“We were like a gang”, Viv Abertine said in her brilliant memoir, Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music,Music,Music,Boys,Boys,Boys. “We’d shout over to each other…OI!” It’s this uninhibited spirit that marks The Slits as unique, fearless and badass, even decades later.
The sessions for John Peel reflect this. From the sarcastic sex kitten cries and faux orgasms of Love Und Romance, to the radio interference on F M, the tracks are even more raw than on record, and that’s going some. Chrissie Hynde may have taught guitar tips to the band, but it’s Ari Up’s thrilling vibrato, the thumping rhythm of NewTown and the girl gang frenzy of Shoplifting that encapsulates these tearaways. “Do a runner! Do a runner!”
If they hadn’t been so sincere, The Slits could have been cartoonish, but bear in mind that the seventies were appalling, particularly for a feminist all-women punk band. They lived what they sang about, ducking down shady streets together to avoid getting attacked because of their wild clothes Ari was indeed stabbed once.
They were the real deal. Don’t get me wrong, I love Blondie and admire Patti Smith, but these London based women of mixed European stock were funny, fierce, and way ahead of the others. They still are. This is my favourite Peel Session of all.
Hit The North 