Inverarities

The Lilac Time - Swordfish CD (and goodbye)

2008-11-23T10:16:50+01:00

Okay, I've been a little lax recently, and I'm afraid all the promised later KLF uploads have failed to materialise (although, there are other places on-line to find most of 'em).

And this, I'm afraid, is goodbye. I can't really devote much time and energy into a semi-KLF blog. Sorry to dissappoint, particularly the guys at klf.de (if you haven't checked their blog yet, you really should!) but I'm moving on to other, less indoor-sy pursuits!

As a parting shot, however, let me leave you with a real rarity - the first, limited edition 1987 CD incarnation of Stephen Duffy's folk act The Lilac Time's eponynous debut. A thousand copies were made of vinyl, and a thousand of shiny new CD plastic - after that, nothing, zip, nyada. And it's never been reissued (the very cheap and very rewarding 2006 CD you can still pick up is actually a reissue of a subsequent remixed version).

You may know of Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy from the early eighties. I must admit, I hadn't - he was on one of the "Now" albums I never bought, and so totally passed me buy until very late 1994. By then his first two, or three, or four, pop incarnations had been and gone, and he had re-re-re-re-reinvented himself as a rocking, Britpoppy grand old man, fronting a band called (Welsh chanteuse fans browsing in second hand shops beware!) Duffy. I was a fan of Sleeper at the time (well, maybe not all of Sleeper, per se ... ) and through their mailing list I got a 7" promo for their new album. B-side of this promo was a track by this mysterious "Duffy", and from there I started moving forward (and particularly back) through his catalogue over the next ten years ...

But anyway. Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy. Had a hit with "Kiss Me", a moderately successful debut album, a slightly less so sophmore release, and finally an interesting if clunky excursion into Art of Noise-style dance pop under the pseudonym "Dr Calculus" (alongside one half of Pigpag and future Jimmy Cauty collaborator Guy Pratt). Suffice is to say, when he present Virgin/10 with a collection of folk demos as a proposed fourth album, they very quickly (in a pattern that would be echoed a fair bit through his slightly "why me?" artistic life) turned them down and he was dumped from the label.

These demos, recorded by Stephen, his brother Nick (check out Nick's own band Bait for some fantastic Penguin Cafe Orchestra meets Zappa instrumental work) and a few friends in a rural idyll, eventually appeared on a small independent Birmingham label called Swordfish, ran by the producer of that first Lilac Time album, Bob Lamb. It seemed that Duffy had at last found his true voice (he always claimed he was essentially a folkie with a keyboard) and relaxed quickly into his troubadour role (even The Lilac Time's name was taken from a song by Nick Drake, apparently inspired during an e-hazed reverie listening to "Five Leaves Left").

Six months later, in early 1988, after a moderate bidding war, the Lilac Time were signed to Fontana, and "The Lilac Time" CD/LP (by now sold out) was reworked and remixed slightly to give it more of a commercial sheen (all subsequent reissues have used this version, not the first). The Lilac Time were subject, for a while, to a large Fontana promotional push with Video CDs, promo items, (relatively) expensive videos and adverts. But by LP 2 ("Paradise Circus", again re-released in 2006, this time supplemented by a whole second album of Bait/Nick Duffy instrumentals) the money had dried up. The Lilac Time limped on with Fontana until 1990, with a third album of XTC-inflected pop, before finally flopping exhausted onto the shores Creation Records in 1991. A fourth album, the really rather wonderful "Astronauts", was a return to the form of the Lilac Time's earliest days (apart from a few failed attempts to shoe-horn in voguish dance beats and Apollo samples - thanks Mr Cauty!) It was a lush collection, with some fantastic songs ("In Iverna Garden" and its horrific Joni Mitchell crib notwithstanding), but sadly, by the time "Astronauts" actually appeared, the Lilac Time had split, and never toured with it or promoted it in any way.

In 1993, Stephen Duffy released an album with Nigel Kennedy (arguably, at the point where Kennedy was becoming either a figure of fun or just plain annoying to most of British public) before forming "Duffy" with REM-producer Mitch Easter and a member of Ride in late 1994. Since those Duffy Days (1994-1997, and an almost exact mirror of the highs and lows of Britpop in general), Stephen has reformed the Lilac Time for four subsequent albums, as well as (briefly) becoming the new Guy Chambers to Robbie Williams with the "Intensive Care" album.

However, as a solo artist (although still attached to the name The Lilac Time), Stephen is still very much active in the music industry, as Mark Lamaar used to say. His own website currently suggests a planned new scheme to release eight albums (demos, live, covers, solo) in the next two years, which would certainly suggest that Stephen Anthony James Duffy has lost none of his ambition.

It seems a real shame that Stephen is seen by some as the man who ruined Robbie Williams' career (although, personally, I think that act alone deserves a statue). The Williams/Duffy album of "Intensive Care" did not put the public off Williams as much as the newer album, "Rudebox", which Stephen had very little to do with, other than Williams covering "Kiss Me" on it. But the eighties inflections, the PSB collaborations and the songs about Madonna all seemed to point to Tin Tin's influence, and within some of the RW fanbase, and on some of the Robbie boards, Stephen was seen as to blame. Ironically, just as Williams' light was failing, his old-band mates (Gary, Mark, Other, Two) were experiencing an amazing renaissance on the back of an ITV documentary and reunion show (hosted by everyone's favourite, Peter Kay) followed by a well-received new album. "Beautiful World"'s final track was a folk-tinged number called "Wooden Boat", a rather Lilac Time-sy song not dissimilar to "Paper Boat", from The Lilac Time's third album, 1990's "And Love For All" (again re-released in 2006, etc). A crueler man than me might suggest Take That were mocking Williams with this. But let's just say it's by far the best song on that Take That album (apart from "Shine", of course).

So anyway - turn the years back 21 ... er, years ... and have a listen to "The Lilac Time" as originally released on Swordfish Records. Ripped at 320kps from the original CD.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=bb1f446fbc67008ed2db6fb9a8902bda

(Click on this absurdly long link, and it should take you to a site listing the file, then download it from there. It seems mediafire, like rapidshare, has changed these last couple of months).

No p/w, other than possible: "goodbye".

Goodbye. x

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The Servants - Disinterest PAPCD005 (David Westlake, Luke Haines, the Auteurs)

2008-10-04T11:33:33+02:00

As Bill Drummond once said on his blog: "Who is Luke Haines?"

A similar artist to Mr D. in many ways, Haines has taken a (slightly) more conventional route through rock's malaise since the mid-1980s, but at the same time reflects Bill's irracibil(l)ity. Plus, he's been involved with some of the most amazing pop music ever made.

Very briefly, post-1990, Haines formed a band called the Auteurs - at one point, they were the anti-Suede, sharing column inches and magazine covers, and "Showgirl" became a fondly (if not particularly strongly) remembered single from the immediate pre-Britpop era. Coupled with "The Drowners" and tripled with "Razzamatazz", it acted as a clarion call that things were changing in British rock. But just as most of his contemporaries began to affect Estuary accents and pretend they never read books (or in Oasis' case, would throw books into an estuary), Haines took the Auteurs on a more dangerous road, producing four albums of increasingly dark and skewed indie-pop, even allowing Aphex Twin's old mate Mike Paradinas in to remix some of their tracks. Then (like Drummond) Haines went off on the Way of Pseudonyms - first with Baader Meinhof, his reworking of the Auteurs dark template into jet black, named after a German terrorist group; and then with the synthpop of the equally ghoulishly-named Black Box Recorder (a band featuring the haughtiest-girl-in-school vocals of Sarah Nix, with Haines taking a background, songwriter-and-svengali role).

As the new decade dawned, Haines proclaimed "I'm back, and I'm solo" on the fantastic album 'The Oliver Twist Manifesto'. Now, one of the few other rock mavericks to bang on about Oliver Twist has been Malcolm McLaren, so the ex-Pistols manager was an obvious touchstone for the album. But Bill Drummond fans too will see many echos of "The Man" (both the album, and Bill himself), including Haines' obsession over the vacuity of the current arts scene ("The Death of Sarah Lucas"); his constant obsessing over reaching that rock'n'roll age of 33 1/3 ("the time that Christ spent on earth"); and his insistence that he was going to turn his back on "showbiz". It could be argued that the sublime "Oliver Twist Manifesto" is a brilliant sum of fantastic parts.

Interestingly, in the week running up to his debut solo release, Haines went on the radio proclaiming that there should be a "pop strike". Now, you could argue that for someone who hadn't bothered even the lower reaches of the pop charts for six years, this was pretty rich! But it gave him some publicity (result!) and the album (plus its "sister" record, the soundtrack to "Christie Malry's Own Double Entry") were released to good reviews (if not good sales).

Now, fast forward five years, and one of Bill Drummond's entries on his not-really-a-blog-but-actually-yes-a-blog blog: http://www.the17.org/words/48.htm. Now, I reckon Bill is being slightly sniffy about old Luke, and also possibly disingenious in claiming he's never heard of him. As a young guitarist, Luke had worked (through David Westlake) with members of the Triffids in 1987, and released an album on Creation within a few months of Drummond's "The Man", which again featured members of the Triffids. Haines also appeared solo on "4 Scott", the Scott Piering tribute live album from 2002, which also included a "new" mix of "Justified and Ancient" (actually, just the single mix with added sampled crowd noise) and a reworking of the Orb's "A Huge Ever-Growing Pulsating Brain", too.

So, I would imagine Bill had possibly, maybe, might have heard of him ...

Anyway, you can find links to most of the Auteurs material, along with Black Box Recorder, readily on the internet (or buy it, it's usually quite cheap). Although, if anyone knows of links to the Baader Meinhof album or the "Luke Haines is Dead" set, I'd appreciate it.

Sorry, I know I said brief; but we now come to the nub ...

Pre-1990, in fact pre-1985, Haines was a student at a music college in London. Hoping to go there and meet a John Cale avant guarde type, by the time he reached the scary prospect of a 20th birthday, Haines was worried that his chances of musical expression were slipping away. So, in early 1986, he answered an advert and joined a group called "The Servants", fronted by a grossly-overlooked genius called David Westlake. The Servants had previously released several singles, and done a Peel Session (all of which were collected on a still-available 2006 CD called "Reserved"), but Westlake was on the verge of splitting them up. Briefly signed to Creation, he and his new recruit Haines recorded a six track mini EP, simply called "Westlake", marketed as a solo project rather than a Servants album. It featured the rhythm section of the Triffids as session men. Creation sat on the album for six months before releasing it in 1987, and it bombed.

Here is a link to the long-deleted "Westlake" album on Creation: http://rapidshare.com/files/104545216/Westlake.rar which was taken from the sterling Triffids blog: http://triffidsbeach.blogspot.com

In 1988, a battered Westlake decided to reform the Servants, again with Luke Haines on guitar, and briefly featuring Hugh Whittaker of the Housemartins on drums. This line-up produced one further single (again, available on the "Reserved" compilation) before again disbanding. In 1989, with no record contract and no hope of success, yet another line up of the Servants went back into the studio to record their one and only proper album. This was the ironically-titled "Distinterest", a beautiful collection of 12 songs which aped many of Westlake and Haines' heroes, particularly the Go-Betweens, and was eventually released on Paperhouse records (PAP005CD) in 1990. As you might expect, the album sank without trace - and is so obscure that Windows Media Player doesn't even recognise it when you put the CD on to play!

Deleted for nearly twenty years, I've recently re-dug this album out, and in the midst of my current unashamed Hainesmania, I've been listening to it a lot over the last couple of days. It really is so brilliant that I had come out of semi blogging retirement to share it with people. Apologies for the great preamble beforehand, though!

Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/150804658/_1990__Disinterest.rar.html

Now - soon, hopefully, I shall get around to those Blue Pearl uploads ...

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Space "Space" SPACECD1 KLF Communications 1990

2008-07-05T16:43:09+02:00

http://www.protectlinks.com/119404

And with a bang, "Space" has landed ... or something. Thanks you all who helped find this 320kps upload ripped from the long-deleted CD (SPACECD1), which I found of the "KLF Collectors Zone" (which has all gone quiet for the moment with a "happy holidays" message - has it really stopped since Christmas?)

Anyway, "Space", Jimmy Cauty's solo ambient album from summer 1990 ...

When Bill and Jimmy initially set up KLF Communications (following the short-lived "Sound of Mu(sic)" in mid-1987) there was a plan that the label would release records by acts other than Drummond and Cauty themselves. Duly, three 12" singles by Disco 2000 were released, the post-punk Bananarama duo featuring the then Mrs. Jimmy Cauty, Cressida, and "Mo" (possibly June Montana, the Brilliant vocalist). I'll maybe upload them at some point (the third single, a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Uptight", was issued as a CD single in Belgium on the Benelux label) - and you can find the Disco(tec) 2000 track "Feel This" on the "Eternity Project One" CD upload, as well as some earlier D2000 tracks on the "Shag Times" CD. But really, Disco 2000 aren't terribly good - so I might not bother. Other than the Drummond and Cauty production duties (where the KLF first learned dancefloor savvy, arguably) there's not much to recommend them.

The next (however speculatively) proposed band to release records on KLF Communications are a good deal more interesting: the Orb. I'll try and be brief here, as I'm hoping to have a fuller Orb post (or even a few) later on. Founded through Cauty and Alex Patterson's friendship, and their incredibly mellow DJing sessions at the Land of Oz club, in Oakenfold's Spectrum in early to mid 1989, the Orb (named after the sex ball in Woody Allen's wonderful 1973 movie "Sleeper") released a couple of songs on "Eternity Project One" before releasing their first single, "Kiss", an atypical juddering acid squelch of a record, recorded at Trancentral in tribute to the New York radio station, in summer 1989, as a limited edition on Wau Mr Modo. Several months later, the Orb returned with a second single, one which came to define their sound and attitude (jokey title and ludicrous length and all), and filled the gap between "The What Time is Love Story" and "Chill Out" in both Cauty's release schedule and in musical sensibility. And it was called "A Huge Ever-Growing Pulsating Brain That Controls From the Centre of the Ultraworld (Loving U)". Unveiled to the public first as a promo 12" (complete with original Minnie Ripperton samples, later replaced by a soundalike), then as a John Peel session, and finally as a full-blown 12" remix and CD and CD remix release pack. All of these recordings again came out on Wau Mr Modo.

