The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma Romero, who played briefly with Spizzenergi and later left to join the Raincoats), with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt replacing founding members Kate Korus and Suzy Gutsy. Their 1979 debut album, Cut, has been called one of the defining releases of the post-punk era. Career 1976–1982 The Slits formed in 1976 when Ari Up went to a Patti Smith gig. After having an argument with her mother, Ari was approached by Palmolive and Kate Corris with the offer to form a band. The next day they had their first rehearsal. The group supported the Clash on their 1977 White Riot tour along with Buzzcocks, the Prefects and Subway Sect. Club performances of the Slits during this period are included in The Punk Rock Movie (1978). In November 1978, the Slits toured with the Clash again on the "Sort it Out Tour" and were joined by the Innocents who opened the shows. Joe Strummer said the group would be "great" with intense gigging. Palmolive left the band in 1978 and debuted with The Raincoats on 4 January 1979. She was replaced by the drummer Budgie (Peter Clarke), formerly of the Spitfire Boys and later of Siouxsie and the Banshees. With the change of drummer came a change of musical style. The Slits' originally raw, raucous and drum-dominated live sound, as captured on two Peel Sessions in 1977 and 1978, was cleaned up and polished to a more bass-orientated sound with the Budgie line up, and their new style drew heavily from reggae, dub and world music. Their Dennis Bovell-produced debut album Cut was released in September 1979 on Island Records, with Neneh Cherry joining as additional backing vocalist. The album's sleeve art depicted the band naked, except for mud and loincloths. It is often claimed that Palmolive left partly because she did not like the album artwork, including by Palmolive herself, but Viv Albertine has stated that Palmolive had been asked to leave the band several months previously, and she does not appear on the record. The Slits' sound and attitude became increasingly experimental and avant-garde during the early 1980s, when they formed an alliance with Bristol post-punk band the