BAD TASTE

Not your “Typical Girls”: Viv Albertine with pick in mouth, pausing mid-show to sort out a common occurrence – a skinhead attacking Ari Up at a Slits gig at Woolwich in 1977, as documented by Ray Stevenson.

“…The early days of The Slits have a reputation for an atmosphere of fun, but also a mood of random chaos: How much of that reputation is accurate?

Tessa Pollitt (The Slits’ bass player): Sometimes things got really intense: people ask if we were ever subjected to violence? Let me tell you, please document how many times we were harassed by people. It’s hard to count how many times.

I remember one time, the Pistols were playing at The Screen on The Green, Islington. In the foyer, this guy came up to us, came up behind Ari Up and said, “So you’re The Slits? Well, Here’s a slit for you” and he just shoved a knife into her backside. Sliced her butt, quite literally, right there. Luckily for Ari, she was wearing so many layers of clothes, the damage was limited.It just seemed to others that we were asking for it.

The vibe towards us was, “know your place woman”! It seemed that we couldn’t go anywhere without getting a reaction from people…”

punk77.co.uk