Dub dot dash

Poptones
John Lydon recently announced he was reforming PiL, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of their second album Metal Box (which has been remastered and reissued). Unfortunately none of the original members will be involved - no Jah Wobble, no Keith Levene (the band will include later members Bruce Smith and Lu Edmonds plus Scott Firth). The shows took place late December last year. (Live review here)

It reminded me of a book review I read a while back - the review was written by Simon Reynolds (author of the excellent book on 80s post punk,  Rip it up and start again). Reynolds was talking about his teen memories of PiL, and getting Metal Box as a xmas present (as it was too expensive for his meagre pocket money). I went back and re-read the review, and this part jumped out...

"At some point he [Lydon] clearly grasped that his place in rock history (and future income) depended on the Sex Pistols adventure and subsequently threw all his energies into burnishing the Johnny Rotten legend. But I wonder whether another factor behind Lydon’s silence is that the PiL years are painful to contemplate – not just because of bad blood (Wobble was one of his best friends) but because the music of Metal Box, rooted in his true loves (Can, Captain Beefheart, Peter Hammill, dub), meant so much to him."

Lydon on the BBCs Culture Show (Dec 3 2009) discussing reviving PiL. Also features the band rehearsing, playing Rise and Religion.

Part 1



Part 2



Simon Reynolds has recently published a companion piece to Rip it up... called Totally Wired: Post punk interviews and overviews. More info here.  Verbatim interviews with folk from that era. I got a copy for myself for xmas and have plowed into it, and its a great read.

And Jah Wobble has recently released a killer 10" record covering the theme from Get Carter in a heavyweight reggae style, on the Pressure Sounds label. His autobiography "Memoirs of a geezer"is out now. Check his website for details.