My introduction to the mighty KLF was in 1991,i had listened to early House music off and on since it had appeared a few years earlier,although i only really liked bits and pieces.Like many others i had read with half amusement and half wonder, the tabloid stories about how this evil acid house craze was sweeping the country.It was the time of massive outdoor raves and warehouse parties,which unless you were in the loop,you only heard about afterwards.
I had always been a massive fan of Dub and so most of the dance stuff i had picked up on had a dub feel,i was particularly drawn to Gary Clail And The On-U Sound System.Clail’s sound was a weird sort of industrial,grinding dub,with vocals sometimes shouted through a bullhorn,shot through with samples. The On-U Sound System are a story in themselves and will be the subject of a future post.
Anyway,it so happened that i had a mate,Paul,who was at college in a little town called Newark,near Nottingham.He was much closer to where all these parties were happening and was being exposed to a great deal more dance music than i.It was he who found that the aforementioned Gary Clail was playing in Nottingham with the now legendary DIY Soundsystem and then fledgling ambient merchants The Orb.
So another mate of mine from schooldays,Garry,and i drove hundreds of miles from scotland to Newark on a gloriously sunny day,blasting reggae music all the way there to see this gig.We eventually found Paul’s place,little knowing that we were mere minutes away from hearing a record that would change our lives.
As a teaser to The KLF,Paul played another record which had a profound impact,LFO’s eponymous debut LFO.A superb track with an awesome sub bass part that can make your ornaments dance.
Then it was on with the main event.The KLF album The White Room,was a revelation,not least for the marked difference in tone between side one and side two.Thats right kids,were talking records and not cd’s here.It was like Hendrix made House music,side one is an assault on the senses,littered with samples and with over the top production values.Side two has the same production but is slower and more chilled out.The record as a whole is like a night spent clubbing,the first side being out in the club,the second like winding down at an afterparty.Hearing it for the first time felt exciting,like i had just discovered something radical,new and strangely important.
The record starts with wind noise and about half a minute of an almost bland vocal from another track on the album,’Justified And Ancient’.That stops with a bang and an MC5 sample announces that “now it’s time to kick out the jams motherfuckers” and your off into something that at the time almost defied description.The whole records pulsates with an urgency that even today feels much the same.To quote a review of the time..”The KLF are punk rock, the Renaissance, Andy Warhol and Jesus Christ all rolled into one”.
The copy i bought was played to death and soon became warped and unplayable,a friend was good enough to buy a copy for my birthday a couple of years ago,thank you again Rimone.
The range of the records influences is remarkable,from hip hop to The Illuminatus! Trilogy and just about anything in between,country complete with beautiful slide guitar,samples from The MC5,crowd noise from a live Doors album and U2,vocal contributions/samples from the likes of Bello B,Black Steel,Maxine Harvey and Wanda Dee.
The two men responsible are Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty and the tales of what they did both as self styled art terrorists and for music are legion.Amongst which rank The Manual ,a detailed manifesto almost of how to achieve a number one single,and the time they burnt a million quid.
A post about their entire careers would be pretty extensive,so i leave that to you.But if you want to investigate further i suggest Buying the album is the best place to start,also highly recommended is the very different Chill Out and the Bill Drummond book 45
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
“Are you ready?..Here we go”
The Nomads Tent 