The Slits: Pioneers of Female Punk Music – Video

By Best Documentary 4 minutes Ago 0 Min Read

The tale of the formation, journey and end of the seminal Punk/Reggae band The Slits.

Director: William E. Badgley
Cast: Tessa Pollitt, Sid Vicious
Documentary, Music
Original title: Here to be Heard: The Story of The Slits

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Video “The Slits: the first female punk band” was uploaded on 06/26/2025 to Youtube Channel Best Documentary

Tags: documentary Punk Reggae

Best Documentary 3 October 2025

35 Comments

@RhythmGuitarMan says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

I saw them live at Lancaster University… I’ve got to be honest.. I thought they were shit. They neither shocked nor surprised. The music wasn’t high energy aggressive punk rock It was whiney out of time reggae music mainly and my mates spent all evening telling these really young kids that swastikas drawn in biro on wrangler jackets aren’t cool. They were supporting the Boomtown Rats -also too mainstream and tame as far as I can remember..Not my cup of tea, sorry.

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@flipperpete says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

I saw this at the New Parkway Theater in Oakland right after it was made. I bought a copy on DVD. Glad it's on youtube now so the younger generation can experience this.

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@VintageWanderer says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Awesome Documentary!

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@JosephRogers-i3c says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

L7?

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@oscaramadorsosa7972 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Siempre ha habido y habrá mujeres con un par de ovarios….A LAS QUE NADA NI NADIE LES HA DICHO QUE PENSAR, QUE DECIR Y QUE HACER…. Estoy con vosotras HERMANAS ❤❤❤❤

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@mrbarbelbarbello2332 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

I bought 'Cut' when it came out. I've still got it. I think it is unique music.

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@deejannemeiurffnicht1791 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

That was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Very moving and human.
And they were all exactly who they sounded like on record. The slits did stand apart from the rest of what got called punk. I still find their energy and imagination still inspiring me to stick to my guns and keep going.

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@arlodimetrio6087 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

They were not the first female punk band. The Runaways started in 1975 all female punk and the Slits started in 1976

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@njandrews4105 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

The dishrags formed the same year in Victoria, British Columbia Canada

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@OtisBdRIFTWOOD-y9h says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

BOLLOCKS

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@carlskelton5230 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

I spoke to Ari and Viv at one of their gigs and they were lovely. Nora was there as well but unfortunately I never got to meet her, I wish I had.

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@Richard-j4m6w says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

😅Johnny Rotten, Androgynous???😅 You gotta be jivin' me!😅

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@Bartholomew_Musgrave says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

What ethnicity is Ari Up? She looked mixed race or Romani or Jewish or something.

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@ericmalone3213 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Ari Up didn't have to die. She was diagnosed with cancer, but refused all medical treatment, believing, delusionally, that the "magic" in her dreadlocks, and "healing music" would save her. Her step-father John Lydon talked about this. Ari wouldn't listen to anyone, & kept her illness a secret from most people. Her mother Nora was completely unable to deal with Ari's untreated mental illness, & never really recovered from Ari's death. Ari was sixteen when The Slits recorded CUT. She adopted a Jamaican accent and ended up living in Jamaica for years, performing as Madussa. John Lydon was always yelling at her to drop the put-on Rasta accent, because she "wasn't bloody Jamaican!", she was German. In 2000, John and Nora took legal custody of her three children and raised them properly, because Ari just let them run wild, she hadn't taught them to read, write, or speak well. There's a lot of concert footage of the second iteration of The Slits that consistently show Ari in a kind of manic state, she could not stop talking thru the songs. As well as being a very unique vocalist and natural performer, Ari had studied piano and also played bass very well. She plays the bass part on "Adventures Close To Home," which Tessa sings. Ari also exercised important quality control in the making of their albums, she had a very accurate ear and always insisted on getting everything just right, to the point of bossing producer Dennis Bovell!

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@zoefyfe5095 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

I seen them once in L.A. at the VEX! The lead singer pulled her tampon/pad out and threw it at us! Yep! 🙏🏻🌹

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@Gloomyurai says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

I'm so grateful to have a full documentary about The Slits. thank you so much for making this documentary <33

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@bruceTincher says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

The Runaways preceded then by a couple of years. Just ask Joan Jett.😉

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@debralearyan8844 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

❤💫

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@spaceengineer-music says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Palmolive is hard to understand. They should have provided subtitles. First time we hear them..15.09 Wow ! They are truly AWFUL !

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@garycollingwood4002 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

" HELP ME I'M A VIRGIN " 😭

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@tiredoftheentitled9009 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Absolute tuneless crap band

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@davidlogat9338 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Thanks.
Can the 35k who saw this write the same?

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@smilingatbadpeople1413 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

My grandmother was in a band in 1960 called the demented she played the flute sounds like punk

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@PeteJones-d9q2u says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

The runaways were a rock and roll band that appeared as Punk was starting in Britain. The Slits were the real deal and the most underrated band from that time. Cut is one of my favourite albums, and it wasn't it great to see strong women telling weak men how the future would be.

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@HaFannyHa says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Thank you for this wonderful programme! Typical Girls is one of my personal anthems! RIP Ari, such a warrior.

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@baronsaturday2103 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

At 3:54 min. Hard to see the difference, Ari and Tessa look like sisters here. I think Tessa is the 2nd from left and Ari's the one on the far right, but it can be the other way around too. I love the Slits, they were a fantastic &gorgeous female punk-reggae crossover band with amazing colourful D.I.Y. style clothes and hairdo's. Great for a teenage girl or a woman to get inspired by and listen to, I love them! Thanx for this great film, finally a long documentary about them..! ☮💟

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@buckodonnghaile4309 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

What even is punk? What are the qualifications? Are there rules? hand drawn flyers are compulsory.

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@soulshe7 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

IN THE BEGINNING – HMMM>>>>>> The Slits- 4 Very Cool Young Women – I too was 17 at the time✨✨✨✨ Rock 'n Roll and Rebellion -Ari UP!

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@ericcrawford8431 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

The first U.K.'punk' laydee band.

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@robindavis564 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

I even hear Bjork in Ari's voice. This was a very important band from the punk days who were forgotten.

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@lungbutter420 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Thank you for this! What an incredible documentary. Rip Ari.

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@pcebpceb1638 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Many years ago, I got a single Pop Group on one side The Slits on the other. That is the pedigree of The Slits. Sherwood worked with them very early. Ditto Dennis Bovell. Killer music by strong women. Nothing like them, ever.

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@andreasbenning says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Lovely!!! A glimpse into a time capsule of a time when a white person having dreadlocks was cultural appreciation rather than cultural appropriation!
I must admit I've never rever really listened to The Slits, did know about them though. But I had no idea that Neneh Cherry was in the group for a while!! That's wild to me!!
Thanks for uploading this stellar dodumentary! Greetings from Sweden

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@ironduke2000 says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

Hey, Bill, should you see this, it's Duke. I never saw this until today, but I remember when you were working on it. I used to see Ari at music-scene parties not long before she died. It's funny, I knew full well then who the Slits were, and I had seen pictures of Ari in the days when she was touring with the Clash, etc., but I didn't connect the woman at those parties with the pictures of the young Ari; we never spoke, and contrary to the way she comes off here, she seemed rather circumspect, maybe because she was ill. Anyway she was quite striking, and after she died I saw an obituary with a recent photo of her in it and thought, Wow, that was Ari Up! I really enjoyed the doc, and hope all is well with you in Richmond. Of course I could text you all this, but I thought it might be more fun if you stumbled upon it here.

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@dan_fig says:

3 October 2025 at 19:12

🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

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