Good evening….I was about to end the day without a post when I just saw a headline that’s as shocking as it is saddening to read and will certainly not end today on anything other than a sour note. It was reported this afternoon that Arianna Forster (much better known as Ari Up) the front person for seminal British punk girl band The Slits has passed away today. She was just 48 years old.

Ari Up (image courtesy Jon Bohy)

My sincere condolences go out to everyone associated with Arianna, of course her bandmates and friends but especially her family including mother / step-father – Nora and John Lydon. The tragic news was made official via the John Lydon and PIL websites today and the published statement reads as follows:

“John and Nora have asked us to let everyone know that Nora’s daughter Arianna (aka Ari-Up) died today (Wednesday, October 20th) after a serious illness,” he wrote. “She will be sadly missed. Everyone at JohnLydon.com and PiLofficial.Com would like to pass on their heartfelt condolences to John, Nora and family. Rest in Peace.”

The news seems inconceivable to me at this late hour and I had no idea she was battling an illness. I think I was first aware of The Slits about six months after I was first exposed to The Clash. As a 13 year old boy of course the bands name caught my eye and I still have the vinyl copy of their debut album ‘Cut’ which featured the Ari Up who by that time was still only 17.  While The Slits only lasted for two albums the legacy and music along with the unique place they occupied for a female band writing from such a new perspective became part of the fabric of the punk scene although their sound ran much deeper than the scene they were originally associated with. Its bittersweet perhaps that Ari did come back into the public eye in recent years as a reformed Slits toured and recorded new tracks.  Incidentally Joe Strummer gave Ari her first guitar lesson according to fable….hopefully she can show him how much she learned.

I’ll write more later. Tim

Hello out there in Clash fan land, hope you’ve had a pleasant Saturday wherever you reside. I can’t say that was a very great or normal day, waking up to learn about another significant earthquake (this time in Chile) was followed by tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific – even at the time of writing Japanese coastal towns are fearing what might happen in the next few hours. Then I watched a genuinely exciting football match between my side and Stoke City – a game that was ruined by Aaron Ramsey having his leg literally broken in two by a late (jury is out on the

Will Coachella feature half of The Clash?

intent) tackle from a Stoke mule. Although we went on to win the match, seeing one of your most promising young players with his foot literally hanging off at the wrong angle ruined the entire spectacle of winning. I played football myself later this afternoon and felt very cautious throughout although at a much slower pace of course! Add to that some Clash news and I guess we can wrap things up eh?

This is just at the rumour stage at present but there is a a certain amount of buzz that Mick Jones and Paul Simonon might be playing with Gorillaz at the Coachella festival in Southern California coming soon. If I can find something concrete about that I’ll be sure to let you know. As if The Specials, PIL and others wasn’t enough reason to drive to the middle of nowhere eh?

The charming and very informative Viv Albertine gave a brilliant interview to the Quietus this week. Within it she discusses her return to music in addition to her time with The Slits. She also talks about the early days of The Clash and The Sex Pistols, her relationship with Mick Jones and other key figures in those early years. Don’t forget Viv wasreally close to Sid Vicious, Keith Levene and so many others as she tried to break into such a male dominated scene. She says of Mick:

“Mick had such a thinking, intelligent mind, he wasn’t swayed by the latest wave of thinking or what was trendy. That’s what’s so great about Mick. Yeah. Brain in there”

Here’s an interesting write up on the Canoe.Ca site about the recently released ‘Shatter The Hotel’ project – the dub tribute to the songs of Joe Strummer and The Clash. There is a lot of interesting insight into the making of the album so it is definitely worth a read. I hope you’ve had a chance to purchase/download the album which benefits Strummerville, if not here is the link.

Finally a poll on the MTV site inquires about what might be the best debut albums of all time (and you can vote if you wish), credit to the former music channel (now just basically a big teen wankfest) for mentioning the debut record by The Clash – the results of the poll so far tells you all you need to know about who watches MTV these days.

A fairly rubbish day – but that will all change overnight. Cheers for dropping by.

If you’ve been following the blog lately you’ll know there was a remarkable benefit concert in London for Steve New (Rich Kids) on Thursday night as the band reformed for the first time in 30 years (see the post below). Also on the stage that night were Mick Jones, Tony James, Gary Kemp, Ian Broudie to name just a few. See prior posts for extra information. Thus it came as a lovely surprise to hear directly from one of the artists this afternoon who wanted to share her experiences of that evening.

Yes, Viv Albertine from The Slits who is now back recording and performing her own material wrote in to the Blog, it’s brilliant to see her up on stage again. Viv of course was closely associated with both The Clash and The Sex Pistols in the very earliest days of the London punk scene and then went on to join The Slits in 1977 as their new guitarist. I’d encourage you to visit Viv’s website to see what she’s been up to as 2009 slides into the new decade. So…enough from me I’m thrilled to let Viv explain her perspective of Thursday night:

“I was nervous because I was playing solo, not about the audience but because it would be the first time in 20 years that a lot of my peer group had seen and heard me play.  I didn’t want to be rubbish.

There was a sea of blokes stretching as far as I could see. The ones at the front were quite rowdy.  I like that. I like interacting with the audience.  Doesn’t faze me.

Did my songs, they went well.  Loads of reaction from the crowd and they listened to the words which was nice.  Talked to quite a few people afterwards and they really got what I was on about. I sang a song about not believing in love.  Back in the day it was very uncool to believe in love. The only two people who stood up for love were Mick Jones and Glen Matlock. The songwriters. Mick is a one-off.  He doesn’t dance to anyone else’s tune.

Then Carbon Silicon with Mick Jones and Tony James.  I see Mick occasionally, we still look out for each other.  He is always checking that I am ok.  That I’ve had a soundcheck, watches my show.  He is very supportive.  He has great stage presence, very ‘up’, lively, you can see he just loves playing.

Steve New was whizzing about backstage.  He said ‘this is the most exciting thing ever!’ he couldn’t wait to get on stage. The audience were very warm. Steve looked fragile but such spirit.  To be going through all that with humour, energy, adventurousness.  Something like this tests a person and Steve has shown himself to be strong and resilient, whole.

I felt like I was with a bunch of friends I had been to school with.  A closeness.  Old squabbles forgotten. Best night I’ve had for ages.”

Viv Albertine live on Jan 7 (image courtesy Pete Stevens)

Thank you so much Viv, what can I possibly add to that? I’ve heard from a number of people since the concert and it truly seems something special was in the air on that cold cold evening. Don’t be a stranger to the Clashblog, we’d love to have you back! (Pete – great photo thank you…)

Tim