On the 23rd August 1994, The KLF burned a million pounds on the remote Scottish island of Jura and vowed to take 23 years absence from the Music Industry. 23 minutes past midnight on Wednesday saw them return to pick up where they left off.
The duo, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, arrived at the News from Nowhere bookshop in Liverpool in an Ice Cream Van playing their 1990 top five hit 'What Time Is Love?' and 'O Sole Mio'. They then proceeded to take part in a signing session about their new book, '2023: A Trilogy by the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu', which they describe as a "multi-layered, self-referential meta-tale" and "a utopian costume drama set in the near future, written in the recent past".
The KLF's three-day return festival
The book signing marked the start of a three day festival in Liverpool in celebration of their return after 23 years away from the music industry the duo came to despise so much. Last night, '2023: A Trilogy by the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu' was performed in full as a play and the duo will hold a number of talks based around the question of "Why did the K Foundation burn a million quid?"
Although Drummond and Cauty have stated that they will not be performing any music, they have revealed that the festival will culminate with a performance by an unknown artist named Badger Kull, who is said to have just one three minute song, entitled "Toxteth Day of the Dead." There is speculation that Badger Kull may the latest in a number of pseudonyms used by The KLF.
Pseudonyms used by The KLF have included The Timelords for the duo's 1988 number one hit 'Doctorin' the Tardis' and their original name the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, sometimes abbreviated to the JAMs. "The justified ancients of Mu Mu" idea was referenced in most of the duo's hits, including their December 1991 number release, "Justified and Ancient (Stand by the JAMs)," which featured guest vocals by Tammy Wynette.
The track, which featured the immortal lyrics "They're justified and they're ancient and they drive an ice cream van," was held off the New Year's Day 1992 number one spot by Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody', re-released following the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury. Wynette, who was suffering from multiple health issues, went on to attempt to sue Drummond and Cauty for stress caused whilst making the track and its accompanying video.
The KLF's return is the latest in a long line of stunts
The KLF's return after 23 years and their three-day festival is the latest in a long line of stunts by the duo. Take, for example, Drummond and Cauty's attempt to sample ABBA's "Dancing Queen" on their 1987 debut album "1987: What the F*ck is Going On?" which resulted in all copies of the album having to be destroyed. Drummond and Cauty responded to this by personally travelling to Sweden to track ABBA down. However, when they failed to find ABBA, they presented the gold disc that they had taken with them to a Swedish prostitute instead. Some copies of the album were burned in a field, whilst the remaining copies were thrown over the side of the ferry on the way home.
After The Timelords' 'Doctorin' the Tardis' hit number one, The KLF published the book 'The Manual (How to Have A Number One the Easy Way'. Their advice was read by, among others, Austrian pop band Edelweiss, who went on to sell five million copies of their single 'Bring Me Edelweiss' in early 1989. Funnily enough, the rhythm of the vocal line in 'Bring Me Edelweiss' was lifted from ABBA's 'S.O.S'. Additionally, the Timelords moniker was fronted by Ford Timelord, a 1967 Ford Galaxie police car. The duo claimed that the car had starred in the film 'Superman IV, filmed in the UK, had spoken to them declaring its name as Ford Timelord and had instructed them to become The Timelords.
In 1992, The KLF won the Brit Award for Best British Group.
To celebrate their win, the duo made their contempt for the record industry known by performing their hit '3AM Eternal' with the death metal band Extreme Noise Terror, announcing, "This is television freedom!" The original idea had been to spray the audience with pigs blood. However, when this was vetoed by BBC bosses, they settled for shooting the audience with blanks from an M16 machine gun instead. The ceremony's announcer then informed the bemused audience, "The KLF have left the music industry." They then deleted their entire back catalogue, but not before they had left a dead sheep on the steps of the after-show party with a note reading "I died for you."
The duo promptly formed the arts foundation the K Foundation and carried out their biggest stunt of all, the burning of a million pounds and their self-imposed exile from the music industry for the next 23 years.
Following this, Drummond said live on Irish TV show The Late Late Show, "There's plenty of people who want to give money to charity, we wanted to do something more interesting with the money." Following their return and having had 23 years to think up new stunts, it leads me to wonder what The KLF will do next.
