"3 AM Eternal" rapidly became almost as big a staple at raves as "What Time is Love" in the summer if 1989 - although its inclusion on "The White Room" soundtrack/demos cassette would suggest the KLF were aware of its stronger pop sensiblity. According to guitarist Graham Lee, he was originally ask to contribute a flamenco style guitar to a demo version back in 1988 - although sadly no recording of this has ever surfaced. A later track, "Mommy Don't", recorded by Jimmy Cauty and Alex Patterson in 1989 and released on the 2006 "Orbessions 1" album*, also features the same chord progression and some of the same samples.
Featuring the vocals of Maxine Harvey, a German-based singer who appeared on many KLF tracks and subsequently recorded with Drum Club before releasing a solo LP in 1997, "3 AM Eternal" was be recognisable to those who remember the 1991 hit version. However, it does not include the distinctive "KLF ah-a!" interjections, and instead ends with a contemplantive refrain from Maxine of "London by night all alone, London by night on my own" while Bill Drummond himself rumbles: "Sometimes I feel I almost know, sometimes I feel its time to go ... " None of these lyrics exist in the hit version.
In September 1989, a remix 12" was issued (KLF5R - originally featuring a "UK Mixes" sticker on the sleeve, although the 1991 reissue doesn't have one) featuring four remarkable remixes. First up was an edit version of the original track, which strangely was different to the edit on the "White Room" soundtrack. Extra beats were added, and this short version was actually compiled on a rave various artists CD called "Vitmain E" (Ocean Records WD5003CD). The 12" also featured two mixes by another of the KLF's most famous collaborators - Tony Thorpe, whose band (or pseudonym) the Moody Boys/Moody Boyz had briefly featured Cauty in 1988. Thorpe initially had a hand in the remixes of "Kylie Said to Jason" before reworking "3 AM" twice on KLF5R (as "The Moody Boys Mix" and "3PM Electro") and finally becoming a permanent, if reticent, member of the KLF production team up to 1992 (subsquently interviewed, all he would say about working with Bill and Jimmy was "I learned a lot"). The fourth remix on the EP, however, is arguably the most important - "3 AM Eternal (Orbital Blue Danube Mix)"; a remix by the Orb, at that time featuring Jimmy Cauty and Alex Paterson. This mix - an echoey, juddering ambient piece with a Strauss waltz sample - seems to have formed the basis for the live version they performed at the time (as the footage of the KLF at the Chipping Norton rave would seem to confirm) and was advertised on the KLF5R label as appearing on the forthcoming album "Live at Trancentral" (JAMSLP5), which presumably became "Chill Out".
This mix had a new lease of life in 2002 when, surprisingly, it was included on the second compilation of Orb mixes "Auntie Aubrey's Beyond the Call of Duty". With a different (new) intro it became, arguably, the only KLF track currently available through a UK distributor!
Anyway, here's a vinyl rip at 320kps of KLFR. Please note, that this is NOT ripped by me. Rather it is taken from this blog: http://spinstersrock.blogspot.com which I would recommend you visit and support. I've also posted to him to check its okay to post this link:
http://www.protectlinks.com/98261 (rs)
No p/w
And here's the "Orbital Blue Danube Mix" as featured on the Orb compilation CD from 2002:
http://www.protectlinks.com/98262
No p/w
And finally, as a special treat, Maxine Harvey's chronically overlooked 1997 solo album "Don't You Break Your Heart", which was so badly promoted that the sleeve does not even feature a picture of her (it's someone else). Ripped at 128kps from the original CD (WRCD017):
http://www.protectlinks.com/98264
p/w: inverarity
Tracklisting:
1 Don't You Break My Heart (3:41)
2 The Right Stuff (4:20)
3 Just A Little (5:04)
4 That's Enough (4:23)
5 Can't Hide My Feelings (4:50)
6 I Need Your Love Forever (4:52)
7 Crazy For You (5:22)
8 I'm Sorry (3:42)
9 Get On It (4:07)
10 Get On It (Groove Mix) (4:08)
An image of Maxine Harvey, taken from this Youtube video dating back to 1987: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ_vUiDbF3c
And also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyc_BMURgrk
The promo for 3AM Eternal itself, featuring Maxine singing in front of Cleopatra's Needle down by the Thames Embankment.