The Raincoats

The Raincoats
The Raincoats performing in 2010 at the Museum of Modern Art
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Post-punk, experimental rock
Years active	1977–1984, 1993–present
Labels	We ThRee, Rough Trade, ROIR, Blast First, Smells Like Records, DGC
Website	www.theraincoats.net
Members	Ana da Silva Gina Birch Anne Wood Jean-Marc Butty
Past members	Ross Crighton Nick Turner Kate Korus Jeremie Frank Richard Dudanski Palmolive Vicky Aspinall Ingrid Weiss

The Raincoats are a British post-punk band. Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art, London, England.

The line-up included Ross Crighton on guitar and Nick Turner on drums for the band's first gig on 9 November 1977. Kate Korus, from The Slits and later The Mo-dettes, joined briefly but was replaced by Jeremie Frank. Nick Turner left to form The Barracudas and Richard Dudanski (ex The 101ers and later Public Image Ltd.) sat in on drums and film maker Patrick Keiller replaced Jeremie Frank on guitar.

Late in 1978, The Raincoats became an all female band as they were joined by The Slits' ex-drummer Palmolive and the classically trained violinist Vicky Aspinall, making their live debut at Acklam Hall in London on 4 January 1979. Managed by Shirley O'Loughlin, the band went on their first UK tour with Swiss female band Kleenex, in May 1979 after Rough Trade Records released their first single, "Fairytale in the Supermarket"/ "In Love"/ "Adventures Close to Home". Johnny Rotten was an early admirer of the band, and later stated that: "The Raincoats offered a completely different way of doing things, as did X-Ray Spex and all the books about punk have failed to realise that these women were involved for no other reason than that they were good and original." The Raincoats' distinctly non-commercial sound did not appeal to everyone; after witnessing an early performance by the band, Danny Baker remarked that: "They are so bad that every time a waiter drops a tray we'd all get up and dance."