Illustration by Stéphanie Thieullent

“Ari Up: John Lydon’s step-daughter dies.” The Telegraph’s headline was horribly reductive. Ari Up, who died on Wednesday at the tragically young age of 48, was the punk legend’s step-daughter but that was just a small and tangential detail in a fascinating life and career. With The Slits and later with the New Age Steppers and solo in several guises, Ari Up was a musical icon in her own right, not a bit player on the fringes of the John Lydon circus.   

Illustration by Gemma Milly

The granddaughter of the owner of Der Spiegel and daughter of Nora Foster who was at the centre of the London music scene for years (befriending Hendrix and dating Chris Spedding before finally marrying Johnny Rotten), Ari Up was born from privilege and chaos in equal measure.  

Nora’s tendency to invite poor punk musicians to bunk down at their house put Ari at the heart of the scene and got her guitar tuition from Joe Strummer. She was 14 when she formed The Slits with Strummer’s former-flatmate Palmolive. Her fascination with reggae gave the band a dubby feel that was in sharp contrast to the guitar thrashing of many other punk outfits.  

Illustration by Aniela Murphy

Illustration by Abi Daker

The Slits debut album Cut, with its memorable image of the band naked but for grass skirts and a liberal coating of mud, featured a cleaner sound than their live performances. While the band’s cover of I Heard It Through The Grapevine is still an indie disco staple, the record is studded with gems particularly the amateurish piano and bouncing bass of Typical Girls.  

Illustration by Faye West

The Splits broke up in 1981 and Ari moved with her husband and twins to Indonesia and Belize before heading for Jamaica, an appropriate location given her an enduring love of reggae and dub. She performed and recorded with Lee Scratch Perry and released a solo album, Dread More Dan Dead, in 2005.  

In 2006, The Slits reformed to some critical acclaim, releasing the Return of The Giant Slits EP which was followed by a new full length record, Trapped Animals, in October last year.The Slits final work together, a video for the Trapped Animals track Lazy Slam (below), was released yesterday in accordance with Ari’s final wishes.  

Illustration by Gemma Sheldrake

A whirling dervish of dreadlocks and energy even when The Slits returned in their middle-aged incarnation, it’s with sad inevitability that Ari Up will be pegged as John Lydon’s step-daughter first and a musician in her own right second. But more thoughtful souls will remember her as one of punk’s most distinctive voices whose work with The Slits confounded and confronted the heavy-handed misogyny of much mainstream punk – The Stranglers, I’m looking at you.  

The death of Ari up has deprived music of one of its most original and unpredictable voices. It’s a truly sad day.

You can follow more of Mic’s words on his blog here. You can read our review of Trapped Animal here. A superb album, go buy it now.

Written by Mic Wright on Friday October 22nd, 2010 12:00 pm

Tags:

Abi Daker, Aniela Murphy, Ari Up, Dub, Faye West, Gemma Milly, Gemma Sheldrake, Heard It Through The Grapevine, John Lydon, Johnny Rotten, Lazy Slam, music, Obituary, punk, reggae, Stéphanie Thieullent, the slits, The Telegraph, Typical Girls

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