The Slits

Although their career was brief and their output minimal, the Slits' impact on rock and, particularly, women in punk is incalculable. With teenage firecracker Ari-Up fronting the band as lead singer, the Slits rose to prominence as the opening act on the Clash's 1977 U.K. tour. As the first all-female punk band, the Slits played a primitive, boisterous mash-up of funk, reggae, dance music, and jittery guitar rock that offered a wonderfully confrontational counterpoint to the boys' club that was the English punk scene. They released only two proper albums before parting ways in 1981; however, Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt reformed the band in earnest in early 2006, touring the world and recording new material.