Its been rumoured for many years that Julianne worked on an album with the legendary Jah Wobble, he of Public Image Limited. What made the album even more of a mystery was that its impossible to find at wasn't really available until its re-release in 1994. Julianne tells Candytree a bit more about the two tracks she contributed to and how it all came about ......

Julianne & Jah
"Well, All About Eve recorded D For Desire at a studio in North London called 'Southern'. A short while later, (I think it was still in 1986) I got a call from the studio manager there asking me if I'd be interested in doing a session for someone. I asked who it was and it was Jah Wobble. (I was suitably impressed having learned to play bass by jamming along to the Public Image album!).

I went to his house and recorded the vocals to Sakharov (about the Russian political activist) and listened to Jah's tales of fame and (lost) fortune with PiL. A few days later, I recorded the vocals to another song with him at Southern Studio. It was called 'No Second Chances' and was kind of a Human League style duet. I had to sing in a Psalms kind of soul-pop way, and end up sounding like a rubbishy Michael Jackson!

Track Listing*Sakharov
Island Paradise
Enough
*No Second Chances
Dark Horse
To Erase
Alcohol
Jihad
No Message
Sales Target
The Hymns

However, it was great fun working with him. He's a bit of a genius and very funny and has the bluest eyes you could imagine. He made me laugh with his tales of working for the London Underground as an announcer. I believe one day he said something along the lines of "Mind The Gap....I used to BE somebody you know!" He'd also had to work as a cabbie during the lean times. I'm really glad for him that he made such a cool comeback a few years ago.

See, even Megastars have to get day jobs!" - Julianne

---

Sakharov
This is a bizarre track. There's no other word I can find to sum it up. Julianne's vocal style is very much along the lines of some of the material on the D For Desire and In The Clouds (Eden) singles and also the 1985\86 demos that are in circulation, but the production and arrangement is - well, hard to describe. It's a raw, disorienting, jarring sound that doesn't go anywhere and doesn't have an obvious structure. Quite hard to listen to and not really my cup of tea - one for the 'curiosity' pile, I think.

No Second Chances
From the opening few seconds - even before the vocals get going - it's hard to believe that this comes from the same CD as Sakharov. Much more accessible and conventional in its mid 80s (now rather dated) sound, the vocal performance here sees Julianne shedding the style of everything she'd recorded up to this point, turning in a performance - a duet - that wouldn't have been out of place in the charts in 1986. The Human League comparison that Julianne herself makes is totally appropriate, and sums this one up very well. While it's interesting to hear these tracks, I don't think either will be making too regular an appearance on my CD player.

- Reviewed by Derek Trimbrell
Buy Jah Wobbles, Psalms online from Southern Records

About Jah Wobble 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. In the late '80s, his career took a downward direction, and he had a job sweeping train stations. The single "Bomba" brought Wobble back to the public eye in 1990, and he collaborated with Sinead O'Connor and Primal Scream in addition to releasing the Invaders of the Heart album Rising Above Bedlam in 1991. 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.