The Slits

The Slits
The Slits perform in November 2006
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Post-punk, dub, punk rock, experimental rock
Years active	1976–1982, 2005–2010
Labels	Island, Y, CBS, Narnack
Associated acts	The Pop Group, Dennis Bovell, New Age Steppers
Past members	Ari Up Palmolive Suzy Gutsy Kate Korus Tessa Pollitt Viv Albertine Budgie Bruce Smith Hollie Cook Michelle Hill NO Anna Schulte Adele Wilson

The Slits were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by members of the groups The Flowers of Romance and The Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma Romero, who played briefly with Spizzenergi and later left to join The Raincoats), with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt replacing founding members Kate Korus and Suzy Gutsy. Their 1979 debut album, Cut, has been called one of the defining releases of the post-punk era.

The group supported fellow punk band The Clash on their 1977 White Riot tour along with the Buzzcocks, the Prefects 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.

Number One for me at the moment are the Subway Sect. They've got some good ideas. The Slits are good, too. Palmolive on drums! She's the female Jerry Nolan. But like everyone, they need to do thirty gigs in thirty days and they would be a different group. Then they'd be great. The same with us.

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. Their 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 the band around this time: it is often claimed that this was partly because she did not like this artwork, including by Palmolive herself, but according to Viv Albertine Palmolive had been asked to leave the band before that, and anyway does not appear on the record. She was replaced by the drummer Budgie (Peter Clarke), formerly of The Spitfire Boys and later of Siouxsie and the Banshees.