"The basic theme in rock'n'roll is what goes on between men and women.Rock'n'roll is based on black music. Its eclectic mix of musical genres has been described as one of the "great lost moments of women-in-rock". The Raincoats employed a diverse selection of cheap second-hand instruments such as the balophone, kalimba and gamelan on Odyshape, and the album incorporated British folk, dub basslines, polyrhythmic percussion and elements of free jazz among other world music influences. The Raincoats' second album, Odyshape, was released in 1981 and featured Weiss as well as drumming contributions from Dudanski, Robert Wyatt ( The Soft Machine) and Charles Hayward ( This Heat). Palmolive had left the band in September, shortly before The Raincoats came out, and teenager Ingrid Weiss joined the band on drums. On 21 November 1979, Rough Trade released the band's self-titled debut album, which received considerable acclaim from the press. The Raincoats' distinctly uncommercial sound did not appeal to everyone after witnessing an early performance by the band, Danny Baker remarked that "they are so bad that every time a waiter drops a tray we'd all get up and dance". Johnny Rotten was an early admirer of the band, and later stated: "The Raincoats offered a completely different way of doing things, as did X-Ray Spex and all the books about punk have failed to realise that these women were involved for no other reason than that they were good and original". Managed by Shirley O'Loughlin, the band went on their first UK tour with Swiss female band Kleenex, in May 1979 after Rough Trade Records released their first single, "Fairytale in the Supermarket". Late in 1978, the Raincoats became an all female band as they were joined by the Slits' ex-drummer Palmolive and the classically trained violinist Vicky Aspinall, with this line-up making their live debut at Acklam Hall in London on 4 January 1979. Nick Turner left to form the Barracudas, and Richard Dudanski (ex- The 101ers and later Public Image Ltd.) sat in on drums, while filmmaker Patrick Keiller replaced Frank on guitar. Guitarist Kate Korus (from The Slits and later the Mo-dettes) joined briefly but was replaced by Jeremie Frank. This is mine.’” For the band's first concert on 9 November 1977 at The Tabernacle, the line-up included Birch, da Silva, Ross Crighton (guitar) and Nick Turner (drums). But when I saw The Slits doing it, I thought, ‘This is me. It never occurred to me that I could be in a band. Birch stated in an interview with She Shreds magazine, "It was as if suddenly I was given permission. Da Silva and Birch were inspired to make a band after they saw the Slits perform live earlier that year.
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