The next bit is a bit dubious, and based entirely on hearsay - but here goes. Over the winter of 1989 into 1990, Cauty and Patterson worked on the debut Orb album, provisionally titled "Space", modelled on a journey through the eponymous medium. There used to be an old discography on-line which actually featured a tracklisting, including various songtitles not featured on any later KLF or Orb release, but sadly I've lost the link, and double sadly no bootleg of these original recordings have ever appeared. Cauty and Patterson had a major disagreement, however, over the album's release. Cauty wanted it to come out on KLF Communications, whereas Patterson preferred their old label Wau Mr Modo (which he had links with as an A&R man). Afraid that the Orb would only be seen as a KLF off-shoot, Patterson dissolved the partnership in April 1990 with (according to legend) Cauty taking away his half of the recordings, and Patterson taking away his. If you follow this logic, Patterson's half went on to become the travels-through-space Orb debut "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" and Cauty's half became the travels-through-space Space debut "Space".

"Space" (both band and title) was released on KLF Communications, appropriately enough as SPACECD1/LP1, in July 1990, a dark swirling, Tangerine Dream-like 38 minute suite of music named after eight of the nine planets (like Holst, Cauty leaves out "Earth" - although a track called "Earth" appeared on the Orb debut later on the same year). To confuse the issue of the album's recording further, Cauty claimed at the time that - far from being a remixed collection of Orb off-cuts - "Space" had actually been recording at Trancentral in five days, starting on the Monday, and with everything done and dusted by the Friday afternoon. Cauty's previous ambient album had been, of course, "Chill Out" (see previous post), which he and Drummond had recorded "live" in 45 minutes, halting the recording several times when mistakes had been made, and starting the "live jam" again from scratch. "Space" is a less immediate, and more imbedded album musically, than its predecessor - presumably down to its more structured recording time.

The album came housed in a very handsome, Cauty-designed sleeve, featuring a montage of images including photographs of Neptune, recently taken by the NASA spacecraft Voyage II, and the Earth with an astronaut (possibly Bruce McCandless, who did the first unaided spacewalk from the Space Shuttle in 1985) superimposed upon it. Also, in an echo of Jimmy Cauty's current art projects, the painting "The Raft of the Medusa" (also seen on the cover of the Pogues' "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash") is featured in the bottom left corner, with all the unfortunate victims now wearing KLF t-shirts.

Like "The What Time is Love Story", "Space" is a KLF Communications release which was never licenced out or re-released in other countries on other labels, and is therefore a highly sought-after rarity. Musical echoes of its dark ambient undertones can be heard in a few comtemporaneous KLF releases, including their remix of "It Must Be Obvious" by the Pet Shop Boys, along with the soundtracks to "Waiting" and "The Rites of Mu" and the "Virtual Reality Mix" of "What Time is Love?" (the only ambient reworking of the tune, and the only 1990-era remix to never appear officially on CD). But the album itself stands alone as Jimmy Cauty's only solo outing.

Not surprisingly, "Space" has been heavily bootlegged over the years. If you are interested, there are various ways to spot an original - on vinyl and CD the sleeve should feature the phrase "Made in England" (the bootleg doesn't), and of course the vinyl should have a "hand-written" groove rather than a printed one. Most interestingly, with the CD, if you lift up the black holding tray you will see, underneath, the "SPACE" word in its logo typography printed into the plastic in an eerie, reversed, ghost-like image (this only works, of course, if you have the original packaging).

The first "Space" bootleg was released on CD in 1993, and is apparently very accurate, even though I've never seen one other than photos on Ebay (many sellers try to pass off bootlegs as originals, so beware). Other than the missing "Made in England" message, its big error is the CD itself - which has black writing or a red background, rather than the original's red writing on a black background (see the top photo). Cassette and CD bootlegs from 1994 and 1995 were also pressed, only this time housed alongside "Chill Out" (see the "Chill Out" post for more information). In 2000, "Space" was featured - if that's the right word - in the mass reissue/bootlegging vinyl KLF campaign that seemed to originate in the Netherlands (alongside SPACELP1, JAMSLP1, JAMSLP3, JAMSLP5 and KLF8R all miraculously reappeared, with slightly wonky art work, in legitimate record shops just after the turn of the millennium). "Space" was the only one of the five to also be bootlegged also on CD in 2000, famously sold for £20 a pop through Sister Ray Records in London. This time, rather than a black-on-red CD, the colouring was corrected. However, the "Made in England" message is still missing above the barcode, and any difference in the cover are instantly recognisable if you compare it to an original CD for a decade earlier. The biggest error in the disc is, again, the CD itself - this time, the "SPACE" logo is the right colour, but is stretched awkwardly and does not resemble to usual KLF font. Also, the disc is (obviously) not a PDO disc, since PDO stopped producing CDs at some point in 1994. It has a pronounced and obvious bump or groove in the CD, circular around the central hole, which really gives the game away!

"Space" has not been bootlegged again since (probably due to the album appearing on-line in a usually easily-grabbable format). However, in 2005, an Orb compilation of off-cuts and rarities appeared called "Orbsessions Volume 1", which featured, as the last track "Pluto Calling": http://www.protectlinks.com/120027 This slightly reworked version of "Space"'s last few minutes was creditted (of course) to the Orb, and is thought by many to be an excerpt from the original Orb-recorded "Space". It certainly features Jimmy Cauty, as does the first track on "Orbsessions Volume 1", the remarkable "Mummie Don't", which for all the world sounds like an early demo of "3 AM Eternal (Orbital Blue Danube Mix)" with its childrens' samples pointing the way to both "Charley Says" by the Prodigy or even "Music Has the Right to Children" by Boards of Canada. This view was bourne out in 2006 when "Orbsessions Volume 1" was re-released without "Mummie Don't" on it - apparently because Cauty objected to its inclusion because it wasn't "really" an Orb track, and was more the KLF. See what you think:

http://www.protectlinks.com/120026

Finally, in 2006, the Orb released a Podcast through their website which featured not only the KLF's "Madrugada Eterna" with added Orb whistles and bells, but as track tantalisingly called "Space (1989 Unreleased Version)" which sure enough featured a fair chunk of the "Space" album, again with added Orb whistles and bells. Rumours than began to circulate that "Orbsessions Volume 2" was going to be a full release of that debut Drummond and Cauty album, as originally planned for KLF Communications, but sadly it has yet to appear. Maybe the Orb's twentieth anniversary (technically, probably due in only a few months time) may bring about a re-release (or even an internet link) of the original "Space" tapes!

In the meantime, and to end this longest "brief" post in the history of blogs, here are those two tracks from the podcast:

http://www.protectlinks.com/120027

("Space (The Unreleased 1989 Mix)")

http://www.protectlinks.com/120029

("Madrugada Eterna" by the KLF - 2006 Orb Podcast mix)

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James "Come Home" RT245CD

2008-07-02T19:53:56+02:00

The sequel to "Sit Down", and one of the most famous Madchester dance hits of the early 1990s. Originally created, like more or less all James songs, in an improvisational jam session (apparently, in an attempt to use the same chord structure as "Sit Down" and then deviate from it), "Come Home" shares something with its more famous predecessor - a less well-known "original" version, recorded and released on Rough Trade in late 1989.

This original mix, a rawer sound, featuring the distinctive klaxon wail of the the two-note keyboard-and-trumpet coda of the track, has been deleted now for 18 years, and was (as noted below) left off the "Fresh as a Daisy" CD set of James singles released in 2007.

A CD single, 7" and 12" was released, along with (like the earlier "Sit Down") a 7" in Australia. Housed in a Central Station sleeve (the Mancunian design duo who were busy making all the distinctive Happy Mondays artwork of the era), again like the original "Sit Down", it's baggy beat and day-glo artwork firmly brought James into the fold of Madchester (even though they were very much elder statesmen). The 12" (RT245) can even be glimpsed in a Stone Roses video (the second version of "Sally Cinnamon") alongside other singles of the time (including Electronic's "Getting Away With It") displayed in the window of Eastern Bloc Records.

The single's release in December 1989 coincided with the burgeoning of indie dance (both the Mondays and the Roses famously appearing on an episode of "Top of the Pops" the month before) - and for the first time, James' music gave a nod to dance culture. The b-side, "Slow Right Down" (sometimes referred to as a "Demo", even though no other version was ever released) was produced by Graham Massey of 808 State. The track itself is in no way dance or acid - in fact it's a semi-acoustic bounce-along with a glorious guitar and violin solo. But Massey's inclusion can be seen as the final piece of the puzzle - as much as anyone in late 1989, James were from Manchester.

Here is the full CD single mastered at 128kps: http://www.protectlinks.com/118147

The other b-side, "Promised Land", is one of James's most overt political songs - far more so than the "Sit Down" b-side "Sky is Falling" from six months before, which briefly touches on environmental issues. Here, Margaret Thatcher (who, unbeknownst to anyone, was actually starting her last year in 10 Downing Street) is name-checked in a vicious, and very specific, attack on the Conversative government. 1988 and 1989 had seen the UK rocked by several large-scale disasters - including the Piper Alpha explosion, the Lockerbie plane crash, and the sinking of the Marshioness pleasure boat in the Thames; Mrs Thatcher was becoming noted for her habit of visiting the emergency services and victims after these disasters and "shaking hands".

Originally, "Promised Land" was unveiled in a two-song GLR radio session from summer 1989, which can be found here: http://www.protectlinks.com/118137

Sadly, unlike many of the other Madchester/Manchester singles released at the dawn of the new decade, "Come Home" failed to chart almost as miserably as "Sit Down". Famously, James' label boss, Geoff Travis of Rough Trade, was of the opinion that the band could easily "sell records to 20,000 people" but no more.

It is not surprising then that James' next album, the milestone "Gold Mother", which they had been recording with Rough Trade's money during the second half of 1989, came out several months later, not on Rough Trade, but on the major label Fontana, who had just signed James - and were determined to promote them in a heavy way.

Following the relatively minor success of their baggy-ish "How Was It For You?" (the first single on Fontana - distinctive not only for the first appearance of the James flower logo (actually the Strip Mine-era logo with petals drawn round the dot of the lower case "j") as well as a return to the old style of single numbered (this single became JIM5, following on from 1986's "Some Many Ways", which had been JIM4), "Gold Mother" itself was released in spring 1990.

Now, there have been at least three different versions of "Gold Mother". The original CD included ten tracks, of which three became rarities - "Hang On", "Crescendo" and "Come Home". The first two were subsequently removed from the 1991 version of "Gold Mother" (unceremoniously dumped for an edit of "Lose Control" and the hit version of "Sit Down") and then reappeared some time later - first as the b-sides to 1998 single "Runaground", before appearing finally as extra tracks on the 2001 expanded reissue of "Gold Mother".

"Come Home" on the original "Gold Mother" is actually a slightly cut version of the 12" mix from the Rough Trade version (note, though, that the Rough Trade version of "Sit Down" does NOT appear on any released of "Gold Mother"). In 1991, it was replaced by the edit of the "Flood Mix" (of which more in a second), and even on the 2001 reissue it was not included on the disc. Strangely enough, though, all versions of "Gold Mother" include the Rough Trade version's lyrics ("you can throw him out, you can spit on him ... " etc) which can cause some confusion!

To backtrack, then, in spring 1990 Fontana decided to re-release "Come Home". To that end, producers and DJs were invited in to help rework the track, including Andy Weatherall (whose was also remixing Primal Scream, St Etienne and My Bloody Valentine at around the same time - and would later work with James again in 1994), Mark Ellis (aka Flood - erstwhile U2 producer) and Martin Glover (aka Youth, see previous posts on Brilliant, KLF, the Orb and Jimmy Cauty).

The chuntering, dancefloor savvy Flood Mix, in ordinary and extended mixes, was released as a CD single (JIMCD6) in summer 1990, and became James' first big hit. Some 12" promos were made available also, featuring the reworkings of Weatherall, Youth, Flood and Warp (not sure if this is one bloke or in some way connected to Aphex Twin's label) as well as a "Live Mix" of "Come Home" recorded by the band (which I don't have, so if anyone can up it, I would be grateful ... )

Below is all the tracks from the CD single, as well as the subsequent remixes released on various CDs and reissues:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118155

The CD single of "Sound" (JIMCD9) features the "Youth Pressure Dub" mix of "Come Home"
The CD single of "Ring the Bells" (JIMCD11) features the "Skunk Weed Skank Mix" - aka the nine minute Weatherall Remix (spot the sample from "Skullduggery", the first track from the first James LP back in 1986). It also features the similar "Hugo Live Dub Challenge", in which long-time Weatherall collaborator and Primal Scream producer Hugo Nicholson smoothes out some of the wrinkles.
The "Weatherall" remix also reappeared on one of the CD singles of "She's a Star" and on a Canadian 2-CD set for "Tomorrow", as well as being compiled on a Japanese import CD from 1991 just called "James".
The US edition of "Gold Mother" (the one with the blue cover, which again is just called "James") features the extended Flood Mix rather than the more usual edit.

To add a sad final coda to this remixing frenzy, in early 1995, on the relatively respected UK dance label Hooj Choons, a dance act called Libido released as track called "Second Coming" (complete with an image of Jesus from the Turin shroud on the cover). Despite not mentioning Booth or Gott or Glennie anywhere on the sleeve (especially not anywhere near the writers' credits), the song is clearly a rip-off of "Come Home", complete with that familiar two note klakon, a "Come"-referencing title, and in some of the later remixes, a keyboard part actually playing, instrumentally, "Come Home"'s chorus.

Anyway, here's the "Second Coming" CD single from 1996: http://www.protectlinks.com/119394

See what you think!

(Oh, and this is the end of my James diversion. From now on, the only James' I'll be concentrating on - at least for a while - will be James Cauty. In the meantime, try this blog: http://only-good-music.blogspot.com/ or http://adventuresbeyond.blogspot.com/ which would appear to be rather useful motherlodes!)

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James "Sit Down" RTCD225

2008-07-02T19:51:21+02:00

It is a strange fact about James, that their most famous song (and arguably one of the most famous songs of the whole nineties) originally appeared as a radically different, twice-as-long, rinky-dink indie release in 1989, two years before its far more well-known re-recording soared to number two in the UK charts.

"Sit Down", in its 1991 form, joined a long-ish and honourable tradition of commercially underachieving indie hits of the 80s, that were suddenly picked up, re-recorded or remixed, and became hits in the early 1990s (other examples include "There She Goes" by the La's, "Shine On" by the House of Love, "Can You Dig It?" by the Mock Turtles, and even "Wrote for Luck" by the Happy Mondays).

The other strange fact about "Sit Down" is that, unlike all these other reissued indie anthems, its original version has been deleted for nearly two decades. It has never been re-compiled, reissued or reassessed. "Sit Down (1989 Rough Trade Version)" remains one of the great overlooked gems of James' back catalogue.

Originally created in 1988, "Sit Down" - according to legend - sprang spontaneously from a jam session. The song was picked out, and the band played it (with Tim singing lyrics equally inspired by Doris Lessing and Patti Smith, apparently) until they all fell about laughing at the ridiculous commerciality of the melody. The song was then unveiled initially as a session track on the Andy Kershaw Radio Show in late 1988, before becoming a regular part of the "Ya Ho" tour. James were always aware of the song's commercial potential, and were reluctant to release it on such an unforgiving label as Sire.

