The Slits' brief catalog is full of oddities bookmarked by two full-length LPs, their acknowledged dub/punk classic Cut and the misunderstood and very underrated Return of the Giant Slits. (If you have not yet done so, get these albums now.)
This 1981 7″ came packaged with the (Europe only?) Return LP, and it's a perverse piece of promotion to say the least. Side B features the less-than-essential 'Face Dub,' but the real attraction here is the twelve-minute A-side, from a call in college radio show recorded in Madison, Wisconsin. The Slits are exhausted from touring, and clearly sick of America. Resembling some sort of mythical, technologically-mediated encounter between a coven of witches and a mob of townspeople (most of them men), this "interview" is hilarious, profound, and scary all at the same time.
Listen: American Radio Interview (Winter 1980)
Filed under: 45's and 7's, Punk - Post Punk, Spoken Word
I interview Ari Up last year, and luckily she was a lot more cooperative and insightful than this!
Great listen though, very interesting. thanks
//rew.
A great interview with AriUp from 2000 where she spins lots of old Slits tracks: http://www.wfmu.org/Playlists/Tamar/tamar.000911.html
Not sure why my post is full of spaces …
thanks
Return was a European only release. It has never came out in America, not even on CD.
http://www.petitiononline.com/sl1t5/petition.html
The recent UK Dbl. CD issue of ‘Return Of The Giant Slits’ includes the radio interview featured here.