John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958),[citation needed] known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; he left the band after two albums.
Following his departure from PiL, he developed a solo career. In 2012, he reunited with fellow PiL guitarist Keith Levene for Metal Box in Dub and the album Yin & Yang. Since 2013, he has been one of the featured pundits on Sunday morning's The Virtual Jukebox segment of BBC Radio 5 Live's Up All Night with Dotun Adebayo. His autobiography, Memoirs of a Geezer, was published in 2009.
Early life
Wardle was born in Stepney, East London,[1] his father, Harry Eugene Wardle, worked as a postman,[2] while his mother, Kathleen Bridget (née Fitzgibbon), was a school and County Hall secretary.[3] Wobble grew up with his family in Whitechapel's Clichy Estate in London's East End. He is a long-time friend of John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), whom he had met in the 1970s at London's Kingsway College. The two formed half of the group of friends known as "The Four Johns", along with John Grey and John Simon Ritchie (later known as Sid Vicious).[4] Jah Wobble acquired his stage name through the drunken, mumbled version of Wardle's name by Sid Vicious, which Wobble kept because "people would never forget it".[5]
Musical career
In his early life and career, by his own admission,[6] Wardle was given to occasional bouts of aggression, exacerbated by heavy drinking and drug use. As a result, he ended up living in a squat with John Gray in West London, while Lydon formed The Sex Pistols. With admittedly large "builders hands", he had experimented with the guitar, but found playing bass a more connected and whole body experience, influenced in part by admiring Bob Marley's and The Wailers bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett on stage in 1975.[7] Wardle was as critical of his friend Vicious's bass playing as John Lydon,[7] and had hence played in experimentation sessions with Lydon. After he burned the furniture of his squat-mates in order to stay warm, they left him alone there with a mattress, a headboard and his Music Man-copy bass.[7]
Public Image Ltd (PiL)
Following the Sex Pistols' break-up, Lydon approached Wobble about forming a band. Both had similarly broad musical tastes, and were avid fans of reggae and world music. The band began rehearsing together in May 1978, although remained unnamed until July 1978, when Lydon officially named the band Public Image (PiL) (the "Ltd" was not added until several months later),[8] after the Muriel Spark novel The Public Image.[9] Wobble's bass playing drew heavily on dub, which has remained an important feature of his music. Having experimented with Lydon pre-Sex Pistols break-up, he had written a simple repetitive bassline[7] on which Lydon wrote "Public Image".[10] PiL debuted in October 1978 with "Public Image", which reached number 9 on the UK charts, and also performed well on import in the US. Wobble has stated that the first PiL album was recorded so quickly due in part to the bassist's altercations with a sound engineer and men at a nearby pub.[11] He has, however, dismissed claims accusing him of extreme malice, such as setting fire to the former drummer for The Fall, Karl Burns, while Burns was session drumming for PiL.[6]
Wobble co-wrote and contributed bass and drums to PiL's second album Metal Box,[12] which was released in 1979. However, he grew increasingly frustrated by the lacklustre creative atmosphere in the band, which he felt stifled his artistic ambitions and PiL's creative potential.[13] Besides differences in artistic vision, further conflicts were brought on in part by heavy drug and alcohol abuse in the band.[4] Wobble then recorded his debut album The Legend Lives On... Jah Wobble in "Betrayal", making unauthorised use of material from Metal Box for which he was summarily fired from PiL in late 1980.[8]
Wobble also released at least one single during his period as a member of PiL: His 1978 single "Dreadlock Don't Deal in Wedlock" in which he recites Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat" and finishes with the line, 'love and marriage is like ice cream and cabbage ... dreadlock don't deal in wedlock."[citation needed]
Early post-PiL years
Soon after leaving PiL, Wobble formed The Human Condition with guitarist Dave "Animal" Maltby and PiL's original drummer, Jim Walker.[14] The Human Condition toured the UK, Europe, and US in 1981, and made two cassette-only releases of their live shows (Live at the Collegiate Theatre and Live in Europe). The post-PiL years saw Wobble also collaborating with Can members Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit on Czukay's solo projects (notably On the Way to the Peak of Normal and Rome Remains Rome) and Full Circle (released in 1984).[8]
Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart was formed in 1982. The original line-up was Ollie Marland on keys (who went on to become Tina Turner's musical director), Annie Whitehead on trombone, Neville Murray on percussion and a musician named only as Cliff, on drums. By 1983 Lee Partis was the drummer. Trumpeter Harry Beckett and pedal steel player B. J. Cole regularly performed with the group.[16]
By 1985 Jah Wobble's heavy drinking and drunken brawls were having an effect on his life. Halfway through the recording of the album Psalms (October 1986), Wobble stopped drinking. From then through to the present day he has remained 'clean and sober'.[17]
He then did a variety of day jobs, whilst continuing to perform and record his music in what spare time he had. These jobs included a long stretch with the London Underground.[8] In an oft-quoted tale, it is related that he once, at Tower Hill Underground Station via the public address system, regaled commuters with the deadpan announcement, "I used to be somebody. I repeat, I used to be somebody."[11]
