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Viv Albertine

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Viv Albertine
Viv Albertine on tour, January 2012.
Viv Albertine on tour, January 2012.
Background information
Birth nameViviane Katrina Louise Albertine
Born (1954-12-01) 1 December 1954 (age 69)
Sydney, Australia
GenresPunk rock, post-punk, new wave
Occupation(s)Musician, television director
Instrument(s)Guitar, vocals
Years active1976–present
WebsiteViv Albertine official website

Viviane Katrina Louise "Viv" Albertine (born 1 December 1954[1]) is an Australian-born British singer and songwriter, best known as the guitarist for the English punk group the Slits. She lives in Camden, London.

Early life

Albertine was born in Sydney to a Swiss mother and a Corsican father.[1] She was brought up in north London, attended comprehensive school in Muswell Hill, and at the age of 17 enrolled in Hornsey School of Art.[2] After completing a foundation course at Hornsey, she went to Chelsea School of Art to study fashion and textile design. In 1976, while still studying at Chelsea, she helped form the early punk band the Flowers of Romance.

Music career

Albertine was amongst the first "inner circle" fans of the Sex Pistols, and was a close friend of both Mick Jones and Joe Strummer of the Clash. In 1976 she helped form the Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious. She joined the Slits as the band's guitarist after founding member Kate Korus left. Hesitant to join an all female band she changed her mind after her friend Chrissie Hynde told her to "Shut up and get on with it." The Clash's 1979 song "Train in Vain" has been interpreted by some as a response to "Typical Girls" by the Slits, which mentions girls standing by their men. Albertine split up with songwriter Mick Jones shortly before he wrote the song.[3]

While continuing as a key member of the Slits, Albertine contributed guitar and vocal work to the 49 Americans' 1980 album E Pluribus Unum.[4]

She became part of Adrian Sherwood's dub-influenced collective New Age Steppers, and played on their self-titled 1981 debut album. She appeared as a guest guitarist on the Flying Lizards' debut album, as well as Singers & Players' 1982 album Revenge of the Underdog.[4]

After the Slits disbanded in 1982, Albertine studied filmmaking in London. She worked as a director, mostly for television, throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s. Her freelance directing work included stints with the BBC and the British Film Institute.[5]

In 2009 she began performing as a solo artist. Her debut gig was at the Windmill in Brixton on 20 September 2009.[citation needed] She went on to tour the USA, opening for the Raincoats.[6] In March 2010 she released a four-song debut solo EP entitled Flesh on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label.[7]

Albertine recorded a cover version of David Bowie's "Letter to Hermione" for the Bowie tribute album We Were So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie which was released on 6 September 2010. Her debut solo album, The Vermilion Border, was released on 5 November 2012 through the Cadiz Music label. The album was a featured project on Pledgemusic.[8]

On 17 June 2013 she opened for Siouxsie Sioux at the Royal Festival Hall in London.[9]

Film career

In 1991 Albertine wrote and directed the short film Coping with Cupid, a film about three aliens as blondes that come to earth to research romantic love. In 2010 she worked with Joanna Hogg on the soundtrack to Hogg's 2010 film Archipelago.[citation needed]

In 2012 she started filming with writer/director Hogg on the 2013 film Exhibition, alongside Tom Hiddleston and Liam Gillick. The film premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in August 2013, and was released on DVD in 2014.[10]

Writing

Albertine's memoir, Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys, was published in 2014 in the UK by Faber and Faber.[11] It was a Sunday Times, Mojo, Rough Trade, and NME Book of the Year in 2014, as well as being shortlisted for the National Book Awards. Her second memoir To Throw Away Unopened was published by Faber and Faber in May 2018.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Viv Albertine". Viv Albertine. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  2. ^ Savage, Jon (2010). The England's Dreaming Tapes. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. p. 286. ISBN 0-8166-7292-X.
  3. ^ Gray, Marcus (26 October 2007). "Marcus Gray on the ongoing pop influence of 'Stand By Me' - Guardian Unlimited Arts". Arts. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  4. ^ a b "Viv Albertine Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  5. ^ Phoenix, Val (5 August 2009). "re:generation #1: viv albertine". Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  6. ^ Profile, noisey.vice.com; retrieved 4 October 2013.
  7. ^ Parkhouse, Will (25 February 2010). "I Do Not Believe In Love: Viv Albertine On Life Post The Slits". Thequietus.com. The Quietus. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Viv Albertine's Debut Solo Album". PledgeMusic. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  9. ^ Albertine at Royal Festival Hall, Last.fm; accessed 1 December 2015.
  10. ^ Millar, Iain (6 September 2013). "Public spaces, private lives". The Arts Newspaper. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  11. ^ Suzanne Moore (28 May 2014). "Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  12. ^ "To Throw Away Unopened". Public Store View. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  13. ^ Gross, Terry (16 July 2018). "Punk Legend And Memoirist Viv Albertine On A Lifetime Of Fighting The Patriarchy". NPR. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
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