Ari Up.
At a performance with the Slits in about 1980 in a basement 'club' Ari announced from the stage something like, "We all have to try harder now right cause everything has gone way down from what it used to be." The last time I saw her was about 1998 at a loft party/performance below Tribeca somewhere, she wore the pink track suit and performed with one guy playing a drum and they had the whole room pogo-ing.
From various press sources:
Punk lost one of its most important figures when Ari Up passed away yesterday at the far too young age of 48. Scratch that — the loss is all of music’s, regardless of genre. As lead singer of the Slits from the age of 14, Up helped push punk past its primal beginnings toward avant-garde reggae grooves and beyond. The fearless music on Slits albums like 1979′s Cut has continued inspiring artists for decades now.
Ari Up was influential in other ways, too. The punk scene in 1970s London was still largely dominated by men when the Slits began making noise. They changed that dynamic forever, proving that a young, all-female band could have even more attitude and ambition than their macho peers. Up remains a feminist heroine to many today.
Up formed the Slits in 1976 at the age of 14, along with drummer Palmolive. The then all-female band, known for their unpredictable and outrageous antics, broke punk's boys' club barriers and made the mold for the early '90s riot grrrl movement. The band released two albums, 1979's 'Cut' -- which features an infamous cover photo of the band topless, covered in mud -- and 1981's 'Return of the Giant Slits,' before disbanding. Up would later release her own solo effort in addition to other musical ventures before reforming the Slits in 2005. The band released an album in 2009, titled 'Trapped Animal.'
"[The Slits] have become a mythology," Up told Spinner last year. "They're like Xena the Warrior Princess. She knew what she wanted. The Slits were totally rebellious and crazy. We were the absolute threat to society. We were such a threat. For our people, we changed the world."