However, following the departure of drummer Gavan Whelan, and the band's departure to Rough Trade distribution and the "One Man Clapping" album, James returned to the studio to record "Sit Down" for the first time. New members were rapidly drafted in, including David Bayton-Power installed on drums and Mark Hunter on keyboards (replacing long-time partial James member, his friend Mick Armistead). It was possibly this new five piece James who went into the studio to record "Sit Down" in spring 1989 (there is no run-down of personnel on the sleeve). Hunter certainly claimed his "audition piece" had been the piano outro of the track - although whether the drumming is Bayton-Power or a drum machine is debatable. Saul Davies and Andy Diagram joined James (forming the famous seven-man line up) in summer 1989, following the release of "Sit Down".

The original version of the track is remarkable in a few ways. Firstly, it sounds like it could have fitted reasonably comfortably on "Strip Mine" - but not on "Gold Mother". It's a sprightly WOMAD-inflected anthem, half of which has the same structure as the hit version from 1991. And the other half an elongated break-down, complete with echoey sampled vocals, a thudding bassline, and one of James' roadies singing in a high-pitched voice the words "Lester Piggott" (who may, or may not, appear on the sleeve) as a coda at the end.

Issued by Rough Trade Records in June 1989 (to which they were signed, possibly, in the hope that the "new Smiths" of 1985 might also prove to be the "new Smiths" of 1990), "Sit Down" was available as a 7", 12" and a 3" CD. This last, rather bizarre format was briefly fashionable in the late 1980s, presumably under the premise that just as vinyl singles were smaller in circumference to vinyl albums, CD singles would be correspondingly smaller than CD albums (by 2 inches rather than 5). The CD single of "Sit Down" (RTCD225, upped below at 320kps) rather undermines this item, be featuring all four tracks from the 12" single, but not the 7". A truncated version of "Sit Down" (with the familiar lyrics re-arranged to the point of indesipherability) was issued only on the 7" and as a promo video, featuring Booth Gott and Glennie dancing round chairs and with sheep.

This rarer version, mastered from video, can also be found in the below rar file.

http://www.protectlinks.com/118136

And that, for me at least, is the end of the story. Quite simply, there is NO better version than the original. The hundreds of thousands of more people who bought the 1991 mix are just wrong - or, more likely, have never had a chance to hear the lightness of touch of the original mix. But in its own way, the re-release and its ascendency to number two (kept off the top spot by Chesney Hawkes, of course) was a testament to the slow-burn appeal of the original, as more and more rapturous gigs in 1989 and 1990 brought the song an amazing cult appeal, with (as Stuart Maconie once pointed out) the only sedentary dance craze in the history of pop music other than "Oops Upside Your Head".

The 1991 version is frankly far too common to upload here - plus, if you can't find it to download within about five seconds of this site, then you really shouldn't be allowed on the Internet. Produced by Pixies cohort Gil Norton, its a far denser mix, replacing the folky, male backing vocals of Glennie and Gott with an almost Philadelphia feel with Martine McDonagh's female vocals. And, of course, it was a masssive, massive hit.

"Sit Down" was re-visited one final time, in 1998, with a new, almost Glitterbeat remix by Apollo 440 (aka the Stealth Sonic Orchestra, fresh from their own chart visits with tracks like the theme to the 1997 movie "Lost In Space"). This strange, bouncy remix rose to number 7 in the charts - and was promoted with a "Top of the Pops" appearance which featured Robbie Williams as a (temporary) member of the band.

A promo CD, which is actually reasonable easy to find on collecting sites or Ebay, was released (SIT1CD) which featured two further versions of the track - another, otherwise unreleased mix by "The Boilerhouse Boys" and a subtly different version of the 1991 mix with an extended intro and less reverb on the vocals. These mixes can be found here:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118138

And finally, here's the (so far) only commercially-available cover of "Sit Down", recorded live by Voice of the Beehive in 1991, and released on the CD single "Perfect Place":

http://www.protectlinks.com/118668

Comments

James "One Man Clapping" ONEMAN1CD 1989

2008-07-01T07:51:06+02:00

James started their career in the early 1980s, rapidly coalescing around three young Mancunians - Jim Glennie, Paul Gilbertson and Gavan Whelan. Gilbertson's lyrics (and singing) left something to be desired, and their regular Bez-style dancer Tim Booth (a Shrewsbury-educated ex-public school boy studying drama at Manchester University alongside Sophie Aldred and Ben Elton, whom the Manc boys met when they spilled his pint at a student disco) was elevated to singer and lyricist. His first work, a reworking of "Hymn From a Village", suggested promise and style.

http://www.mediafire.com/?e2nlecrd23c (1)

Gilbertson was the early driving force within the band (he even named them "James", not after bass-player Glennie, but after James Kirk, guitarist in one of Paul's favourite groups and biggest influences - Orange Juice) and James became a regular four-piece, he suggested that they forumulized their playing by visiting a guitar instructor. The slightly older Larry Gott, an ex-heavy metal fan, became their teacher, briefly, in an old Scout hut in Manchester.

The band signed to Tony Wilson's famous Factory label in late 1983, and released their first single, "Jimone", a three-tracker featuring "What's the World", the extraordinary duet of "Folklore" and "Fire So Close" (later re-recorded for "Stutter" and "One Man Clapping" as "Why So Close"). Nearly 18 months elapsed before the release of "Jimtwo", though - as Tim Booth was hospitalized for a lot of that time, and Paul Gilbertson's drug-use became more noticeable. In a very small way emulating the late, great Syd Barrett, Gilbertson eventually became too unreliable and erratic, and after a gig playing alongside his old guitar instructor Larry Gott in 1984, Gilbertson left the band, to be replaced by Gott on guitar. "Jimtwo", featuring this new line-up, appeared in 1985, including James' first enduring anthem "Hymn From a Village".

http://www.mediafire.com/?duy7lzvving (2)

James were read to record their first album. However, rather than the indie cred of Factory Records (who they felt did not fit their own ethos completely) the band signed a six-album contract to Sire. This large American corporation, lead by the famous impressario Seymour Stein, was home to many new-wave acts (including the Ramones and Patti Smith) as well as British signed to UK indie labels but leased out to Sire in America (Primal Scream, the Happy Mondays, and later Belle and Sebastian).

Album sessions started in summer 1985, under the working title "Lost Innocence", working with producer Lenny Kaye, ex-partner of one of Tim Booth's hero's Patti Smith. Before the album (eventually called "Stutter") a 3-track EP was released in autumn 1986. Confusingly for later collectors, this EP was called "Sit Down" (after the cover drawing of a man on a bench done by John Carroll, an illustrator who would create visual images for James releases related to both the "Stutter" and "Laid" albums). It's lead track, "Chainmail", became one of James' most obscure, but rewarding, singles.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2jj29zmtj3b (3)

The album "Stutter" came out in the summer of 1986, lead by the single "So Many Ways". A dizzying punk-pop effort, touching (but not stealing) from the earlier works of Julian Cope and the Fire Engines, "Stutter" was almost a dry run for their sleek folk-punk work of 1993; Brian Eno (as well as Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy) had been in the running as album producer, but rejected. Nowadays, the album is probably best known for the inclusion of another James anthem - "Johnny Yen".

Very rapidly, the four-piece of Booth, Gott, Glennie and Whelan returned to the studio record their second album. They still had a large amount of songs originally written in their nebulous, first three or four years - and would augment it with new numbers such as "Bouncy Bouncy Bonjour" ("What For?") One thing that has never changed with James is their mode of writing - predominantly based on jamming together and improvisation, then jumping upon a tune-like construction which appears spontaneously within the noise and running with it - a sort of million-monkeys-writing-Shakespeare-approach.

1987 would turn out to be a bad year for James. They started, then aborted, album sessions for their sophomore effort "Strip Mine", they barely toured, and they only reminded the general public of their prescence with a couple of radio sessions. In late 1987, Sire released a promo CD in the US only called "Just Say Yes" (the first of several over the next few years) which included a new James track "Ya Ho", taken from (as the sleeve notes said) an upcoming album called "If Things Were Perfect". Excitingly, this suggests possibly that old Factory track had be reworked and re-recorded for their new album, but that recording has since been lost (only a studio version of "Stutter" has ever surfaced from these aborted studio sessions, along with the "Just Say Yes" version of "Ya Ho" - which would be re-recorded for "Strip Mine" and only appear in its original form on the single release in autumn 1988).

"Strip Mine", James' second album, was released alongside the "proto-Sit Down" single "What For" in summer 1988. Apparently, the recording does not differ that greatly from the sessions of 1987, with only an added commercial sheen - although the ramshackle "Ya Ho" would suggest an far different, and possibly more interesting album still hiding in the cans.

James were annoyed and angry at Sire's treatment of them. Their second album had languished for almost a year before release, and despite "What For's" obvious commercial thrust, Sire did not get behind them promotionally at all. The album's second single "Ya Ho" came out in the autumn on 1988, and was promoted by James themselves when they went on tour with the Happy Mondays. The band were actually in a very strange dichotomy - their records barely sold ("Strip Mine" did not reach the top 100 of the album chart) but their live gigs were always joyous, exciting affairs.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4w4u1yffdmj (4)

With that in mind, in November 1988, James organised two small gigs in front of the faithful at the Moles Club in Bath, and recorded for potential future release as a live album. Despite the recording's buoyancy and tight tunefulness, the band themselves were experiencing ructions. Drummer Gavan Whelan, always a loose cannon, had had a massive on-stage argument with Booth, and eventually left the band after the two Bath Moles shows. By Christmas 1988, James were stripped down to a threesome, still tied to a thankless Sire contract.

Happily, in early 1989, their manager and Booth's partner Martine McDonagh (heavily pregnant with their son Ben) managed to orchestrate a break from the Sire contract - it had been stipulated that the label had to contact the band within six months of a record release, and once that deadline was up, McDonagh simply phoned the label and said "bye bye".

In the interim, the Bath Moles recordings were prepared for release. Now called "One Man Clapping", James set up their own independent label - One Man Recordings - and, after getting a bank loan for £10,000 from the Clydesdale Bank, released "One Man Clapping" (an amalgam of both night's shows) on a limited edition of CDs and LPs in March 1989 (the CD featuring the extra live track "Ya Ho").

"One Man Clapping" is, twenty years later, the great James rarity - never re-released (annoyingly) and seemingly (according to Larry Gott just a couple of months ago) always destined for deleted oblivion. It is, says Gott, a "piece of history" - and should not be revisited. For James fans, though, it is always worth a visit. A handy compilation of some of their finest moments on Sire, the album also includes several tracks unavailable elsewhere - including one of the finest songs they've ever done: "Burned", a slow ballad so anthemic it manages to make "Sit Down" sound anaemic in comparison.

Here is the full album, ripped at 320kps from the CD:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118129
http://www.protectlinks.com/118130

Full tracklisting:

1. "Chain Mail" – 3:26
2. "Sandman (Hup-Springs)" – 3:43
3. "Whoops" – 3:26
4. "Riders" – 3:35
5. "Leaking" – 4:09
6. "Why So Close" – 4:10
7. "Ya Ho" – 4:45
8. "Johnny Yen" – 3:43
9. "Scarecrow" – 2:49
10. "Are You Ready" – 2:59
11. "Really Hard" – 4:23
12. "Burned" – 4:29
13. "Stutter" – 5:33

The only downside to "One Man Clapping" would be its slightly unrealsitic nature - it's an edited together suite of songs taken from two separate concerts, and sewn together with sampled (and sometimes unrealistic-sounding) applause.

To compare, here is a recording of James at the London Astoria, in October 1988 (about a month prior to the shows in Bath). It also contains a very early live version of James' next single - "Sit Down":

http://www.protectlinks.com/118132

(1) - A demo version of "Hymn From a Village", recorded in 1983.
(2) - "Stutter" recorded live at the Hacienda in 1982
(3) - Live version of "Sandman" (b-side to "Chainmail") recorded at the Futurama festival in 1989
(4) - "What For" recorded on the TV "Other Side of Midnight" in 1988

(Martine McDonagh, now an author, has a myspace which can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/martinemcdonagh)

Comments

James "Lost Innocence" (the unreleased Sire collection?)

2008-06-30T21:24:56+02:00

James have always been one of my favourite bands, although there is a problem with them. You can (with judicious shopping and few handy discographies) collect pretty much everything they've done since 1990 without spending more than around £40. All their music released on Fontana is either still in print or sufficiently common to be a reasonable purchase on the collector's markets.

However, James had an earlier (and to my mind, far FAR better) career, before they became the seven-manned sub-Simple Minds of Manchester's fag end in 1992. But if you wish to explore and invest in their records from their glory days in the eighties, you will find - very rapidly - a snag: most of their output has been deleted for many, many years, and can sell for very high prices, owing to the scarcity of the early material. Unlike most bands of a similar fame and critical level, James have never been exploited by their old labels with a trawl through their back catalogue. Some might say "hooray", but the downside of this is that there has never been any rarities compilations, or radio session or live collections, as you would normally get with some of their (then) contemporaries (the Woodentops, say, or even the Smiths). An attempt to mop up some of this discrepancy was made last year, when their most recent best-of (there's been at least three) came as a limited 2-CD set, claiming to include "every single" James had ever released, from 1983 to 2007. Sadly, there were gaps in this collection - "Ya Ho" was the album mix, "Sit Down" and "Rough Trade" failed to appear in their 1989 Rough Trade incarnations, and many of the 1990s singles were again plucked from their albums rather than shorter or more vibrant CD single mixes. Certainly, "Fresh as a Daisy" had some plus points - particuarly the inclusion of all the tracks they recorded for Factory, and their very rare third single "Chainmail" - but in the end it was a dissapointing "singles collection".

James' fantastic eighties output, which included eight singles, two LPs and one live set, is currently represented by some compilation tracks, and the two "vanilla" studio albums on CD, with tracklistings unchanged since their first appearance on compact disc twenty years ago.

But ... briefly, in the summer on 2007, it seemed as if there may be a chance for an early James rarities compilation to see the light of day. A 3-CD (!) set by James titled "Lost Innocence" appeared as a future release on play.com, priced for the rather high price of £33.99. It seemed - just possibly - that this could be a genuine release. A previous attempt to bring about a James 1980s compilation (2002's "Strange Dancing") had been nothing more than a brief media glitch, and resulted in no actual CD - fans feverently hoped that "Lost Innocence" would not turn out to be another fools' errand.