By 1987, due to the repeated prompting of his friend and former bandmate, percussionist Neville Murray, Wobble reformed The Invaders of the Heart. Armed with a live recording of a concert he had made with a new line-up of musicians during a European tour in 1988, Wobble travelled to New York City's New Music Seminar in 1989 to get back into the music industry. Wobble was able to secure an eleventh-hour record deal with a small European record label.[18] The live album, Without Judgement, was recorded in the Netherlands and was released in November 1989. [8]
Following the relative success of Without Judgement, Wobble has collaborated with many musicians - Brian Eno among them - & his explorations into world music predated much of the genre's popularity. Wobble hit his commercial peak with 1991's Rising Above Bedlam. While the album did not chart, it spawned four singles including his first top-40 hit, Visions of You, featuring Sinéad O'Connor. Jah Wobble's 1994 album Take Me to God was influenced by world music genres and contributions from a variety of artists of diverse cultural backgrounds, including Baaba Maal, Dolores O'Riordan, and Chaka Demus, and was also a critical and commercial success.[8]
Mid 1990s to present
Although he has released recordings since the late seventies, Wobble has been particularly prolific from the mid-1990s to the present. He now runs his own label, 30 Hertz Records, and tours regularly throughout the UK and Europe with his current band, Jah Wobble & The Invaders of the Heart. His music has spanned a number of genres, including ambient music and dance music, and in 2003, reworkings of traditional English folk songs.
Wobble was part of the industrial musicsupergroupThe Damage Manual, which formed in 2000 and consisted of Wobble on bass alongside former PiL and Killing Joke drummer Martin Atkins, Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker, and vocalist Chris Connelly (who had previously worked with Atkins as part of two other industrial music supergroups, Pigface and Murder Inc., the latter of which also featured Walker). He appeared on the group's self-titled debut album as well as the EP One, both of which were released on Atkins' Invisible Records label, but subsequently left the group after declining to participate in their tour of the U.S.
A collaboration with his wife, the Chinese-born guzheng player Zi Lan Liao, was entitled Chinese Dub.[19] He also performed at the 2008 Rhythm Festival.
Jah Wobble and the Chinese Dub Orchestra won the Cross-Cultural Collaboration category, for their album Chinese Dub, in the inaugural Songlines Music Awards, announced on 1 May 2009, which were the new world music awards organised by the UK based magazine, Songlines.
In September 2009, John Lydon reformed PiL for a series of concerts in late 2009. Despite Lydon's invitation to join, Jah Wobble did not feature in the line-up, since he considered the wages offered insufficient and disagreed with the choice of venues.[20]
At an impromptu appearance at the Musicport Festival in Bridlington Spa on 24 October 2010, where they were joined by vocalist Johnny Rotter of the Sex Pistols Experience,[21] Wobble renewed his association with former PiL guitarist Keith Levene.
In 2011, Wobble collaborated with Julie Campbell, alias Warp Records artist LoneLady in a project called Psychic Life. The debut album, Psychic Life, was inspired by disco, post-punk and psychogeography, and released by Cherry Red Records on 14 November 2011.[22] Keith Levene contributed to three tracks on the album. A digital-onlyEP, Psychic Life, fronted by the song "Tightrope", was released in October 2011.
In early 2012, after some planned Japan gigs were cancelled because of visa issues, Wobble and Levene played various UK clubs as Metal Box in Dub. The visa issues were resolved and they played Fuji Rock festival in July 2012. This was followed by the release of a four-song, eponymous EP.[23] An album entitled Yin & Yang was released in November 2012.[24]
Wobble has also collaborated with the British ambient group Marconi Union, the results of which were released as an album called Anomic on 30 Hertz records in June 2013.[25] In October 2013, 30 Hertz Records released Odds & Sods & Epilogues, an illustrated book/CD of Jah Wobble's poetry.
In 2015, Cherry Red Records released Redux, a six-CD box set that spans nearly four decades of Wobble's music. It includes new tracks Merry Go Round and Let's Go Psycho. In May 2015, Jah Wobble & The Invaders of the Heart embarked on an extensive six-month UK tour. They recorded the album The Usual Suspects which was released on 3m Music in 2017. A series of gigs in England from January to May 2017 was announced.
Other activities
Jah Wobble studied part-time for four years at Birkbeck, University of London, graduating in 2000 with an upper second-class honours degree in the humanities.[26][27]
His autobiography, entitled Memoirs of a Geezer: Music, Life, Mayhem (Serpent's Tail books, London), was released in September 2009.[28] It was well received by critics.[29][30] He also writes occasional book reviews for The Independent.[31]
Personal life
Wobble has four children, including music producer Natalie Wardle from his first marriage, and two sons with his second wife, the Chinese-born guzheng player and harpistZi Lan Liao. Wobble was brought up a Roman Catholic but later converted to Buddhism.[32]
List of collaborators
Jah Wobble past and present collaborators (listed alphabetically)
Public Image Ltd are an English post-punk band formed by lead vocalist John Lydon, guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and drummer Jim Walker in May 1978. The group's line-up has changed frequently over the years; Lydon has been the sole constant member.
