Paloma Romero McLardy, AKA Palmolive, split the repressive, Franco-era Spain of her upbringing and landed in a London squat, where she started going out with Joe Strummer of the 101-ers and the Clash. A free spirit not to be contained, Palmolive wasn’t content with being a band boy’s girlfriend, so she started the first all-girl punk band, the Slits. A girl gang to be reckoned with, the Slits smashed society’s expectations of women on stage and in the streets and are now the subject of a documentary, Here to Be Heard: The Story of the Slits.
After leaving the Slits, Palmolive joined another groundbreaking feminist band, the Raincoats and played on their seminal first album, The Raincoats, also documented in a book by Jenn Pelly. In this episode, Palmolive talks about learning to drum in a street mime troupe, clashing with Sid Vicious, and playing in two of punk’s most influential and irreverent all-girl bands.
Photo credit to Ian Dickson