Sadly, it did. Despite many positive pointers - the fact the band had recently reformed, that the CD was to be released on Reprise/Rhino (who had recently re-released other Sire archive recordings), and that "Lost Innocence" was the working title of James' 1986 debut album - the release date came and went without any sign of a CD. It seemed (possibly) that the financial collapse of Warners UK in June 2007 meant there were to be no more archive releases - and "Lost Innocence" dissappeared.

I was very, very dissappointed. But, uploaded below, is my tracklisting of what "Lost Innocence" MIGHT have been like. I envisaged it as a "Longshot For Your Love"-type collection (see the below post), a complement to the rather half-arsed "Fresh as a Daisy" CDs. I couldn't be bothered trying to make a 3-CD set (which seemed a little unlikely even to the most feverent fan), but my "Lost Innocence" contains b-sides, rare songs, unreleased tracks and radio sessions from James' career from 1983 to 1990. Of course, unlike a genuine release, a lot of these tracks are bootlegs of bootlegs, taped off the radio twenty years ago, or mastered from vinyl, so the sound quality as a whole is not fantastic (and bitrates range from 192kps to just 80kps). However, it fills a gap in James' career and, I think, offers a fascinating overview:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118157

You might want to use the above to make a CD cover. Or maybe it's too small. Anyway ...

A full tracklisting is here:

01 Vulture
(Recorded for a 1983 Peel Session, featuring Tim Booth on vocals, Paul
Gilbertson on guitar, Jim Glennie on bass and Gavan Whelan on drums. Later
recorded for the 1988 album “Strip Mine”)
02 Discipline
(Recorded for a 1983 Peel Session, unreleased on any format. A brief
snippet of James performing this song live at the Hacienda can be seen on
an early Factory video)
03 Chicken Wire (If Things Were Perfect)
(Recorded for a 1983 Peel Session, later re-recorded for “Jim 2” in 1985)
04 Hymn From a Village
(Recorded for a 1983 Peel Session, later re-recorded for “Jim 2” in 1985)
05 If Things Were Perfect
(Recorded at the ICA, London for the “Old Grey Whistle Test” in 1985. Now
featuring Larry Gott on guitar, replacing Paul Gilbertson)
06 Hup-Springs (Sandman)
(B-side of James’ third single, the “Sit Down EP” (JIM3T) released on Sire
Records in 1985, featuring “Chainmail” as the lead track. The EP title
referred to the John Carroll drawing on the front of a man on a bench – the
song “Sit Down” would not be written for another three year).
07 Uprising
(Extra track on the “Sit Down EP” 12” (JIM3T) released summer 1985)
08 Just Hipper
(B-side to “So Many Ways” (JIM4T), the only single released off the debut
James album “Stutter” in 1986. This song is a re-recording of “Just Hip”
on that album).
09 Stowaway
(Recorded for a 1987 Peel Session, and unreleased on any format)
10 What For?
(Recorded for a 1987 Peel Session and subsequently re-recorded as the lead
single from the “Strip Mine” album in summer 1988)
11 Island Swing
(B-side to the “What For” single NEG31, released on Sire Records in summer
1988)
12 Ya Ho
(Originally recorded in 1987 during the first aborted sessions of the
“Strip Mine” album, this single version was eventually released in autumn
1988 on the “Ya Ho + 3” EP NEG28T. This is the edited version from the 7”
and also the US-only promo CD album, Sire’s “Just Say Yes”.)
13 Mosquito
(B-side to “Ya Ho + 3” EP NEG28T. Released in autumn 1988)
14 Left Out Of Her Will
(Extra track to “Ya Ho + 3” EP NEG28T. Released in autumn 1988)
15 New Nature
(Extra track to “Ya Ho + 3” EP NEG28T. Released in autumn 1988)
(pto)
16 Sit Down
(Recorded for a 1988 Andy Kershaw session, this early unreleased version is
the only recorded mix to feature James’ original drummer Gavan Whelan, who
left the group soon after in autumn 1988. This song would go on to be
re-recorded and remixed three times. The original Steve Power production
came out in June 1989 (RT225) reaching number 79 in the charts. The Gil
Norton hit version appeared in April 1991 (JIM8), which reached number 2.
And then Apollo 440 remixed it in October 1998 (JIM21), when it went to no. 7).
17 Stripmining
(Recorded for a 1988 Andy Kershaw session, this track originally appeared
as the closing number – including Refrain – on the album “Strip Mine”.
This track was one of the more obscure ones to be performed by the band
during the 2007 reunion concerts)
18 Violent Rain
(Recorded for a 1990 Radio Europe session, and unreleased on any format.
This includes the “new” line-up with included David Bayton-Power on drums,
Mark Hunter on keyboards, Saul Davies on violin and Andy Diagram on
trumpet)
19 Sunday Morning
(Recorded for a 1990 Peel Session, this Velvet Underground cover was also
given the full studio treatment by James for the tribute album “Heaven &
Hell” and also appeared on the b-side to “Lose Control” (JIM7). A live
version can be heard of James’ 1991 live video “Come Home”)
20 How Was It For You
(Recorded for a 1990 Peel Session, How Was It For You? Was their first
single on Fontana (JIM5) and was their first to reach the top 40 in the
charts)
21 Come Home
(Recorded for a 1990 Peel Session, Come Home was originally released on
Rough Trade Records (RT245) in late 1989. Six months later, it was remixed
by several producers, including Andy Weatherall, Youth and Flood, with
Flood’s mix being released as a second version of the single (JIM6), which
reached the UK top 30 in summer 1990)
22 Weather Change
(Recorded for the flexi LINTONE1, which was made available through fanzines
and also on the summer 1990 Gold Mother tour. It has never been
re-released)
23 Stutter
(Recorded as part of the aborted 1987 sessions for “Strip Mine”, this is an
unreleased studio version of the track James have regularly used to end
concerts for over 25 years. A live version has been released on the Rough
Trade album “One Man Clapping” (ONEMAN1) and James can be seen performing
the song at the end of their live video “Come Home” in December 1990).

More James soon ... Also, if anyone has any of the other radio sessions from the 1980s as mentioned on this page here: http://www.oneofthethree.co.uk/radiosessions8389.htm please get in touch!

Tim Booth and old pal Morrissey backstage in 1991, earnestly eyeing the shark they are both about to jump.

Comments

The Pale Fountains "Longshot For Your Love" MA37CD 1998

2008-06-30T19:54:46+02:00

And then, after 12 years - a third one appeared:

Quite simply one of the most beautiful albums ever made, "Longshot For Your Love" is in fact nothing of the sort. Rather than being a studio album, it's a compilation, of rare singles, radio sessions, live tracks, and obscure off cuts, brought together by Marina Records in 1998.

For many Pale Fountains officianados, this is their definitive musical statement - a bouncy, lush, soaring collection of songs which taps into their sun-dappled sensibilities arguably a lot better than their expansive debut or their rickety-guitar follow-up.

For some strange reason, this album seems to float in and out of print, almost arbitarily. Five years ago, for example, the CD was regularly going for £25.00 on Ebay. I would advise, therefore, if you are at all interested in this beautiful music, and see either the CD or the (especially) the limited edition vinyl, then you buy it immediately. Every home should have one.

In the meantime, here's the CD ripped at 320 kps:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118127

Also - STOP PRESS - here is a live bootleg of the Paleys playing in Japan in 1985 I just found on another blog:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118135

I've not listened to it yet, so can't comment on its sound quality. Thanks to http://bubu-musicalementvotre.blogspot.com/ - the original uploader!

Comments

The Pale Fountains " ... From Across the Kitchen Table" Japanese CD

2008-06-29T17:16:17+02:00

Below is the original vinyl released of the Paley's second and last album "... From Across the Kitchen Table", as re-released in Japan only in 2005 (the British CD features a strange mixture of album and single versions). Also included are the two singles "Jeans Not Happening" and "From Across the Kitchen Table", ripped from vinyl at 192kps:

http://www.protectlinks.com/117460

"... From Across the Kitchen Table" may not attach itself to the "classic" tag quite as strongly as "Pacific Street" does, but it is a fascinating link between the Paleys and Mick Heads next, and more famous, development - the 20-year-long project of Shack. In early 1985, Andy Diagram announced he was leaving the group (although he does appear in a very much a supporting role in some of the tracks on "... Table") and the band lost a great deal of their fantastically airy, breezy quality. The new album was more conventionally "indie" in sound (even though that word would probably be more appropriate for Mick Head's many immitators rather than the man himself) but still contained the fantastic shimmer of "Jean's Not Happening" and the other single "From Across the Kitchen Table" (on this CD included in its original album version, rather than the UK CD which includes the Ian Broudie-produced single mix). The slow build of "These Are The Things" is also one of my favourites.

In 1986, the Paley's bass player Chris McCafferty died while still in his early 20s, and Mick decided that now was the time to split the band. The following year, alongside his brother John, Mick would reappear with his third LP, "Zilch", as Shack. Shack have a long and fascinating history, which I will go on to explore in a later post. Andy Diagram spent some time in the late 1980s as a session musician before joining James (another of my favourites) in the spring of 1989. He remained with the band for three years until their huge success with the "Seven" album, and all the stadium gigs, made him uncomfortable and he left before the recording of James' fifth album, the multi-million selling "Laid" from 1993.

Strangely, in 2007, Andy found himself back in the fold of both bands. After a stadium reunion tour in April, James welcomed Andy's trumpet back that summer, first for a series of small, secret gigs and festival appearances, and then to help record James' 2008 comeback LP "Hey Ma". Also, earlier this year, Andy joined the reformed Pale Fountains on stage for two gigs in Liverpool and London - their first reappearance on the live stage for over twenty years. It has been rumoured that Andy's trumpet will appear on the new Shack album - although things have been disturbingly quiet that next of the woods the last four months, with rumours suggesting that Shack have actually split up. Live DVDs of both Shack and the Pale Fountains are still no further forward, either.

Below, however, is a small collection of 2008 reunion-related tracks. A radio session from Radio Merseyside in January 2008, and live versions of "Reach" taken from the Liverpool and London gigs at the beginning of February:

http://www.protectlinks.com/118128

Comments

The Pale Fountains "Pacific Street" Japanese CD 1999

2008-06-29T16:52:20+02:00

As shocking as Amy Winehouse not punching a fan at Glastonbury would have been, I've decided to take a break from the KLF - at least for this post - and focus on one of my other favourite bands: The Pale Fountains.

Formed in Kensington, Liverpool, in 1981 by teenager Mick Head, the "Paleys" rapidly developed a strong cult in the Merseyside area. Their love of Love, Baccarach and David and some of the pre-Raphaelite leanings of the recently closed Zoo Records (run by Bill Drummond, of course), rapidly became almost a cliche in the Liverpool area - echoing down twenty-five years of music to the Beefheart angular Britpop of the Coral, through the chiming glory of the La's.

Augmented by the bass work of Chris McCafferty and Thomas "Jock" Whelan on drums, the band really started to take off with the inclusion of Andy "Diagram" Diagram, a multi-instrumentalist and predominant trumpet player who added so much to their gentle, riverbank-y sound. Diagram had previously appeared with the Diagram Brothers (where he had changed his surname in a Ramones-esque act of anonymity; I've never found out what his real name is) and Dislocation Dance.

A first single, "Just a Girl"/"There's Always Something On My Mind" was released to much critical acclaim in late 1981, rapidly followed by a bidding war resulting in a contract with Virgin Records and their first - and only - top 50 hit, the extraordinarily Spectoresque "Thank You".

A gap of over a year then occurred in their release schedule, as they prepared to bring out their debut album: "Pacific Street", which eventually appeared in 1984. This wonderful album really is one of my favourites - but it has been sadly neglected over the years by Virgin and EMI in the UK. A 13-track UK CD was issued in 1989, and although it has never been deleted, it does little to represent the Pale Fountains "gap years" between their first independent single and their major label debut album. Thankfully, a Japanese 21-track CD was issued in 1999, which mopped up many of the outstanding tracks from the Paley's singles. This CD (like many expanded Japanese editions) has never been reissued or released indepedently in the UK - although owners of the British version may take some comfort from the fact that "Love's A Beautiful Place", one of the extra tracks on the UK Version, does not appear on the Japanese import. Of course, the downside of this is that if you want to own their entire discography on CD you have to buy both discs. If you like this album, I would recommend buying the UK CD as it's usually only around £5.00.

Here is the full Japanese CD, alongside the British-only extra track, from mediafire:

http://www.protectlinks.com/117172
http://www.protectlinks.com/117297

320kps from the CD.

More Pale Fountains soon ... or possibly next ...

Comments

"Eternity Project One" (CD 1-280) and "Dancebusters Volume One" (WAMCD002)

2008-06-29T11:42:31+02:00

Is it "Eternity Project One" by Various Artists, or "Project One" by Eternity?

This relatively obscure early acid house compilation was released in early 1989, and is - approximately - a strong collaborative effort by six "members" of the then-current party atmosphere of Jimmy Cauty's Stockwell squat: Cauty himself, Cressida, DJ Cesare from the early JAMMs records, Youth (using the psuedonym of "Eternity"), Alex Paterson recording as "LXD", and future Orb partner Kris Weston (here called "Bass", a nickname he would also use during rare Fortran 5 live performances). Other musicians and DJs drift in and out of the personnel, creating a fascinating document of Cauty's pals at their least commercial.

Most famous for its inclusion of the first ever Orb track ("Tripping On Sunshine Live Mix" - further augmented by the inclusion of the eponymous "The Orb" on the CD reissue), "Eternity Project One" also features the last ever Jimmy/Cressida Disco 2000 track ("Feel This", recorded as "Discotec 2000") and Robo-Bop, a Cauty/Weston collaboration. "The Orb" (eleventh track on the Rough Trade/Gee Street CD reissue - CD 1-280) is sometimes also called "Borrowed Love (KLF Slow the Beats" - although I'm not sure if this was ever an official title, or if Drummond was ever involved.

Whether there was ever a planned "Eternity Project Two", or if the name "Eternity" had any relevance to the "shadowy" organisation Bill and Jimmy claimed gave them the White Room Contract, has never been cleared up. The CD sleeve features photographs of some of the artists involved, but they are sometimes purposefully obscured or skewed. Jimmy (and Alex) are photographed wearing giant Cheech and Chong style fake moustaches (possibly the same one Jimmy would wear at the end of "The White Room" movie), Cressida is obscured, and Kris is barely recognisable from the heavy-Jerry-Sadowitz look he would sport in 1992. Only Eternity (Martin "Youth" Glover) looks happy, long-haired and uncomplicated.

The CD re-issue appeared on Gee Street/Rough Trade in mid-1989, and is still a great milestone in the happy, early period in dance music, before the money men appeared. Sadly, it was extremely limited and has been deleted for nearly two decades - so be prepared to set aside £150 for a copy. The vinyl (without the last two tracks), both the Gee Street original and Rough Trade reissue, can be picked up for around £10-20.

