Prior to the Slits, Palmolive and Viv Albertine had been kicked out of the Flowers of Romance by Sid Vicious as he felt they weren't talented enough - ironic considering his shortcomings as a bass player for the Sex Pistols a few years later. It is also alleged that they were so musically inexperienced that Mick Jones from the Clash tuned their guitars for them throughout the 1977 tour.
With a confrontational attitude and delight in their own lack of musical technique, they were accepted by the punk crowd, but surprisingly, no record label had picked them up after the initial explosion had passed. Similarly, Siouxsie and the Banshees had also missed out, possibly pointing to a sexist conspiracy for those might wish to investigate the matter further. The idea that a bunch of angry feminist women musicians would be considered too hard to control in the late '70's is unlikely to be that difficult to justify. Even so, we are still led to believe that 1977 was year zero by a predominantly male music press.
By the time Island Records took them on board Palmolive had left to join the Raincoats, being replaced by Budgie (later of Siouxsie and the Banshees). An album titled 'Cut' was produced by reggae producer Dennis Bovell, and their original distorted, chaotic punk noise had been replaced with a dub influenced post-punk guitar sound. The album sleeve gained extra attention by featuring the band virtually naked except for a layer of recently applied mud.
Budgie left for Siouxsie's band in 1979, and was replaced by former Pop Group member Bruce Smith, and added musicians Prince Hammer and Don Cherry (father of Neneh and Eagle-Eye) also joined the fold. The second album, 'Return of the Giant Slits' came in 1981, but their edge seemed to have been further diminished, and they had called it a day by the end of the year.
A 'Peel Sessions' mini-album appeared in the late 80's, which demonstrated perfectly why the riot-grrrl scene of the following decade gave lip service to the Slits as major influences. Their razor-sharp guitar noise and ramalama vocal exclamations mostly arrived within two minutes per track, and displayed an aggression and cultural awareness that was unexpected from women musicians at that time.
It is for this reason that virtually any female fronted punk or rock band since 1980 has mentioned the Slits, and their influence is still being felt today despite no official release at the time capturing their initial raucous charm and intensity.
A (barely) interesting piece of trivia; both Paul Simonon from the Clash and Viv Albertine modelled for a Laura Ashley calendar.
IF YOU LIKE THESE, YOU'LL LIKE THE SLITS: The Raincoats, Gang of Four, Big Flame, The Au Pairs, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Pop Group, Bikini Kill, Huggy Bear, Hole, The Clash, Patti Smith, Sex Pistols, Nirvana.