How Much Are They?
A dub dance track built in London, cut up with a razor blade in Cologne, and taken up by New York's underground clubs.
Jah Wobble, from How Much Are They? (1981)
- Written by
- Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble
- Released
- 1981
- Length
- 4:48
- Album
- How Much Are They?
Wobble wrote the bass line, the beat, simple string parts and triad chords, and recorded the track in London, playing bass and a Godwin string synth. The voices are two stoned girls who wandered into Gooseberry Sound Studios in Chinatown. Czukay then took the tape to Cologne and edited it heavily. Wobble calls him the architect, busy with the razor blade after the playing was done. Mark Lusardi mixed it, and Wobble credits him with its tough disco sound.
Head Heritage heard a dubby dance tune with a clanky rhythm box and warm bass. It became an anthem at New York underground parties such as The Loft and a minor hit in Europe, and its success got Wobble flown to Germany, where Trench Warfare and more were recorded. It opened the EP and was reissued as the first track of Full Circle.
Live
Invaders of the Heart performed it at the Jazz Cafe in London in January 2020, between The Chain and Public Image. The upload in the hypersongs web is a fan upload of the 1981 recording.
On stage
- 2020-01, Jazz Cafe, London Jah Wobble and the Invaders of the Heart, between The Chain and Public Image.
More songs by Jah Wobble
Sources
- Jah Wobble interview, The Electricity Club (2020)
- The dubwise post-punk of Jah Wobble in 10 records, The Vinyl Factory (2019)
- Full Circle review, Head Heritage (2000)
- How Much Are They? release group, MusicBrainz
- Jah Wobble and the Invaders of the Heart, Jazz Cafe, postpunk.co.uk (2020)