(1978-1993)
Born in London, United Kingdom
Original Line-Up:
John Lydon (January 31, 1956- ), vocals
Keith Levene (July 18, 1957-), guitar
Jah Wobble (Birth name is John Wardle; 1956- ), bass guitar
Jim Walker, drums
Recorded the albums ‘First Issue’ (1978), ‘Metal Box’ (1979), ‘Flowers of Romance’ (1981), ‘Live in Tokyo’ (1983), ‘This Is What You Want… This Is What You Get’ (1984), ‘Album’ (1986), ‘Happy’ (1987), ‘9’ (1989) and ‘That What Is Not’ (1992)
Known by the acronym PiL

They spent much of the recording budget for their first album on drugs.
They had to change studios in the middle of recording their first album when Wobble beat up an assistant engineer.
Karl Burns of the Fall briefly drummed with PiL but left after Wobble set him on fire (September, 1979).
During an appearance on ‘American Bandstand,’ Lydon harassed the cameramen, urged the audience to storm the stage and made no effort to conceal his lip-synching (1980).
During a concert at the Ritz in New York, they played behind a screen and taunted the audience, inciting bottle throwing and a near riot (May 15, 1981).
After the departures of Wobble and Levene, Lydon hired members of a New Jersey wedding band to replace them for a tour (1983).
They may have stolen the idea for their generic ‘Album’ from an identically titled record by the band Flipper.

They added an eclectic blend of influences to the basic punk sound.
For good or bad, they tried to make each of their early concerts an event.
Dick Clark called their performance one of the 10 best American Bandstands.
Levene’s sharp, metallic guitar sound influenced the Edge.
They toured with New Order and the Sugarcubes as the ‘Monsters of Alternative Rock’ (1989) two years before the similarly-themed Lollapalooza festival.

Credit: C. Fishel

http://www.amiannoying.com/view.aspx?ID=20270

E-mail Link to Friend | Report updates or corrections for this profile

For 2009, as of last week, Out of 24 Votes: 54.17% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 46 Votes: 63.04% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 70 Votes: 70.0% Annoying

• Beavis and Butthead Mocked My Video
• British Rockers
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 04]
• I Abused Heroin
• My Song Hit #1 on Billboard's Modern Rock Hits Chart [1980's] (Ranked: 1989)
• Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of the 1980's (Ranked: 19)
• Profiles 20251-20500 (Ranked: 20270)
• Punk Rockers
• Q Magazine's 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time [Artists]
• Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Albums of the '80s (Ranked: 76)
• Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - 401-500 [Performers] (Ranked: 469)