‘Urry Up Ari!

wrongtom — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 11:29:24 +0000

Some of you might be aware of my love for reggae made by punks, or spiky dread as we affectionately dubbed it on the Trick & Tom show, so this morning’s news of former Slit Ari Up’s death has left a big be-dreadlocked hole in my heart. You may be reading this thinking “well he couldn’t have been that much of a fan as he never even included Ari on his spiky dread special” but I had far bigger plans for Slits related spikiness, having been pondering the possibility of a documentary on the subject and shopping around the idea for a compilation, The Slits input was to have pride of place alongside other pivotal moments like The Pop Group’s “3:38″ and Patti Smith’s “Redondo Beach”.

But enough about that and on to Ari who at one time fronted arguably one of the most important girl groups in rock history. Some might scoff but the girl group more often than not is something of a man-made ideal, and regardless of having plenty of men at the side lines spurring them on, The Slits, on their own terms, carved their name into the flabby arm of an often insecure homme-heavy industry. Embracing reggae in the punk scene was far from unheard of but very few delved into it’s culture, Ari on the other hand cultivated locks way before you could pop up to Camden to get them done on your lunch hour, spoke fluent patois and, on the one occasion I was lucky enough to catch her live, insisted she wouldn’t start performing until the sound man got the bass sound just right. A sonic tug of war ensued until finally Ari announced she could feel it proceeding to wine & bogle as the band kicked in around her.

I’ll pardon myself from gushing further, this could turn into an essay if I were to carry on so I’ll leave you with this slice of dislocated dubbing from ’81, with spiky dread stalwart Dennis Bovell working the faders and Ari’s primeval cry working it’s way through the bank of FX, I give you The Slits “Face Dub”.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWr6ocZKkb4

Mr Trick & Wrongtom: Show #4 (Jan. 08)

Mr Trick — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:33:03 +0000

So, our first show of 2008, and what a fine show it is too. Recorded and aired last Friday (the 1st Feb) on Resonance FM, this show took in anything from Mush Records’ Pedro to Dennis Bovell, Donovan to This Heat, we played tunes and speculated on such pressing issues as whether we should do a themed show based on the musicians who had slept with Winona Ryder, what the hell that accent was that Donovan spoke with on Atlantis and whether house music was actually good or not… all augmented by text messages from our honourable listeners. And John Amino.

Best show yet? Damn right.

Get listening!

And remember, for the Facebook-enabled among you there is now a group entitled “Mr Trick and Wrongtom (on your radio)”… click here to join up!

Mr Trick and Wrongtom » Dennis Bovell

‘Urry Up Ari!

Mr Trick & Wrongtom: Show #4 (Jan. 08)