Ari Up RIP

Slits front girl was abused by fans of Wakefield band The Cribs who asked them to play support band at one of thier gigs last year. The Cribs were in tears at thier fanbases lack of musical and cultural historical awareness. I first saw the Cribs supporting the Sex Pistols at Brixton Academy a few years back. They went down badly too. The connection, of course is that Ari Up was John Lydons daughter in law, his marriage to her mother has always been well hidden or steered away from in the press. Ari Up was 14 when she played her first Slits gigs. From a wealthy background she fitted in well with the London punk scene where a variety of backgrounds met up to change culture. The Slits were not really musically significant. Thier cultural significance immense. I recall buying thier first album that fired out a visceral female take on the world, enough to droop any early pubescent hard on I had for them. I can think of no other female band that distorted gender preconceptions or stereotypes quite as the Slits did. If thier is one band to represent London punk it should be the Slits, Pistols history is too wrapped up in crap to see thier purity anymore. The Sex Pistols were punk, John Lydon, Malcolm McClarren, Vivenne Westwood, Steve Jones, Glenn Matlock, Paul Cook, Jamie Reed. The Slits and Ari Up, beyond punk.