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Memoirs of a Geezer: Music, Mayhem, Life Paperback – October 19, 2010

by Jah Wobble (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 91 ratings

"Like his bass, the lows are low and the style upfront."?Financial Times

"An exhilarating journey."?Mojo

A frank and fascinating account of a geezer's life in the music business. Jah Wobble begins by offering the most authentic insider's account of the beginning of punk rock yet. He covers the celebrated ups of his career along with the downs, both personally and professionally. Throughout the book Wobble tells it like he sees it.

Jah Wobble is one of the founding members of Public Image Limited (PiL) along with John Lydon. He is a bassist, singer, composer, poet, and music journalist.

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  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Serpent's Tail
  4. Publication date
    October 19, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 1 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1846687209
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1846687204
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jah Wobble was born John Wardle in East London in 1958. He was one of the founder members of Public Image Limited (PiL), along with John Lydon, formerly of the Sex Pistols, whom Wobble met, along with Sid Vicious, at sixth form college.
After Wobble left the band he embarked on a number of solo projects and collaborations, including the Invaders of the Heart and the Human Condition. His album Rising Above Bedlam was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize (1992). His latest project, Chinese Dub, is one of the great world music hits of recent years. He is a bass guitarist, singer, composer, poet and music journalist. As well as all that he runs his own record company, 30 Hertz Records.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Serpent's Tail
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 19, 2010
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Main
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1846687209
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1846687204
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1 x 8 inches
  • Best Sellers Rank: #5,603,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 91 ratings

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
91 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

  • PattyLovesPil
    5.0 out of 5 stars Top Geezer!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Self-portrait of a multi-talented, hard-working artist, told with candor and wit. Jah’s observations on life are insightful, as are his tales of trials and tribulations as a musician intent on maintaining his integrity in the corrupt music industry. In addition to being the highly esteemed Public Image Ltd. bassist, he’s had an incredibly creative life as a musician with his subsequent jazz/world fusion band Invaders of the Heart (great band name!), recording dozens of albums and touring internationally with them. I especially enjoyed reading about Jah’s spiritual journey - starting life as a delinquent youth - one of the “four John’s” at Hackney College (along with John Lydon and John Beverly, aka Sid Vicious); teaching himself bass when he was recruited to PiL at age 21; quitting to pursue solo work, struggling to make a living; taking on all kinds of working class jobs during his 20’s (delivery truck driver, warehouse manager, train driver in the London Underground); partying hard, crashing; going through a sad divorce; overcoming alcoholism, then finally committing himself to working full-time as a musician and starting his own record label. Jah is by nature an explorer; he met a second wife who is a Chinese acrobat , and describes his trip to China to meet her family, with some marvelous anecdotes. So wonderful to read in the epilogue that they now have two sons who are musical performers too! Jah’s open-minded, down-to-earth POV makes this an enjoyable, educational read, as he shares his considerable knowledge of a variety of subjects, current events, and modern society. Much respect to Jah Wobble, a top geezer! 😌
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Transpohzbooks
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting memoir somewhat hampered by thin content in last half
    Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2010
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Overall, this is an interesting look into Wobble's musical career, from his childhood until the present day. It's a relatively quick and easy read, and Wobble's sense-of-humor is in full swing, but the story does suffer somewhat from a lack of content.

    In particular the second half of the book, and the closer you get towards the end, seems as though he either hurried up to finish or just started running out of things to say. There is quite a bit of repetition, in that he repeatedly lists out all the different people who worked with him on various recordings, studios he recorded in, shows he played, but after the first half, the book increasingly begins to feel like more of a bullet-point list of facts and figures without much of a story behind them. Whereas the earlier portion of the book tells us more about Wobble the man, the later half doesn't. A discomfort with sharing lots of salacious details of one's private life is quite refreshing, however not a whole lot was produced to replace that. Some of his musical cooperations, such as his short-lived contribution to Damage Manual, is not mentioned at all. He mentions his personal interactions with such interesting people as Martin Atkins barely at all, although he knew and liked Atkins well enough to work on musical projects with him.

    This book is most likely to appeal to fans of PiL, but they should realize that PiL was a very short period in Wobble's otherwise lengthy musical career. Although this is possibly the most interesting and "fun" part of the book to read, it only makes up a small portion of the whole, and so those most likely to actually purchase this book will probably be the most disappointed.

    If you buy it with the understanding that he hasn't been a part of PiL for approximately 30 years, you will probably find this a decent and worthwhile read. If you're interested in hearing a lot of detail about tunings and musician lingo and information about how he produced various recordings, you'll probably love it.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Scott McFarland
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book
    Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2010
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Wobble explains himself well. He explains his two or so years in PIL and his reasons for leaving well. He explains his life well and his art well. I am a big fan of what the guy is doing, and enjoyed reading this.
    One person found this helpful
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  • gothambonnie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Rad book
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  • James Britt / Neurogami
    3.0 out of 5 stars Tasty, but needs salt
    Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2011
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I enjoyed the book for it's view into London life and the musical scene of the late '70s, and found Wobble's observations about himself and how he steered his career quite striking. But one has to keep in mind that this is a biased POV of one person recalling events from some years past. For example his dismal personal view of PiL co-founder Keith Levene comes off as quite lopsided, as if over the years Wobble could only recall the bad and little of the good. There's no mention of latter musical sessions with Levene, for example. But, hey, that's just the way of autobiographies. Take everything with a huge grain of salt. For a fuller (though still biased) picture of the PiL years, read Lydon's "No Irish ..." and Google around for assorted interviews with Levene (until he writes his own book).

    BTW, I agree with another reviewer who said the last quarter or so is a rather sparse leap through more recent times. Still, a fun read, worth the 10 bucks or so for the book.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Susan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable with unexpected humility & insight
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    JW is a great and funny observer similar to Billy Connolly and Chris Rock. There’s plenty about the music business & the names he’s worked with which alone would deserve 5*s but it’s his passion, personal growth and humility that made me love this book.
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  • James Godden
    4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Great book. Had just read the John Lydon book and good to get the two different perspectives. Jah definitely comes across as the more balanced personality of the two. Been through a lot to get there though. My main interest was around Metal Box and the punk scene but the 2nd half of the book was great as well. Very honest and not frightened to reveal his true feelings. The section near the end on feeling a stranger in his home turf was brave and thought provoking.
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  • Аmazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read - recommended
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I was about 12 when punk and new wave blew the cobwebs off the 70's. I bought all the singles and albums and they inspired me to go on and learn guitar and form a band in Salford in the early 80's. I bought the first PIL single from Virgin records in Market street in Manchester when it was released and loved the bass line. I later went on to play bass myself. I took a punt on this book after following Wobble on Twitter. Through the years I'd found his eclectic tastes in music not to my liking but the book is brilliant and evokes the times and London really well. He seems like a really good 'geezer'.
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  • Daveyboy
    3.0 out of 5 stars ... swathe of Brit rock music and you have to love that. Good storyteller
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2016
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I sensed an element of self righteous pomposity about Wobble but it can't be denied he has played an important role in the development of a swathe of Brit rock music and you have to love that. Good storyteller.
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  • Miksa76
    5.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't wobble
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2017
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Very good book - as a writer he is much more perceptive, amusing and honest than his bandmate John Lydon. Wobble comes across as a quite cultured man, who doesn't toss off empty words.
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