arty-farty record made by non-professional musicians. If they had been proper instrumentalists/vocalists this LP wouldn’t have been half as entertaining nor exciting nor gloriously turbulent. Their funky punky reggae havoc sounded as nothing else before and inspired a million girls to pick up a guitar and form a band! The Slits were highly inspiring underground heroines for generations to come.
PITCHFORK wrote: “When the group first formed, they couldn’t play their instruments for shit. The songs on the album offer an amalgam of punk’s abrasive DIY WTF-ness and the spacious relaxed rhythms of dub reggae. This album is a keystone for any and all punk-based grrrl movements. And– though it goes without saying, it’s often said anyway– this album is terribly, terribly important in the history of the rock music and the grand scheme of canonical flippity floo flap.” Score: 9.3/10 – Full review here.
Three Top Tracks‘: Typical Girls / Instant Hit / I Heard To The Grapevine
* TYPICAL GIRLS
* INSTANT HIT
* I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE (cover Marvin Gaye)
Album in full…
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THE SLITS: Fan Facebook – Biography
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R.I.P. Ari-Up
‘Typical Girls’ By Punk Reggae Legends THE SLITS (1979)…
Sonic knockouts from the past…
25 March 2019
‘Typical Girls‘ by THE SLITS
Released on 21 September 1979 with their rad cover of Motown classic
I Heard It To The Grapevine as the B-side. It was Budgie, once married
to Sioux Sioux, and member of Siouxsie and The Banshees (1979–1996) who
played the drums on ‘Typical Girls‘. The single was also featured on their
acclaimed debut LP CUT.
Let’s dance in memory of frontgirl Ari Up (1962-2010)…
THE SLITS: Biography
YESTERDAY’S CRACKERS – This Week: 25 Killer Tracks And 3 Top LP’s From 1979…
The best of the past…
Every week Turn Up The Volume! jumps into the past! Relive 25 Crackers and
3 Top Albums per year/per week. Here’s another firework year to remember: 1979.
The 25 KILLER TRACKS…
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The 3 TOP ALBUMS…
– Unknown Pleasures by JOY DIVISION –
Stream here…
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– Metal Box by PUBLIC IMAGE LTD –
Stream here…
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– ‘London Calling’ by THE CLASH
Stream here…
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See/hear you next week for the year of 1980…
TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM – ‘Cut’ – Punk Reggae Party Debut By… THE SLITS
Remarkable albums from the past…
‘Cut’
THE SLITS
Released: 7 Sept 1979
Debut longplayer
PITCHFORK wrote: “When the group first formed, they couldn’t play their instruments for shit. The songs on the album offer an amalgam of punk’s abrasive DIY WTF-ness and the spacious relaxed rhythms of dub reggae. This album is a keystone for any and all punk-based grrrl movements. And– though it goes without saying, it’s often said anyway– this album is terribly, terribly important in the history of the rock music and the grand scheme of canonical flippity floo flap.” Score: 9.3/10 – Full review here.
TURN UP THE VOLUME says: “experimental vision, wicked sing-along songs,
turbulent live presence, glorious DIY yourself punk reggae party.”
THREE TOP TRACKS‘: Typical Girls / Instant Hit / I Heard To The Grapevine
* TYPICAL GIRLS
* INSTANT HIT
* I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE (cover Marvin Gaye)
Album in full…
.
THE SLITS: Fan Facebook – Biography
.
DIY icons – R.I.P. Ari Up…
Wayward Punk Legends THE SLITS Gave Motown Hit A Trippy Dimension…
Legendary female punks THE SLITS formed in 1976 and after some line-up changes it was clear that the remaining trio of Ari-Up, Viv Albertine and Palmolive had no intention to jump on the punk train. I know, they were part of the same circle of young, noisy brats like Keith Levene, Johnny Rotten Lydon, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones among others and they toured with several big punk bands but they definitely were very different in sound & image than all those noisy boys gangs. They didn’t play fast, loud and furious, but developed their proper DIY sound around hyperkinetic rhythms, stripped to the bone dub reggae and weird funk patterns. If you never heard them check their sparkling 1979 debut LP CUT, featuring Neneh Cherry and produced by reggae virtuoso Dennis Bovell here. And this is what happened when they covered a mega soul hit…
I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
Originally written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966.
The 1968 version by Marvin Gaye is the most famous rendition of this fabulous song…