The Slits aren’t, and never were, one of the biggest, well-known, or most-loved British punk groups. But they were one of the best back in the day.
And it’s sad to hear that the lead singer of The Slits, Ari Up, who was born Arianna Forster, has passed away at the tender age of 48.
The news of Ari Up’s death was, rather bizarrely, announced by John Lydon of The Sex Pistols, as he is married to her mother.
Forster formed The Slits in 1976 when she was just 14. This is the video for Typical Girls, and she is just 17 at the time. Even so, her precocious talent and the disregard for authority and convention that typified the punk movement is there for all to see.
If you have never heard of Ari Up or The Slits then I urge you to seek out their albums now. Assuming old-school punk doesn’t leave you completely cold.
