Thursday, 28 October 2010
(More apologies for the further non appearance of this blog. I think my website difficulties are now coming to an end. They do say you can't teach an old dog new tricks and that would certainly seem to apply in my case).
It was with great sadness that I learnt of the death, on October 20th, of the Slits lead singer Ari Up. I can't claim to have really known her, though I did photograph her a few times.
And anyone who went to the Roxy club, during it's initial inception under Andy Czezowski, would have certainly seen her livening up the proceedings. Not that they really needed enlivening but she did so anyway, that was the spirit of the times. I was a big fan of the Slits in those days and I must have seen them in and around London in 77/78 at least a dozen times. It was always different and you never knew quite what to expect, that was why I liked them.
The photograph of Ari above is, I admit, not very good and if it were not for this blog, would probably never have seen the light of day. It shows her in her normal irrepressible, lively mood in the foyer of the Brixton Academy after a Grace Jones gig in 1992. As you can see she was also quite a snappy dresser.
She was a real one-off and she will be dearly missed.
The circumstances around the one studio session I did with the Slits is mentioned here -
http://www.derekridgers.com/homepage/Blog/Entries/2010/4/26_The_Slits%2C_Chelsea_1978..html