Ari Up, founder of the groundbreaking female punk group, the Slits was one of my favorites. R&B and trip hop performer Neneh Cherry was a member of one of the last editions of the Slits when she moved from Stockholm to London in 1980, at age 14 to pursue a music career.
Even as Ari Up was a peer of John Lydon in the punk rock revolution, in an odd turn of events Lydon became Ari Up's stepfather when he married Nora Forster, a publishing heiress from Germany, some 14 years his senior, who was Ari's mother. It was Lydon that announced the death of Ari from an unspecified "serious illness" last October. Below is one of the many reggae influenced tunes by the Slits from their recent comeback effort. Ari is the one with the massive dreadlocks.
My favorite punk singer was Lora Logic of Essential Logic. Early on, Lora left X-Ray Spex over creative differences with Poly Styrene. Her new band Essential Logic is a far more interesting band than X Ray Spex but far less successful.
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There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt
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