Jah Wobble

by Steve Huey
Born John Wardle, Wobble was an old friend of Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten. When the Pistols broke up, Rotten formed Public Image Limited, and Wobble became the bass player. After the groups first few albums, Wobble had a falling out with Rotten (now Lydon) and guitarist Keith Levene and departed for a solo career, also collaborating with artists such as Can members Jaki Liebezeit and Holger Czukay and U2s the Edge. Wobbles solo repertoire ranges from pop to pseudo-reggae to difficult-to-listen-to experimentation. In the late 80s, his career took a downward direction, and he had a job sweeping train stations. He began listening to foreign music from places like North Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe and formed Invaders of the Heart with guitarist Justin Adams. The single Bomba brought Wobble back to the public eye in 1990, and he collaborated with Sinead OConnor and Primal Scream in addition to releasing the Invaders of the Heart album Rising Above Bedlam in 1991. Three years later, he released Take Me to God, which featured a number of guest appearences from the likes of Gavin Friday. In 1995, he released Psalms, which was followed in 1996 by The Inspiration of William Blake. In 1997 Wobble formed his own label, 30 Hertz, to release Jah Wobble Presents the Light Programme. Umbra Sumus appeared the following year. In 1999, Wobble released Deep Space, which featured appearences from Bill Laswell and Jaki Leibezeit. Full Moon over the Shopping Mall followed in the spring of 2000 and Molam Dub was issued later that fall. Passage to Hades appeared in spring 2001.