Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, disco, soul and funk group, originally formed in 1964 as the Jazziacs based in Jersey City, New Jersey. They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and funk, progressing to a smooth pop-funk ensemble, and in the post-millennium creating music with a modern, electro-pop sound. They have sold over 70 million albums worldwide.

The Slits were a British punk rock band. The quartet was formed in 1976 by members of the bands The Flowers of Romance and The Castrators. The members were Ari Up (Ariane Forster), who died of cancer in October 2010, and Palmolive (Paloma Romero, who later left to join The Raincoats), with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt replacing founding members, Kate Korus and Suzy Gutsy. Palmolive was replaced by the drummer Budgie (also known as Peter Clarke), formerly of The Spitfire Boys and later of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Although not all line-ups were exclusively female, the three main female members appeared on most record covers and publicity photos, and the group was generally presented as a female band.