Here is the CD, mastered direct at 128kps:

http://www.protectlinks.com/117298

(note: mediafire now no longer allow passworded files, so from now on there's no password).

Tracklisting:

1 Robo-Bop Bang Me Baby (4:52)
2 Lyndsey Holloday Feel The Love (5:33)
3 Splendid Paco's Revenge (5:10)
4 STP Twentythree Let Jimi Take Over (3:41)
5 Eternity That's What I Want (4:09)
6 Mr. Love Mr. Love (5:58)
7 Eternity Ashram House (4:52)
8 Eternity Sanctuary (5:10)
9 Orb, The Tripping On Sunshine (Live Mix) (3:50)
10Discotec 2000 Feel This (5:38)
11Orb, The Borrowed Love (KLF Slow The Beats) (6:01)
12Splendid The Return Of Paco (3:43)

(Martin "Youth" Glover, far right, with his first band Killing Joke - who once approached Bill Drummond to be their lead singer - in 1983)

Gee Street, through the A&R auspices of Alex Patterson and his German counterpart, Mararthon member and future "Pomme Fritz" collaborator, linked up with Wau Mr Modo later in 1989 to produce a second compilation album, this time a sampler of previously-released Wau Mr Modo 12" singles, called "Dancebusters Volume One" (WAMCD002):

This late 1989 compilation is (sort of) a follow-up to "Eternity Project One", featuring many of the same bands and artists, and like its forebear, is of particular interest for the inclusion of an Orb track - this time, one of the tracks taken from their debut 12" "The Kiss EP" (MWS010T). This is the only time one of the tracks from "Kiss" ever appeared officially on CD. Because it's even more obscure than "EP1" (and it has an awfully cheesy tMotown-referencing title, which may cause casual buyers to pass it by), you can pick up "Chartbusters Volume 1" relatively cheapily. I got my CD copy for £5 on Ebay. And vinyl can be mere pennies.

Here is the full CD, mastered from CD at 128kps:

http://www.protectlinks.com/117304

Tracklisting:

01 Dean Johnson featuring Lynda Law - Somebody Somewhere (Black Country Mix)
02 U.N.C.L.E. 22 - The Man From...
03 Blowfly - Work Your Body
04 U.K. Black - Untouchables (Booker's Revenge)
05 Georgette Della Rosa - D'ya Wanna (Italian Ciao Mix)
06 STP Twentythree - Let Jimi Take Over (Ultramix One)
07 Sound Iration - Dub Seal Part II
08 Orb - Suck My Kiss Mix
09 Dean Johnson (featuring Lynda Law) - Somebody Somewhere (Smokin' Jammy Mix)
10 Blowfly - Work Your Flute Mix
11 Georgette Della Rosa - D'ya Wanna (Roots Mix)
12 STP Twnetythree - Let Jimi Take Over (Retromix)
13 Sound Iration - Seventh Seal

(Both these rips were made several years ago, hence the low bitrate).

Comments

Help needed with SPACECD1

2008-06-24T07:48:14+02:00

As you may know, I sold quite a few KLF CDs on Ebay recently. Before selling, I ripped them all as 320 kps mp3s and stored them on a harddrive (actually, two harddrive). However, it seems as if I forgot to rip "Space" before selling. I have a copy at 128 kps, but not 320. Can someone who still has a CD copy of "Space" possibly rip it at 320kps and send it to me (probably easiest to do this via yousendit.com or rapidshare or one of those sites)? I would be (3 am) eternally grateful if someone could!

Also, I was hoping to up this rip to my blog here: http://inverarities.blog.co.uk/ as "Space" should be the next one to feature in sequence. I hope that's okay with anyone who rips it - if not, then I'll just up my 128kps version.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Comments

David Essex's "Stardust" and The KLF's "The White Room" movies

2008-06-14T15:27:13+02:00

Just a quick "hello" to mention something I've already posted to the KLF mailing list.

Last weekend, I watched "Stardust" (the sequel to "That'll Be the Day") a film starring David Essex, made in 1974. A quick look round Youtube should reveal the whole movie (and the earlier one, if you're so interested). Never having seen "Stardust" before, I was surprised - and delighted! - to see that the last twenty minutes or so are filmed in the village/castle in Spain where Bill and Jimmy filmed raw footage for their unreleased "White Room" movie in 1989.

Just check out these two captures from Youtube, and you'll see it's the same castle - check the two bits of wood (presumably some ancient drawbridge or something?) above the door. 15 years between the two bits of film, but they're still there:

Comments

Eric's nightclub documentaries (KLF related)

2008-06-06T20:25:29+02:00

A quick post to say there's a documentary on BBC4 at 10.50pm tonight on "New Merseybeat" (6th June 2008) featuring a small extract about the KLF and Bill Drummond's first band, the infamous Big in Japan, as well as an indepth history of the whole 1980s Liverpool scene. Here's the first of three screen grabs:

(Note the cover of "3 AM Eternal (Pure Trance 2)" featured heavily in the background collage).

My two KLF-related excerpts can be found here on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC2hzFhYsHY&NR=1 (Big in Japan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH13KtfZgZw (The KLF)

(My thanks to Marco for keeping my uploads alive when Youtube shut my account, btw!)

Anyway (whew!) here's the whole Rock Family Trees episode in five parts (if you find there's less than five, I'm still in the process of uploading them). It taken from a 2006 VH1 repeat of the original 1996 programme. Sorry, by the way, these files are uploaded to rapidshare.com in error (I usually use mediafire!):

http://www.protectlinks.com/105210
http://www.protectlinks.com/105211
http://www.protectlinks.com/105212
http://www.protectlinks.com/105214
http://www.protectlinks.com/105215

(All five files should be automatically joined into one with Winrar)

p/w Inverarity

And as an added bonus, a radio documentary was broadcast on Radio 2 last Saturday (31st May 2008), also about Eric's Nightclub and the Liverpool Scene, presented by Steven Lamacq. It can be downloaded here:

http://www.protectlinks.com/105209

No p/w.

Comments

The KLF "Chill Out" JAMSCD5

2008-05-16T11:09:02+02:00

http://www.protectlinks.com/98658 (original UK JAMSCD5 "Chill Out" ripped at 320kps. Note, this CD is one track 44 minutes 43 seconds long. If you want the 14-track version, please ask and I'll upload it)

p/w inverarity

The tracklisting, taken from the 14-track US CD is this:

1:43 Brownsville Turnaround On The Tex-Mex Border
1:29 Pulling Out Of Ricardo And The Dusk Is Falling Fast
3:01 Six Hours To Louisiana, Black Coffee Going Cold
2:37 Dream Time In Lake Jackson
7:41 Madrugada Eterna
1:09 Justified And Ancient Seems A Long Time Ago
2:40 Elvis On The Radio, Steel Guitar In My Soul
9:50 3 a.m. Somewhere Out Of Beaumont
5:57 Wichita Lineman Was A Song I Once Heard
0:56 Trancentral Lost In My Mind
3:26 The Lights Of Baton Rouge Pass By
1:51 A Melody From A Past Life Keeps Pulling Me Back
1:27 Rock Radio Into The Nineties And Beyond
0:47 Alone Again With The Dawn Coming Up

Originally announced on the inner label of KLF5R as "Live at Trancentral" (a phrase which appeared - in the first time in the KLF's history - on the back sleeve of the album), "Chill Out" was released initially in the UK in February 1990. By that time, the phrase "ambient house" was entering the language of hipsters, as the Orb's "A Huge Ever-Growing Brain" single became semi-legendary as a nineteen-minute keyboard spectacular with a Minnie Ripperton sample and a silly title. Cauty later claimed that the name "ambient house" was a joke, a pretend genre cooked up by the rapidly-coalescing Trancentral crew (the Cautys, Youth, Alex Paterson, occasionally Bill travelling in from Aylesbury, and a few others) which the music press grabbed hold of, and actually made real.

Many hours of experimental jams, all of them recorded on keyboards at Trancentral, had been a large part of Jimmy's musical output for the second half of 1989, and some of them were then taken down on DAT tapes to the Land of Oz, a room in Paul Oakenfold's Heaven nightclub which had seen the first live KLF performance, and where Cauty and Patterson would DJ playing slow, ambient music such as Eno or the soundtrack to "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence". These home-produced jams proved popular, and one eventually turned up as "Lovin' You" (aka "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Controls from the Centre of the Ultraworld"), which appeared first as a late 1989 Peel Session, and then as promo 12" on Patterson's Wau Mr Modo label. This studio version was, famously, recorded at Trancentral in twenty minutes on a Sunday morning, with Cressida's washing machine cycle draining power from some of the keyboards in the kitchen, causing the occasional click sound on the original version. Surprisingly, this 19-minute Orb single even made the charts: number 78. The public's appetite for ambient music was growing.

The first "ambient house" album, however, was not released by the Orb (whose debut album and split will be dealt with in an up-coming Orb post), but actually by the KLF. Drummond's attitude about chill out music was similar to Cauty's, even though he did not DJ. In an interview a year later, he explained that after hearing Black Box's "Ride on Time" Drummond's pop sensibility kicked in, and realised that "up" dance music couldn't really get any higher than that. There was nowhere else to go other than to strip everything down to an almost beatless soundscape.

And so: "Chill Out" (JAMSCD/LP5). Recorded entirely live (in 45 minutes) using DATs and tapes mixed together, the album was actually aborted several times, with the KLF (possibly with the help of Alex Patterson, although this has never been confirmed) starting the whole album again from the beginning. Taking the structure of a road trip down the US Eastern Seaboard, visiting places neither Drummond or Cauty had even been to, but which sounded romantic on a map, the album was a sublime, new-sounding, and unique jam of train samples, crickets singing, water flowing, sheep herders and roughly two or three proper songs ("Madrugada Eterna", almost exactly the same as the version of KLF010CD, and the renamed "Last Train to Trancentral" reborn as "Witchita Lineman Was a Song I Once Heard", along with various snippets of "3 AM Eternal"). Housed in that iconic sheep sleeve (an image the KLF claimed was picked from a bank of open-domain photographic images), "Chill Out" is arguably the duo's most consistent and interesting music offering. For a moment if you forget about the pranks, the jokes, and the shocking media incidents, if the KLF are to be judged purely on their music - and I hope that, more than anything, is what this blog is about - then "Chill Out" towers above the rest of their discography of novelty songs and mega-selling rave as something deeper, more muso, and more loved.

The cult of the album (many times confusingly referred to as the KLF's "debut") began to grow during 1990, as snippets reappeared on remixes and the soundtrack to their long-play mail-order-only video film "Waiting". A European issue (with a slightly altered sleeve and a barcode - the original UK CD issue does not have one, hence the sticker on the box) came out on Indisc as JAMSCD89005, followed by a Canadian WaxTrax issue and finally a US TVT release in 1991 (originally housed in a 12" "long box"). This final edition has never been deleted, and gives fans a cheap way of getting hold of the album, when the original UK CD (which features one long track rather than the US 14-tracker) goes for £30-40 now on Ebay.

"Chill Out" also reappeared as a bootleg housed alongside Jimmy Cauty's subsquent solo ambient album "Space" on both cassette and CD in 1994. The cassette is not terribly interesting, but the CD cleverly morphs together "Chill Out"'s sheep and "Space"'s astronaut covers and is well worth buying (cheaply) for its clever aping of the KLF style (although note that for the 70 minute time restrictions, the last few minutes of "Chill Out" are missing. All of "Space" is on there, though).

Owing to "Chill Out"'s continued availability on CD, the last bootleg issued was actually on vinyl, part of the "campaign" of bootleg LPs and 12"s which appeared in 2000 (JAMSLP1, JAMSDLP3, KLF8R, JAMSLP5 and SPACELP1). This bootleg is actually very easy to detect, as its cover has a distinctly "scanned" quality - the blue in the sky is almost purple, and features red mottling such as you get on colour photographs on newsprint. Also, the sleeve was glued together back-to-front and the opening for the record is actually (from the top) on the left rather than the right. Here is a cover image of the back of the 2001 bootleg LP, showing the deep blue, almost purple, colouring of the sky and - bizarrely - more clouds than the original image. In fact, the sky is arguably more similar in colour to the one on the cover of "Who Killed the JAMs"/"History of the JAMs" than the official "Chill Out":

Owing to its popularity among fans (and lets be honest, stoners), several fan remixes, homages and even sequels to "Chill Out" have been upped to the web over the years. Most of these are pretty dull, simply taking the basic elements of the album and mixing them up slightly. One of the best, however, has been online for many years and can be found to download here:

http://www.thismeanswar.net/water/k/

When I first discovered it, it took a full afternoon to download! Now, you can get it in a few minutes (if you have broadband). Produced by long-time KLF fan ODC1 in 1999, following a period of unemployment, it is by far the most interesting of KLF fan mixes, in my opinion.

The other interesting "Chill Out"-related release is a bootleg recording, which appeared originally in 2001, called "Made at 3AM Coming Down Off E". Apparently one of many pre-JAMSCD5 Cauty/Patterson/Drummond(?) jams recorded at Trancentral, it was made available via this website: http://positivevoid.co.uk/, home to much interesting and varied KLF product. I'm not sure if PVC's website is still going, but it's certainly worth a look.

Here is "Made at 3 AM Coming Down Off E" ripped at 128kps from CD:

http://www.protectlinks.com/98746 (p/w inverarity)

Finally, and perhaps inevitably, we return to sheep. Why sheep? After "Chill Out"'s release, the KLF went through a bit of an obsession with them. Fluffy toy ones appeared in photographs in their recording studio, positioned above the speakers; and they themselves were photographed with sheep (with KLF t-shirts draped across their wool) in a cafe. Sheep appeared in "Waiting", were also mentioned in the "It's Grim Up North" press release, and Jimmy's amusing cartoons that decorated KLF information sheets and order booklets began to feature sheep (again, with KLF written on their flanks):

Later on, the inner sleeve of "The White Room" (JAMSCD0006/JAMSLP6) featured an image of Bill and Jimmy dressed in their "It's Grim Up North" rainwear, holding two of the animals with the phrase "Why Sheep?" underneath. Then the KLF played rough footage of "The White Room" to a group of German film investors while sheep wandered through the audience. And finally, and most controversially, the KLF marked their award-winning night at the 1992 Brits by dumping a dead sheep on the steps of the hotel where the ceremony was being held. Why sheep indeed?

FOOTNOTE: in 1997, German label Sabotage released a CD called "Chill Out", the proceeds of which would go to wolf adoption charities. The cover was very clever, taking away all the sheep from the original JAMSCD5 sleeve and replacing it with wolves. It was certainly eye-catching and amusing, as you can see:

(Another parody of the KLF appeared in 2003, when Japanese group Earthborn released a 12" called "Why Sheep", with a sleeve that parodied "Shag Times". Since both this and "Chill Out" contain no - or at least very, very little - KLF music, I have decided not to up them).