Holger Schüring, known professionally as Holger Czukay, was a German musician best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Described as "successfully bridg[ing] the gap between pop and the avant-garde", Czukay was also notable for having created early important examples of ambient music, for having explored "world music" well before the term was coined, and for having been a pioneer of sampling.
Julian Keith Levene was an English musician who was a founding member of both the Clash and Public Image Ltd (PiL). While Levene was in PiL, their 1978 debut album Public Image: First Issue reached No 22 in the UK album charts, and its lead track "Public Image" broke the top 10 UK singles chart.
Metal Box is the second studio album by Public Image Ltd, released by Virgin Records on 23 November 1979. The album takes its name from the round metal canister which contained the initial pressings of the record. It was later reissued in standard vinyl packaging as Second Edition in February 1980 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom, and by Warner Bros. Records and Island Records in the United States.
The Damage Manual is an English industrial supergroup formed in London in 2000. It featured Martin Atkins on drums and loops, Chris Connelly on vocals, Geordie Walker on guitar and Jah Wobble on bass. A second lineup saw Steven Seibold of the band Hate Dept. replacing both Walker and Wobble after their departure.
The Flowers of Romance is the third studio album by English post-punk band Public Image Ltd, released on 10 April 1981 by Virgin Records.
Public Image: First Issue is the debut studio album by English rock band Public Image Ltd, released in 1978 by record label Virgin.
Jim Walker is a Canadian musician who was a founding director as well as the original drummer for the UK music group Public Image Ltd.
"Death Disco" is a song by Public Image Ltd. The record was released in both 7" and 12" single formats with a "½ Mix" of the song and "Megga mix" on the 12" version. It reached number twenty on the UK Singles Chart. The song was released in an alternative shorter version as "Swan Lake" on the group's second album, Metal Box, with slight changes at the end. The title change reflects the quote from Tchaikovsky's ballet score that surfaces in Keith Levene's guitar part.
Commercial Zone is an album of studio recordings by Public Image Ltd, recorded in 1982 and 1983, and released in 1984 by PiL founding guitarist Keith Levene. Commercial Zone includes five songs that were later re-recorded for PiL's fourth official studio album, This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get (1984) – for this reason, Commercial Zone is often considered to be an earlier/alternative version of that album.
This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get is the fourth studio album by the English post-punk band Public Image Ltd, released on 6 July 1984 by Virgin Records. It includes the single "Bad Life" and a re-recorded version of a "This Is Not a Love Song", which had been a No. 5 UK and international hit when released as a single in 1983.
Spinner is an instrumental album by British musicians Brian Eno and Jah Wobble, released in 1995.
Ambient 3: Music Of Changes is a 1994 compilation album released by Virgin Records as part of its Ambient series. The compilation was issued as a double CD.
Axiom Collection series of albums are compilations from the Axiom record label released between 1991 and 1996.
Paris au Printemps is a live album recorded by Public Image Ltd in 1980 on two consecutive dates in January in Paris, and released in November the same year. The title of the album is French for 'Paris in the Spring', with French names also given to the band itself and songs in the track listing. It is notable as the band's last full-length release featuring founding bass player Jah Wobble, as well as the Paris concerts being drummer Martin Atkins' first gigs with Public Image Ltd. The album reached number 61 on the UK album charts.
"Public Image" is the debut single by Public Image Ltd. It reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart. The lyrics were written when band co-founder John Lydon was a member of the Sex Pistols. The song addresses Lydon's feelings of being exploited in the Sex Pistols by Malcolm McLaren and the press. Along with being released as a single, it appeared on PiL's 1978 debut album Public Image: First Issue.
Full Circle is a collaborative album between musicians Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble and Jaki Liebezeit, released in 1982 through Virgin Records.
Rome Remains Rome is the fifth album by Holger Czukay, released in 1987 through Virgin Records. One single was released, Blessed Easter, which samples Pope John Paul II's Easter message.
Gooseberry Sound Studios, also known as just Gooseberry Studios, were recording studios at 19 Gerrard Street, Chinatown, London, located in a cellar underneath a dental practice.
References
Jah Wobble (2009). Memoirs of a Geezer: The Autobiography of Jah Wobble— Music, Life, Mayhem. London, UK: Serpent's Tail. ISBN978-1-84668-712-9.
Bibliography
Further reading:
Hämäläinen, Jyrki "Spider" (2020). Killing Joke: Are You Receiving?. Milton Keynes: New Haven Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-1912587407.
External links
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