If you came up around the punk scene in England in the 1970's then you probably remember Ari Up (vocalist, ex-THE SLITS).
Ari Up, born Ariane Daniele Forster in Munich, Germany, on January 17, 1962, tragically passed away on October 20, 2010 of breast cancer. Ten years, a week today from this writing.
Born into a musical household, her father Frank Forster was a German Schlager singer and her mother, Nora Forster, was in with big name acts such as Jimi Hendrix and Chris Spedding. Her home was to become something of a half-way house for poor musicians, which is where Ari's love for punk music began to grow. She would put the guitar lessons received from THE CLASH's Joe Strummer to good use when Ari, at the age of 14, formed the band THE SLITS in 1976, with other female punk musicians Viv Albertine (NEW AGE STEPPERS, and her solo career), Tessa Pollitt, and Palmolive (born Paloma McLardy, ex-THE RAINCOATS).
It wasn't long after THE SLITS released their first album, Cut, that things for the band would change drastically.
"THE SLITS' originally raw and raucous live sound was cleaned up and polished by the time of their debut album, and over time their style began to draw heavily from reggae, dub and world music. Their Dennis Bovell-produced debut album Cut was released in September 1979 on Island Records, with Neneh Cherry joining as additional vocalist. The album's sleeve art depicted the band naked, except for mud and loincloths. Palmolive left the band around this time: it is often claimed that this was partly because she did not like this artwork. According to Viv Albertine, Palmolive had been asked to leave the band before that, and does not appear on the record. She was replaced by the drummer Budgie (Peter Clarke), formerly of THE SPITFIRE BOYS and later of SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES." - via wikipedia.
1981 saw the band come back for a sophomore LP, entitled Return of the Giant Slits. Only a few months later in early 1982, the quartet disbanded. The album was out of print until 2004, when CBS Japan reissued the record for a short amount of time. It was re-released again in 2009 by Blast First (one time independent label under Mute Records), this time with a bonus disc including alternate versions of the songs.
After disbanding, Ari Up moved with her husband and twin sons to "jungle regions of Indonesia, and Belize" living amongst the indigenous populations, later moving away to the capital port city of Kingston, Jamaica.
Her son, Wilton, was born in 1994. Tragically, the boy's father had been shot dead by the time he was born. In 2000, John Lydon (Johnny Rotten, ex-SEX PISTOLS, Public Image Ltd.) and her mother, Nora, became legal guardians of Ari's twin boys. As Lydon explained "[Ari] let them run free. They couldn’t read, write or form proper sentences. One day Ari said she couldn’t cope with them any more. I suggested they came to us because I wasn’t having them abandoned. They gave us hell, but I loved having kids around." via wikipedia
In 2008, Ari was diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite the diagnosis, she performed in July, 2009, with Lee "Scratch" Perry and Austrian dub band DUBBLESTANDART in Brooklyn, New York. One of Ari's last recordings took place in May 2010, in New York. The sessions were recorded by the Subatomic Sound System and released in August 2010 on 7" vinyl, titled Hello, Hell is Very Low backed with Bed Athletes. THE SLITS' final work, the video for the song Lazy Slam from THE SLITS' third and final album Trapped Animal, was released posthumously in accordance with Ari's wishes.
On October 20, 2010, Ari Up unfortunately passed away in Los Angeles, aged 48. Her death was initially announced on John Lydon's homepage. At this time, Lydon and Nora also became guardians of Ari's third child, Wilton.
A tribute Punky Reggae Birthday Party was held at the Music Hall of Williamsburg by Dunia Best, Aram Sinnreich and Vivien Goldman in Brooklyn on January 16, 2011. Neneh Cherry, Tessa Pollitt, Hollie Cook and other former members of THE SLITS performed, along with members of THE TRUE WARRIORS, NEW AGE STEPPERS, and other friends and associates.
Ari Up will forever be missed as one of punks great innovative vocalists, pushing boundaries and breaking the limits, not only for punk rock, but for women as well.
Rest In Peace, Ari
(Jan 17 1962 - Oct 20 2010)
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Written by Steve Knudsen
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