Comments

"Ambient House" DFC CD & "Last Train to Trancentral"

2008-05-15T10:35:01+02:00

Now that we've covered four of the "Pure Trance" releases, were are left with just the one - "Pure Trance 5", arguably the most unusual and legendary of the series.

Reports are scant, but the record seems to originally have had the title of "E-Train to Trancentral" (in reality the Stockwell Tube?) due for release in late 1988. Assuming this would have some of the structure of the subsequent "Last Train to Trancentral" (and a Moody Boys remix from 1991 does have Maxine Harvey singing "go to sl-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-p" which some fans have seen as being a sampled of "E-Train"), every version of KLF8 is unique in being a remix: there is no "original" version of "Last Train To Trancentral", or at least one that has seen the "light of day".

(For an indepth read on the original "Last Train" and its existence or non-existence, please check the following discussion from the old klf.de forum: http://www.klf.de/forum/showthread.php?thread_id=121). I particularly like the theory that all of the Pure Trance were recorded, but some unreleased. Later on, the KLF remixed the unreleased ones as hit singles - "Turn Up the Strobe" becoming "Justified and Ancient", etc. Of course, "J&A" is also based on "Hey Hey We Are Not the Monkees" from 1987 and samples the intro to "KSTJ" just before the chorus (the rising keyboard scale)).

The first appearance of a song with the roughly recognisable "Last Train" attributes (either the sliding keyboard intro or the distinctive Ski Sunday/Big Country trilling 3/4 of the way through the track) is probably "Go To Sleep", which only ever appeared on the 1989 "White Room" soundtrack. My own personal views on this track (which is available as a download through the "What Time is Love Story" post) is that it is not the original "Last Train", rather it's a remix or re-recording in the KLF's then-current pop-trance style. Stick it next to "Kyie Said to Jason" on an mp3 player, and you'll hear that it is effectively a follow-up track. Also, if you ever watch "The White Room" on Youtube, watch part 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZfqOv0ca_o) at around 6.55, and you will hear a completely unreleased mix of "Last Train to Trancentral". This I suspect is actually the very, very, very first original mix. This is the bit in the movie I mean:

And here is an mp3 of the segment in the Youtube video - 90% "Go To Sleep" but crucially 10% something else:

http://www.mediafire.com/?xz0isztzc0w

It was the following spring, in March 1990, when "Pure Trance 5" finally emerged commercially. Perversely, or perhaps appropriately since its the KLF we're talking about here, the release was KLF8R - two remixes of the original unreleased track. The press sheet suggested that the original would be released "someday", and several years later Bill Drummond suggested that it "too good to be released". Housed in a pink and black sleeve (the colour slightly paler than with "Pure Trance 2", a promo 12" released a couple of months before had caused a bit of a stir, with the DJ Sasha in particular playing the b-side continually. Again perversely, the a-side of KLF8R was actually the less commercial track - using double-echo effects and train sounds to create the KLF's most minimalist ambient house yet (bare in mind, by the time of KLF8R's full release, "Chill Out" had already been out two months). The b-side was a more linear creation, even if it did break down to just drums and echo on several occasions (in fact, it was very similar to the track "Witchita Lineman Was a Song I Once Heard" on "Chill Out", with only the most minimal of changes). Both tracks featured the signature "trill" about three quarters of the way through the track (this time, shorn of the "Go To Sleep" synth horns).

KLF8R was limited to 2000 copies, but to add further legend to this rare release, roughly half were reported to be warped at factory and therefore unplayable. Strangely, none of these warped copies ever seem to appear anywhere, so it's possible either the damaged 12"s were dumped, or it was one of Bill and Jimmy's stories all along.

The b-side would experience another lease of life in the subsequent year, when it first appeared as a glorious, six minute final track to the compilation "Indie Top 20 Volume XII" (a home to a few rare KLF tracks) before finally appeared as track 3 on the "Last Train to Trancentral" UK CD single in 1991. Oddly, by this point the track was just known as "The 1989 Pure Trance Original", thereby getting around the whole tangled problem of what the "original" track actually was.

The a-side also appeared on CD, this time on another compilation called "Ambient House - the DFC Compilation", where it settled next to another contemporary piece of Jimmy Cauty ambience, with the "Why is Six Scared of Seven?" mix of the Orb's "A Huge Ever-Growing Pulsating Brain". This compilation CD is actually fairly common on Ebay, and can be picked up for around £10. It is well worth the purchase.

Sadly, I only have it at 128kps, but it *is* the only was to get KLF8R's a-side on CD. Here is the download:

http://www.mediafire.com/?doxtybderdj

Tracklisting:

A1 Morenas Hazme Soñar (6:13)
Written-By - Gemolotto* , Albanese* , Collino* , Lippoli* , Persi*
A2 Aqua Regia N.Y.C. Smile On Me (5:45)
Written-By - Akin Fernandez*
A3 KLF, The Last Train To Trancentral (Remix) (6:00)
Written-By - W. Drummond* , J. Cauty*
A4 Extreme Trasparenza (4:44)
Written-By - Gemolotto* , Rizzatti* , Sabadin* , Persi*
A5 Sueño Latino Luxuria (4:07)
Written-By - Gemolotto* , Albanese* , Damas* , Collino* , Lippoli* , Persi*
B1 Orb, The A Huge Ever-Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules The World From The Centre Of The Ultraworld (Why Is Six Scared Of Seven?) (5:27)
Written-By - Paterson* , Cauty* , Ripperton* , Rudolf*
B2 Sueño Latino Sueno Latino (3:57)
Written-By - Gemolotto* , Collino* , Göttsching* , Persi*
B3 Morenas Somnambulism (5:55)
Written-By - Gemolotto* , Collino* , Persi*
B4 Aqua Regia Aqueanosolo (3:50)
Written-By - Akin Fernandez*
B5 Lux (8) Deep Down (New Age Instrumental Version Edit) (6:00)
Written-By - Sion* , Rizzatti* , Zafret* , Portaluri*

NOTE ON YEAR 2000 BOOTLEG REISSUE OF KLF8R:

Of the five bootleg reissues (apparently originating in Belgium) which were circulated briefly around British indie record shops in summer 2000, KLF8R is by far the most diffcult to spot (all the other issues seem to have printing errors). KLF8R however should be detectable as a bootleg because its pinkness is actually a lot ruddier and darker than the original (more puce than pink) and the run-out groove will be stamped rather than hand-scored. However, when you see a copy of Ebay it can be difficult to tell from a photo. Perhaps the best rule of thumb is to look at the sleeve where the big "5" (itself rounder than on the original) crosses over the second "A" in the word "Trancentral". On the original, the "5" covers the central spar of the "A", meaning the spar is black. On the bootleg, the "5" does not cover the central spar, so it is pink. Here is a photo of the bootleg release so you can compare:

Comments

The KLF "Pure Trance 3" and the records that never were

2008-05-14T18:57:22+02:00

And so, as I said earlier, 1989 was the year of broken plans for the KLF - their pop domination failed to come to pass, and interesting and important though their ambient and trance experiments were, the general public didn't care about them any more. No 7-year-old was going to play "Pure Trance 2" over and over again in their council house bedroom.

Aside from the film and the soundtrack, that year was littered with unreleased KLF singles. The "Pure Trance" project had produced two wonderful signature tunes - but the plans of releasing ten limited 12"s (especially within ten weeks) had long been abandoned. The sleeves and labels were pressed, but in some cases the songs themselves remained unrecorded.

KLF6T and KLF6R (titled "Love Trance", according to the orange artwork) were announced but unreleased.
KLF7T and KLF7R (titled "Turn Up the Strobe", according to the yellow artwork) were announced but unreleasd.
And KLF8T didn't even seem to have artwork - although rumours exist of a blue-green "Pure Trance 5" sleeve, sometimes titled "E-Train to Trancentral" and sometimes "The White Room". Labels for "E-Train" KLF8T have recently appeared on Ebay.

And that was that ...

... However, in 2003, KLF collector Miles Tighe sold a copy of KLF6T "Pure Trance 3 - Love Trance" on Ebay for £920. Claiming it was one of only around 20 pressed, and possibly a promo, the b-side was the already-mentioned "What Time is Love (Monster Attack Mix)", in pristine quality. The a-side, "Love Trance", was to almost everyone a brand new KLF track, although a highly contentious one. Seven minutes long, and to my ears rather tinny, members of the KLF mailing list argued (and still occasionally argue) over its provenance - since it is probably (although no highly probable) that someone may have recorded a "fake" KLF track, pressed it onto vinyl with the already-bootlegged mix of WTIL, and then glued the labels on and placed in a "Pure Trance 3" sleeve. With records going for nearly a grand, it was probably worth it. However, others have argued that the record does sound - despite its lack of pop nous - like it was recorded on equipment Jimmy would have had at Trancentral in 1989. Plus, at least one member of the mailing list claimed to have bought a copy (for £200) back in 1992, when the record was so unknown it wasn't even a legend. It's possible the KLF just decided that "Love Trance" wasn't good enough, and so abadoned it at some point in 1989, and then forgot themselves that they'd ever recorded it. (However, even if it is genuine, recent Ebay sellers touting "promos", coloured picture discs, and twenty copies at a time of the thing are just trying to make a quick buck - it will be a bootleg; in fact, possibly a bootleg of a bootleg of a fake).

Anywhere, here's the full "Love Trance" track. Decide for yourselves:

http://www.protectlinks.com/98334

"Pure Trance 4" ("Turn Up the Strobe", as Tammy Wynette sang with our boys a few years later) was almost definitely never recorded. However, for the sake that it might just possibly be real here's a track I found on an FTP server titled "Turn Up the Strobe", reported to be by the KLF:

http://www.protectlinks.com/98340

(Please note that the track "Turn Up the Strobe" on the bootleg instrumental album of "The Black Room" by the KLF and Extreme Noise Terror appears to have nothing to do with this track).

KLF8T has a different story to its previous unrelease brethern, but I'll go into that in more detail on my next post.

Finally, we come to the strangest KLF release of all: "Deep Shit". A flexi-disc announced back in 1987 which never saw the light of day, it - or some variant of it - reappeared on a cassette in London in the late 1990s. Two webmasters of the now sadly defunct www.klf.de website came across from Germany and recorded the tape, which actually contained three tracks: "Deep Shit" (called Deep Shit Part III now), "Madrugada Eterna (Club Mix)" (a very clean version not taken from vinyl) and an extended mix of "The Lover's Side" from "The White Room Soundtrack". The release even occasionally appears on KLF discographies as KLF010IR (the "IR" standing for illegal remix?)

"Deep Shit" itself is an odd track, beginning with the intro from "Kylie Said to Jason" (then, presumably, their current single) before splicing it into Drummond ranting "fuck that pop shit, what we want is some deep shit!" It sounds like an out-take from one of his raps from the JAMs days, and just to increase that feeling the whole thing now goes into the full mix of "The Queen and I", the "1987" track which lead to the JAMs' first legal copyright tussle. It seems odd, at the cusp of (they hoped) pop dominance that the KLF would want to look back to their prankstering, political past. Maybe it's not actually the KLF who did it at all. Anywhere, here it is:

http://www.protectlinks.com/98341

On the other hand, the extended mix of "The Lover's Side" sounds very, very like the KLF themselves, and was probably recorded for an unreleased b-side on a "Pure Trance" single. Again, featuring Maxine Harvey's vocals, it is the only track from the original 1989 "White Room" (apart from the cover of "Born Free" and the already-a-single "Kylie Said to Jason") not to be remixed or re-recorded for inclusion on the 1991 "White Room" LP. A brief film snippet of Bill and Jimmy in the studio in 1990, which again can be found on Youtube, features them in the studio reworking it in a stadium house style as "The Sheriff of Mu Mu County", but this track remains unreleased to this day.

Here is the extended mix of "The Lover's Side":

http://www.protectlinks.com/98339

And here is "The Sheriff of Mu Mu County", taken from a 1990 student documentary on the KLF:

http://www.protectlinks.com/98342

Comments

The KLF "3 AM Eternal" (KLF5R)

2008-05-14T12:04:56+02:00

"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.

Comments

"Warehouse Raves 4" CD & "3 AM Eternal"

2008-05-14T11:04:59+02:00

One aspect of the KLF that was famous during their hey-day, but is arguably less well-known now, was their re-recording of 1989 tunes to make 1991 hits. Their "Stadium House" trilogy ("What Time is Love?", "3 AM Eternal" and "Last Train to Trancentral"), released roughly August 1990 - May 1991 was prequelled by some of the "Pure Trance" singles of the same names, released roughly November 1988 - February 1990. Some of these "original" versions, particularly the 7'05 "Pure Trance" mix of "What Time is love", became well-known through appearances on anthologies and CD singles - but one did not: strangely, the original version of their only UK number 1 as the KLF - "3 AM Eternal".

Housed in a pink and black sleeve, proudly announcing "Pure Trance 2", the original 12" was released in May 1989. Two years later, the b-side, the so-called "Break For Love" mix (due to its beat lifted directly from Raze's 1988 anthem), was included as a third track on the hit version's CD single (KLF005CD). However, the original single a-side, a beautiful 6 minute track, was never issued on any KLF CD and remained relatively obscure. A reissue campaign for both singles of "Pure Trance 1" and "2" (KLF4T, KLF5T and KLF5R - but not the rather clunky KLF4R mixes) appeared in May 1991, following the KLF's chart success, but they were only reissued on 12" and the whole thing was remarkably low-key. Again, "3 AM Eternal (Pure Trance Ofiginal)" remained un-CD-ified.

Or so it seemed ... a fairly obscure compilation CD called "Warehouse Raves 4", issued in 1990, actually featured both the original "What Time is Love" and the original "3 AM Eternal", it's only ever appearance on CD. This marvellous various artists disc is effectively the closest we will ever come to a KLF "Pure Trance" compilation, and no one seems to know why Bill and Jimmy, of course notoriously unkeen to play any rock'roll games, licenced this particular compilation to carry their two lynchpin tracks. The compilation also includes Future Sound of London under the pseudonymn AST.

