The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Jah Wobble and The Invaders Of The Heart
Beat Generator, Dundee, April 27
Think of rock’s greatest bassists and there are a few obvious names that spring to mind. McCartney, Hook, McKagan, Deal and Geddy Lee would be up there, along with deceased greats like Lynott, Entwhistle, Lemmy and Cream’s Jack Bruce. The name Wardle isn’t widely known but, under the moniker Wobble, he’s gained global recognition across four decades.
John Wardle was just 19 when he formed Public Image Limited with ex-Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, helping the band’s debut single, Public Image, become an instant post-punk classic in 1978. Christened Jah Wobble by Sid Vicious, he stayed for PiL’s debut album and its iconic follow-up, Metal Box, before going solo.
The bass maestro formed Invaders Of The Heart in 1983, blending folk, dub, reggae and jazz, but has no regrets about rejecting a berth in Lydon’s reformed PiL. “I don’t bear the geezer any ill will,” says Wobble, 59.
“I have fond memories, as well as some horrendous ones. It’s got a funny, kind of surreal aspect to it. Who’d have thought when we met that we’d go on to play music that had a bearing on how people viewed the world?
“I was this rookie with a very definite idea on how the bass should be approached and was allowed to just make my own basslines, so it was fantastic. I was with PiL for two years and that was perfect.
“It can seem a short time, looking back now, but it didn’t particularly flash past quickly. When you’re young it’s very intense but not staying too long made me go out into the world and do my own stuff.”
With an incredible 50 albums behind him since then, it’s no surprise Wobble’s ambivalent about punk’s legacy. “There’s a generation who missed out on punk who remind me of the generation who came after my dad,” he quips.
“They did national service but didn’t see action and couldn’t tell war stories, so they tend to big it all up a bit more than it deserves. Punk exploded in that hot summer of ’76 and by spring of ’77 it was kind of over. It got quite ugly, whereas up to then it’d been a scene for mavericks.
“Too much is made of it through too many war stories. The way it’s talked about you’d think it was as important as the Renaissance. Punk opened the door so I’m very grateful but it was a laugh for a year or so then we all got kind of tired of it.”
Buddhist Wobble, whose biggest hit was 1991’s Visions Of You featuring Sinead O’Connor, last brought his fivepiece Invaders to Dundee in 2015. “Music’s similar to painting – the world’s so beautiful you mirror it in your work,” he says.