Typical Girl?

Ari Up, who was lead singer of the UK punk group The Slits, died yesterday aged 48 "after a serious illness".

Writing in the Guardian, Jon Savage says:

By the time the Slits recorded their first album in 1979, they were a completely different band from their thrash beginnings. Produced by Dennis Bovell, the reggae-infused Cut is justly celebrated as a landmark statement that includes strong songs such as Newtown, Shoplifting and, of course, Typical Girls ? an enduring manifesto for young women who seek to reject the norm.

I can still remember listening to Cut for the first time. It was like nothing else around at he time and was, in my opinion, a key point in the growing up of punk - a much more raw, and real, prelude to the kind of male-managed girl-power crap that emerged later with the Spice Girls. It had, and still has, an unusual power to it. One of the few good things about the death of a musician is that it gives you an excuse to go back and listen to their old stuff, as I did this afternoon with Cut on Spotify. See also the video for Typical Girls in the Spectator obituary.

I must admit I also quite liked the album cover and somehow got my hands on a shop poster version (I don't remember where from), about 3m square I think, which stayed on our wall in various student houses in Birmingham. I've no idea what happened to it but I kinda wish I still had it now.

I saw The Slits a few of times live, once in Aylesbury Friars on 19th April 1980 (with @Tim URZ) and again sometime soon after in Manchester with my brother. I think it's fair to say that they always seemed to attract an 'outsider' audience that was rather more weird than many other punk bands.

Great memories but rather sad.