Anywhere, here is the full compilation CD, mastered at 320kps:

http://www.protectlinks.com/98259
http://www.protectlinks.com/98260

p/w inverarity

Tracklisting:

01 KLF, The What Time Is Love? (Original Version) (7:04)
02 Psychotropic Only For The Headstrong (8:03)
03 Shut Up & Dance Lamborghini (7:02)
04 Art Science Technology A.S.T. (4:10)
05 Genaside II Death Of The Kamikazee (Eye Left My Wallet In Brixton Kentucky Mix) (5:43)
06 Ambience The Adored (7:58)
07 KLF, The 3 a.m. Eternal (5:59)
08 Orchestra JB On A Love Groove (Space Cadet Glow Mix) (6:12)
09 Orr-Some We Can Make It (7:04)
10 DNA La Serenissima (6:07)
11 Tullio De Piscopo Stop Bajon (7:12)

Comments

The KLF "What Time is Love" (Gig Records CD)

2008-05-14T09:19:49+02:00

Following the rules and comments in Bill and Jimmy's "The Manual" book, German duo Edelweiss managed to succeed in getting a worldwide hit with their novelty Abba-sample-fest "Bring Me Edelweiss" in late 1989. Possibly in recognition of this, their producer Jurgen Koeppers was offered the opportunity to remix "What Time is Love?" for the German/Austrian audience on WEA/Gig records.

Promos appeared, and then a rare original WEA Austrian-only 12", proudly housed in a sleeve featuring a close-up image of Bill with Jimmy in the background wearing a knitted KLF logo jumper, made by his wife Cressida. Six months later, a CD version was issued in Germany on GiG.

An almost unknown rarity in the UK, occasional copies of this CD appear on Ebay, usually for exorbitant prices. The buyer should be aware that sometimes - only sometimes - the CD is listed erroneously by sellers who don't know what it is (ie, they think it's the ordinary UK CD) and can be bought for significantly less than the ordinary "Power Mix" CD. However - please note that the CD tracklisting on the sleeve is not correct. It states that it features both the edit and full versions of the "Power Mix" as well as the original mix (KLF4T a-side, as featured on many, many KLF CDs). However, the real tracklisting is this:

(1) What Time is Love (The Power Remix Edit)
(2) What Time is Love (Original) (KLF4T b-side)*
(3) What Time is Love (Original) (KLF4T a-side)**

* - noted on the sleeve as KLF4T original
** - noted on the sleeve as Power Mix

This disc features the only CD appearance of the b-side to KLF4T, a far more squelchy, acidy version of "What Time is Love", and effectively the GiG CD single gives you an opportunity to own the original "Pure Trance 1" on compact disc.

Here is the CD, mastered at 320kps:

http://www.protectlinks.com/98255

And here are the rare, radically different promo edit (as wav file) and the full 12" Power Mix, both taken from vinyl:

http://www.protectlinks.com/98256

p/w inverarity

Comments

The KLF "The What Time is Love Story" JAMSCD4

2008-05-13T18:56:02+02:00

For over a year before the September 1989 release of "The What Time is Love Story", its catalogue number (JAMS4) had been set aside for "The White Room" soundtrack, which was promised on various KLF record sleeves as being imminently available on CD, LP, cassette and (amazingly) DAT. In the end, as detailed in my previous post, the "White Room" project - which Bill and Jimmy had expended a lot of energy into over the previous year, as the "Tardis" profits slowly dwindled - stalled during summer, falling the commercial failure (for whatever reason) of "Kylie Said to Jason". The soundtrack album sneaked out only as a promo cassette (allegedly less than 50 copies) and by September 1989, the project had been dropped.

Almost impercipitively, however, the KLF's other musical project - the equally stalled "Pure Trance" series of limited edition instrumental 12" singles - began to take off. "Pure Trance 1 - What Time is Love" had originally been released in November 1988, and very rapidly deleted. However, it began to develop a life (and cult) of its own in the clubs of the burgeoning rave scene - so much so that during the spring and summer of 1989 various "soundalikes" and tributes were released across Europe (most famously, Frank De Wulf's "Heartbeat", which Bill and Jimmy forced to be reissued with their names as the songwriters). In May 1989 came "Pure Trance 2" (the original "3 AM Eternal") featuring the vocals of Maxine Harvey (who would appear on many subsequent KLF tracks) and the clarinet of Duy Khiem, a musical colleague of Drummond's from his solo album days. Far more "song-like" than its predecessor, "3 AM Eternal" also found its place in the current rave scene.

The week before the release of "Kylie Said to Jason", furthermore, the KLF reissued "What Time is Love" (the original 12" was now quite scarce) this time in a remixed, limited edition form (KLF4R) which suddenly made the track more readily available for the summer of 1989 DJs.

Despite the disappointing failure of "The White Room" project, the KLF still worked and promoted hard during the autumn of 1989. A party/concert at Paul Oakenfold's Land of Oz Club in London, on the night of the release of "Kylie Said to Jason" on 31st July, featured the KLF's first ever live perfromance, and a month later they made a notorious appearance at an rave in Chipping Norton, performing both "What Time is Love?" and "3 AM Eternal" as well as distributing "free money" amongst the bemused (and rather sparse) group of ravers gathered below their sparkly ball tower. Footage of this can be found on Youtube.

Later in September, the continued their policy of one commercial release and one "underground" release at roughly the same time by bringing out the remix of "3 AM Eternal" (KLF5R) and the compilation album "The What Time is Love Story" on, respectively, the 18th and 25th of the month. Both releasing were interesting in that they featured Jimmy Cauty's new musical partner - ex-Killing Joke roadie, Alex Patterson. The "3 AM Eternal" remix (actually an EP of four very different versions) featured the "Orbital Blue Danube Mix", the first official remix of The Orb (which the actually sleeve promised would reappear on JAMSLP5 "Live at Trancentral"). It also marked the second Cauty exploration of ambient.

"The What Time is Love Story" (or "Now That's What I Call What Time is Love" to use its alternate title) was apparently compiled by Alex Patterson. It featured two KLF versions (the familiar a-side to KLF4T and a new live version taken from the Land of Oz performance six weeks previous) as well as four cover versions (including Frank De Wulf recording as Liasons D.) This lurid, day-glo acid house artifact became one of the rarest of KLF releases - particuarly on CD. I managed to find my copy (mercifully 99.9% free of disc rot even now) for £25 at a record fair in 1994. Copies were going for over £150 during the hey-day of Ebay back in 2002/3.

Here it is, ripped at 320kps from the original CD:

http://www.protectlinks.com/98150

Tracklisting

(1) The KLF: What Time Is Love (original)
(2) Dr. Felix: Relax Your Body
(3) K.L.F.S.: What Time Is Love? (italian mix)
(4) Liasons D.: Heartbeat
(5) Neon: No Limit (dance mix 4'58)
(6) The KLF: What Time Is Love (live) [land of oz 31 Jul 89]

More mixes of "What Time is Love?" at 128kp here are the Primal and Techno Slam mixes, taken from KLF4R along with 2 bootleg recordings of the KLF live (one at Chipping Norton Rave, good quality and the other at the 1990 Liverpool Comedy Festival with Echo & The Bunnymen, which is pretty bad quality) and finishing everything off with the incredibly rare "Monster Attack Mix" (KLF4M - limited to 3??? copies):

http://www.protectlinks.com/98152

p/w on both inverarity

An image taken from Youtube of Bill (who you can just make out on the right) and Jimmy at the Chipping Norton rave.

Comments

The KLF "Kylie Said to Jason" KLF010CD

2008-05-13T15:24:26+02:00

"It's all in the mind ... "

Although Bill and Jimmy were reported as being disappointed by the rushes of their "White Room" movie, they were naturally keen that music form a large part of the experience. Originally, they announced that they would tour the country with the completed film, playing music live in time to the images (a concept they would sort of return to in 1995). However, this idea seems to have been rapidly rejected in favour of an actual "White Room" soundtrack album. All of their "Pure Trance" single sleeves stated that the tracks therein formed part of a forthcoming "White Room" album (even though they generally didn't).

In July 1989, the KLF issued their first proper single off "The White Room" OST, a far poppier affair than their previous singles, "What Time is Love?" and the glacial original mix of "3 AM Eternal". "Kylie Said to Jason" (usually shortened to KSTJ) had more than a shade of "Left to My Own Devices" by the Pet Shop Boys about it - something they admitted readily in the sleeve notes of the compilation album "Top 20 Indie Volume 8" - and featured Bill as a rapping, extemporising, Scottish Neil Tennant, telling a surreal tale of antipodean pop/soap stardom.

A massive promotional push was planned (despite all protestations to otherwise, Bill Drummond DID have a masterplan for the single's success - at least, that's what a bloke down the pub told me once) and KSTJ became the KLF's most multi-formatted single yet. It was issued on 7", 7" purple vinyl, 12" promo, 12", 12" poster pack, 12" remix, a very rare double-12" set of remixes, a German issue of the second set or remixes, and their first proper CD single.

However, all this multi-formatting came to nowt when BBC Radio 1 suddenly banned airplay of the single (Drummond claimed later that the station did now want their current pop cash-cows of Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue being mocked so openly). The single charted outside the top 100, and in what looks now like a massive fit of pique, the KLF halted the release of their "White Room Soundtrack" and the "White Room" movie altogether, filling the gap in the release schedule (JAMSCD/LP4 - due September 1989) with a hasty collection of cover versions and tributes to their first trance anthem - "The What Time is Love Story?" Fun though that album is, the shiny electro-pop of 1989's unreleased "The White Room Soundtrack" would have made a far more interesting release. Thankfully, some promo cassettes (sometimes eroneously called "The White Room Demos") escaped the studio, and "The White Room Soundtrack" has been widely bootlegged, and enjoyed, ever since the early 90s.

"The White Room" project - both album and movie - did not stop in September 1989 though, and I'll cover that part of the story when we come to the March 1991 released of "The White Room" album (sometimes called "Tunes From the White Room").

The August 1989 CD single of "Kylie Said to Jason" is one of the KLF's biggest rarities, because of its commercial failure and (then) unusual format. Apart from the regular 7" version of KSTJ (which, lets be honest, is probably one of the worst tracks the KLF ever did), the CD single also features "Kylie Said Trance", a nod away from their pop sensibilities back to the earlier instrumental phase of six months previously, and the extraordinary 8-minute "Madrugada Eterna". This absolutely beautiful track was the first appearance on a KLF recording of Graham "Evil" Lee, slide-guitarist with the Triffids, an Australian band Drummond had worked with previously whilst at WEA and had on his solo LP "The Man". Lee would go on to provide guitar on "Build a Fire" and "Justified and Ancient", as well as a few other pieces - but it is on "Madrugada Eterna" that he does his finest work. Apparently recorded as part of a live jam at the Trancentral squat, Lee improvises the most beautiful, haunting melody over Floyd-esque samples and keyboard washes. This was Jimmy's first public airing of his next music phase: ambient house, for the track (all 8 minutes) would reappear almost complete on the KLF's January 1990 masterpiece, the "Chill Out" album (JAMSLP/CD5). So popular was "Madrugada Eterna", in fact, that in March 1990 a single release (featuring an Enigma-esque remix of the track) was heralded by 20 (20!) very, very rare promo 12"s (KLFETERNA1) - but a full release never materialised. Also, another version of "Madrugada Eterna" appeared behind a small 2-minute promo film of "White Room" footage, featuring distinctive 303 and acid squelches - but this version was never made available in any format other than taping it off the soundtrack to the promo.

There are a few uploads connected to this period of their career, some of which by definition have to be bootlegs or of bootleg quality.

(1) Kylie Said to Jason CD single (ripped at 320kps - all the rest at 120kps)

http://www.protectlinks.com/98133

(2) Kylie Said to Jason KLF010T mixes

http://www.protectlinks.com/98130

(3) Kylie Said to Jason KLF010R & KLF010RR mixes

http://www.protectlinks.com/98131

(4) Madrugada Eterna remixes KLFETERNA1

http://www.protectlinks.com/98134

(5) "The White Room" Original Soundtrack (ten-track album remastered from the promo tape)

http://www.protectlinks.com/98140

Tracklisting:

(1) Kylie Said To Jason*
(2) 3 a.m. Eternal
(3) Go To Sleep**
(4) Make it Rain
(5) Church Of The KLF
(6) No More Tears
(7) Build A Fire
(8) Lovers Side*
(9) The White Room
(10)Born Free***
(11)Build a Fire (Lenny Dee Remix)

* - Not re-recorded for 1991 "White Room". Unique to this album
** - Re-recorded as "Last Train to Trancentral"
*** - Matt Monroe cover. Unique to this album.
**** - Not part of the promo cassette, this 1990 remix by Lenny D (who would later work on the hit mix of "What Time is Love") appeared on the compilation album "Energy DJs in the House", and is the only remix from the original 1989 "White Room" to be officially released. "Energy DJs", incidentally, is an album that was almost constantly available during the 1990s in the cheapo CD sections of British service stations.

(6) "The White Room" (45-minute suite of music taken direct from the original 1989 promo video)

http://www.protectlinks.com/98129

Tracklisting (approximate, all mixes dating from 1989 obviously):

(1) Scott Piering intro
(2) What Time is Love?
(3) 3 AM Eternal
(4) 3 AM Somewhere Out of Beaumont
(5) Last Train to Trancentral (Pure Trance Remix b-side)
(6) Make It Rain
(7) Build a Fire
(8) Doctorin' the Tardis (heavily disguised!)
(9) Go To Sleep
(10) Elvis on the Radio, Steel Guitar in my Soul
(11) 3 AM Somewhere Out of Beaumont
(12) Church of the KLF
(13) The White Room
(14) Ambient noise of closing scenes (skip this bit)

All p/w: inverarity

Comments

The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu "History of the JAMs" VPCD6797 (Possum Label)

2008-05-12T10:45:05+02:00

A trip to any record shop nowadays will, just about, prove wrong the much-stated fact that "you can't get KLF stuff any more - it's all deleted". You can't get UK KLF releases, that's true; but most larger British record shops import their material from the US, where the record labels TVT and Arista keep two or three albums available. Arista still produces copies of the 1991 "White Room" album, with slight changes to the UK tracklisting, and shrink-wrapped with the CD single "Justified and Ancient" (which again, features different tracks to the original KLF99CD in the UK).

TVT, the KLF's other US label, and home to many experimental and industrial bands, has had a long association with Bill and Jimmy, stretching back to 1988, with special 12" US issues of "Burn the Beat" and "What Time is Love (Pure Trance 1)" and a very rare 3" CD version of "Doctorin' the Tardis". This association extended to a compilation album, roughly based on "Shag Times", which appeared in early 1989 called "The History of the JAMs (aka the Timelords)", with a cover based strongly on the burning-LPs-in-a-Swedish-wood sleeve of "Who Killed the JAMS?" (JAMSLP2). The LP and cassette of this compilation are now quite rare, but the CD continues to be available as effectively the only KLF "greatest hits" around - even if it only contains one "hit". All the JAMs singles are included, along with "Gary in the Tardis" and a few other off-cuts from "Shag Times".

