The Slits’ Viv Albertine’s Memoirs Set for TV Adaptation
Punk rock will be coming to the masses as iconic musician Viv Albertine’s memoirs will be adapted as a TV series.
The Slits’ former guitarist has written two memoirs about growing up in the 70’s as well as her time playing with the all girl punk band (1977 – 1982). It has just been announced that her work will be adapted into a TV series by Stephen Woolley’s Number 9 Films (“Carol”) and Rachel Horovitz’s (“Patrick Melrose”) West Fourth Films.
The two memoirs Albertine wrote were titled “Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys” which came out in 2014. The second memoir, “To Throw Away Unopened” came out in 2018.
When asked about the book adaptations, Albertine stated “I’m so happy that Rachael, Elizabeth and Stephen are bringing my books to the screen. Right from the start they were sensitive to the extremely personal nature of the work and I knew the books were in the hands of producers with integrity. Their vision is perfectly in tune with the work, they understand the subject and the times, I can’t wait for the project to get started and to see all the characters in my story come to life.”
Producers Karlsen, Woolley and Horovitz said “What an exciting and exhilarating prospect to re-explore a time when music, fashion, political ideologies and sexuality were turned on their heads. So beautifully evoked alongside personal insights and frank reflections of an extraordinary woman’s life in Albertine’s two incredible memoirs.
“Nothing that has happened before or since can match the explosion that was 70s London Punk, and Viv Albertine helped pack the dynamite, place the detonator and light the fuse,” the producers added. “The Slits forged the soundtrack to a gender-bending, iconic cultural revolution and guitarist Viv Albertine was right in the thick of it. She helped create an uninhibited new attitude, a unique musical language and a DIY aesthetic that invaded and ingrained itself into the mainstream.”
The Slits were a punk band formed in London in 1976 by punk musicians Ari Up (Ariane Foster), Palmolive (Paloma Romero) Kate Korus and Suzy Gutsy. Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt joined shortly after, replacing Korus and Gutsy. The 1979 debut album was considered one of the defining releases of the post punk era.
The band enjoyed their heyday touring with The Clash and other well-known punk bands from 1977 to 1982 when they finally broke up. They later reformed from 2005 to 2010 but Albertine was unwilling to rejoin. They did a bit of touring but called it quits when Ari Up died of cancer in 2010.
In addition to playing with The Slits and writing her memoirs, Albertine has also written and directed the short “Coping with Cupid”. She acted in Joanna Hogg’s “Exhibition and contributed to the soundtrack of Hogg’s “Archipelago”.