However, a far rarer edition of the "History of the JAMs" exists - released in Australia on the Possum label, in late 1988 (possibly predating its US counterpart). This CD - ripped and uploaded below - is one of the rarest KLF releases, and is unique in containing an edited mix of "All You Need is Love" without intro; the Australia-only Possum 7" version of "Burn the Beat" (an extra disco-fied mix, although I'm not sure who by); and the only official CD appearance of "Disaster Fund Collection" from their second LP "Who Killed the JAMs". Left off this version, but available on the US CD, are "Gary in the Tardis" and (curiously) "Whitney Joins the JAMs".

Tracklisting of the Australian "Who Killed the JAMs":

(1) All You Need Is Love [intro missing]*
(2) Don't Take Five (Take What You Want)
(3) Disaster Fund Collection*
(4) Burn The Beat [7" Possum mix]*
(5) Porpoise Song
(6) Down Town
(7) Candyman
(8) Burn The Bastards (the long version) [w/chimes outro + ford]
(9) Doctorin' The Tardis

* - Those unique tracks

Link: http://www.protectlinks.com/97999

p/w: inverarity

Comments

The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu "Shag Times" JAMSCD3

2008-05-07T09:08:56+02:00

As 1988 drew to a close, the media projects of Bill and Jimmy (now firmly called "The KLF") became manifold. Although it would be another eighteen months before they had their next hit record (much to the detriment of their own coffers) by that autumn they were swimming in cash, following the worldwide success of "Tardis" (and despite so much royalties having to be given away to various parties). Their projects in late 1988/early 1989 were as follows:

The Pure Trance Series

(1) Announced in October 1988, and following on from some of their "Minimal" mixes from the JAMMs days, a series of ten singles (five originals and five remixes), limited to 2000 copies each, were planned in the run up to Christmas 1988. These were called "Pure Trance", and were Bill and Jimmy's attempt to create instrumental tracks that were "pure music", and not caught up with lyrics or clever political samples. Sleeves and labels were pressed for the first four singles, and they were given titles - "Pure Trance 1 What Time is Love", "Pure Trance 2 3AM Eternal", "Pure Trance 3 Love Trance" and "Pure Trance 4 Turn Up The Strobe". Labels and sleeves for "Pure Trance 5" are considerably more rare, and have varying titles including "E-Train to Trancentral", "Last Train to Trancentral" and "The White Room".

In November 1988, the first "Pure Trance" single was released, a song which ten years later Bill would describe as "our three-note warhorse" - "What Time is Love?" Remixed again and again in subsequent years, the original version was a seven minute instrumental (or fourteen, if you count both sides) with indesipherable vocal woos, bearing more than a slight resemblence to "Judas' Death" from 'Jesus Christ Superstar' and Anne Clark's "Our Darkness". According to the KLF, the single sank without trace - and the "Pure Trance" singles project stalled for another six months until May 1989.

The White Room Movie

(2) For me, one of the most annoying aspects to the KLF's career is, occasionally, when their ideas went wrong, and they obstinately refused to admit it. 1989 was a year with more of those than normal. "The White Room" started off with a Contract - a legally binding document sent to Drummond and Cauty by a mysterious person/organisation called "Eternity". The contract stated that the KLF had to document their travels to a place called "The White Room" in any medium they cared - if they did it successfully, then they would get the keys to the real white room (even though, no one ever said what was inside it). Bill and Jimmy signed this contract, much to the anger and dismay of their lawyer David Franks. It could well have all been all bollocks cooked up by Bill and Jimmy and some of their close confidants - but in legal eyes the contract was still a contract, and Franks spent some time looking for a loophole out (this inspired one of Bill and Jimmy's unused aliases: the Forever Ancients Liberation Loophoole, or the Fall).

As Franks poured over the Contract, the KLF arranged to document their travels to "The White Room". Initially, Jimmy (a reknowned illustrator, who had famously drawn the "Lord of the Rings" poster for Athena as a teenager, and had lived off the profits more or less ever since) planned a comic book, but this was rapidly sidelined in favour of a "road movie". This may seem absurdly ambition, but back in 1988 U2 were big box office with "Rattle and Hum", and the Pet Shop Boys "It Couldn't Happen Here" was a perplexing oddity. In November 1988, following the release (and deletion) of "What Time is Love", the KLF - and a film crew who had just finished working on "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" - travelled out to Sierra Nevada in Spain, along with their car Ford Timelord, to film hours and hours of footage of them driving and walking, in the stark winter sunshine (and occasional pouring rain) of Andalucia. After Christmas, more scenes were filmed back in London, including footage of them driving along the Embankment, and a party in the stage area of the Trancentral squat. Upon looking at the rushes, though, Bill and Jimmy were horrified to see how scrappy and dark the raw footage looked, and by Spring 1988, the "White Room" movie (as opposed to the album) was on hiatus.

The Orb

(3) At some point in late 1988, Jimmy Cauty initially teamed up with Alex Patterson, working at the home studio in Trancentral, as "The Orb" (named after the sex-robot-ball in Woody Allen's futuristic comedy "Sleeper"). Long sessions produced juddery, semi-instrumental acid house - very, very different to the later, laguid ambient. More later, when I post all of Jimmy's Orb's output!

Disco 2000

(4) After two singles produced by and under the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu banner, Disco 2000 (Cressida Cauty and Mo - possible June Montana from Brilliant?) released their third and final single, a truly dreadful cover of Stevie Wonder's "Uptight". There was a certain amount of promotion push for the single - a video (complete with Bill and Jimmy in the wings) was produced, and a CD single was made available, in Belgium only, on the Benelux label. The single is of particular interest because of the b-side "Mr Hotty Loves You", a trance instrumental written by the husband and wife team of Jimmy and Cressida. One final Disco 2000 track (under the name Discotec 2000) called "Feel This" also appeared later on in 1989, on a compilation called "Eternity Project One".

The Manual - How To Have a Number One The Easy Way

(5) This is probably one of the most famous things the KLF ever did - their book, initially released through their own KLF Communications label (KLF009b) in February 1989, and then reprinted in miniature format ten years later, before finally being pressed up as a spoken word 2-CD set (in German) called "Das Handbuch" in 2003. The text is written by both Bill and Jimmy, in a first person "we" style, and covers the full recording and releasing process for a certain kind of pop music at the end of the 1980s. The jokes are funny, the experiences practical, and the whole thing feels a million miles away from their (to me) rather tiresome "White Room" mystical Mu Mu bollocks. Famously, the KLF offered a prize to any band who took the advice in "The Manual" literally and managed to get a UK number one (the prize being, if I recall, a meal on a Carribean island with Bill and Jimmy). In the end, one band, German duo Edelweiss, came very close, following a lot of the book's advice with their Abba-sampling yodel-fest "Bring Me Edelweiss", although they never actually got to the top spot in Britain. A prize (of sorts) was given anyway - their producer, Jurgen Koeppers, was offerred the opportunity to remix "What Time is Love" for the German/Austrian market in late 1989. This became the rare (in the UK) "Power Mix".

"Shag Times (The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu Circa 1987)" JAMSLP/CD3

(6) A massive promotional push ensued for "The Manual" book (even involving television interviews, with Bill and Jimmy fresh from "The White Room" set in their fake Sparks/Cheech and Chong moustaches). But the corresponding compilation LP, "Shag Times", experienced much less promotion - other than one review in "Q" magazine which stated it was a great "party" album. "Shag Times" was a double LP, the first disk credited to the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and the second credited to the KLF (and sometimes given a different title: "Towards the Trance"). Disk one included all the JAMMs and Timelords singles up to May 1988, as well as a couple of album tracks. Disk two was a more eclectic mix of remixes, b-sides and Disco 2000 tracks, again compiled from March 1987 to May 1988. The release also contained facsimiles of a selection of music press interviews and reviews on the inner sleeve (or inlay sleeve), and was the first KLF release to be issued as a CD (as opposed to a video CD).

Sadly, as many KLF collectors know to their cost, early UK KLF CDs (JAMSCD3, JAMSCD4 and occasionally JAMSCD5, as well as KLF010CD) suffer from a problem known as "bronzing" or "disk rot". Produced by a company called PDO, and more specifically from a CD pressing plant in Lancashire), discs made between around 1988 and 1990 could sometimes oxidise and react with ink in CD inlay sheets, causing the outer coating to go yellow or bronze, spotting to develop, and eventually the CD to become unusable. In the case of two KLF discs (the very rare "What Time is Love Story" and "Kylie Said to Jason" CDs) there were no other options than to buy the UK discs - although happily, "Chill Out" in its UK one-track format can be bought on the Belgium Benelux label, if you can find, without the PDO disk rot problem. Also, "Shag Times" was reissued at some point in 1992 - although its providence is debatable - as a non-PDO, non-rotting disk (the safer reissue CD can be spotted by "Made in Switzerland" written above the bar code).

On vinyl, a shorter one-disc LP of "Shag Times" was issued on Rough Trade in Germany, and a reasonable bootleg double-vinyl LP appeared in 2001 (along side other KLF releases JAMSLP1, JAMSLP5 and KLF8R 12").

Cover of the Swiss reissue of JAMSCD3.

The tracklisting for "Shag Times" is as follows:

(1) All You Need Is Love (106 bpm)
(2) Don't Take Five (Take What You Want)
(3) Whitney Joins The JAMS
(4) Down Town
(5) Candyman
(6) Burn The Bastards [party & chimes outro; ford timelord's link]
(7) Doctorin' The Tardis
(8) Whitney Joins The JAMS (remix) ["114 bpm"]
(9) I Love Disco 2000 ["90 bpm"]
(10)Down Town (remix) ["118 bpm"]
(11)Burn The Beat (club mix) ["125 bpm"]
(12)Prestwich Prophet's Grin (instrumental remix) ["120 bpm"]
(13)The Porpoise Song (instrumental remix) ["118 bpm"]
(14(Doctorin' The Tardis (minimal) ["120 bpm"]

http://www.protectlinks.com/96324

http://www.protectlinks.com/96325

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The Timelords "Doctorin' the Tardis" KLF3CD

2008-05-06T18:40:41+02:00

In early Spring 1988, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty started to record (as "The Timelords") a dance record based around the Ron Grainger/Delia Derbyshire "Doctor Who" theme. Initially, they had hoped it would be rather a cool and trendy record, but none of the 120bpm beats they were using seemed to fit around the BBC Radiophonics Workshop's finest moment. And so, Jimmy tried something new (or rather, old) - a "Glitter" beat. Quickly, the JAMMs changed tack, and rather than a cool record, they started to revel in its novelty. Samples were thrown in of Gary Glitter and the Sweet, along with dialogue from the classic Tom Baker "Who" episode "Genesis of the Daleks". About the only thing non-seventies about the whole record were the cries of "Bosh bosh bosh Loadsamoney" (based on Harry Enfield's popular yuppie plasterer character) and the chorus of Bill, Jimmy and various studio engineers turning Gary Glitter's "Rock'n'Roll Part II" into the iconic lyrics "Doctor Who-oooo ... IN! ... the Tardis!"

Quite whether Bill and Jimmy were Doctor Who fans, or fans of glam rock, is difficult to tell - certainly, Bill would have been around 21 and Jimmy about 17 during the period in the seventies "Doctorin' the Tardis" seems to celebrate. The television show "Doctor Who" itself was fairly unfashionable in 1988, following a long period off the air, drastic changes in casting, and (above all else) a dreadful charity single called "Doctor in Distress". Within 18 months, the show was taken off the BBC's screens completely, only kept alive by fan productions, audio CDs and one flabby TV special, before finally triumphantly returning as a Saturday teatime ratings smash 16 years later, in 2005.

In the promotion of the single, Bill and Jimmy came up with idea that Jimmy's battered old 1968 Ford Galaxy US police car (apparently used in "Superman III") would actually front the record. Originally called the "JAMMs Mobile" (aping the sixties Monkeesmobile) the car got a name change ("Ford Timelord") and became the star of the "Doctorin' the Tardis" promotional video. The media, however, hated the rather unwieldy idea that a motor car had made a 7" single, and a lot of the time that angle of the promotion was ignored. Almost incidentally, though, Ford Timelord became an iconic symbol of Drummond and Cauty's parternship, appearing in almost all their videos until May 1991 (when it was replaced by a toy version of itself) while in real life it sat mouldering in the front garden of the Trancentral squat (confusingly, Jimmy seems to have actually owned two police cars, both of while "died" at some point in 1991).

Then ... the single went to number one for two weeks (as a 12" KLF3T and a 7" KLF3). Kids loved it (certainly, I did) and it became one of the summer's first hits of 1988. Bill and Jimmy triumphantly apppeared on "Top of the Pops" wearing matching black and white top hat and tails (and joined on stage by some of the crap cardboard Daleks from the video, rather than Ford Timelord himself). A months later, to keep the interest going, a remix 12" was issued, this time featuring (in retrospect, unfortunately) the "King of Glam" himself Gary Glitter, singing over the top. Two further remixes were included - an extended "Gary Joins the JAMs" and a minimalist mix which would itself point towards the KLF's next music venture: trance.

As summer turned to autumn, a small amount of video CD singles appeared of "Doctorin' the Tardis" (KLF3CD), released through Phonovision. Briefly popular in 1988/9, video CD singles included the song's promo as an extra file on the disc - however, they can't be played (or extracted) by a modern DVD drive; instead, the video files are only playable on ancient laser disc players.

These video CDs were "Tardis"'s last gasp release (save for an appearance on the 1988 Christmas Top of the Pops, with Gary Glitter himself), and are now a big rarity. I managed to pick up my copy for £3.00 in a box full of them, at Fopp Records in Aberdeen in 1998 (someone had found a whole load in an attic, and Fopp were selling them off for free). Now, it can go for £40 plus on ebay. This CD has been ripped at 320kps, and includes a unique track - the 2'23" video edit of "Tardis". All other 7" versions are about a minute longer.

Here is the tracklisting:

(1) 2:20 Doctorin' The Tardis (the video mix)
(2) 4:28 Doctorin' The Tardis (minimal)
(3) 8:15 Doctorin' The Tardis (club mix) [125bpm]

And here is the link:

http://www.protectlinks.com/95560

p/w: inverarity

Also included (at a bitrate of 120kps) are the tracks from the remix 12" KLF3R:

These tracks are are:

(1) 3:21 Gary In The Tardis (radio)
(2) 4:08 Gary In The Tardis (minimal)
(3) 6:12 Gary Joins The JAMs

Link: http://www.protectlinks.com/95562

p/w: inverarity

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The JAMMs "1987" and "Who Killed the JAMMs" LPs

2008-05-05T18:49:31+02:00

And so, the KLF formed. To avoid going over too much of an old story, the legend goes that they joined forces over the telephone on 1st January 1987 (Drummond having originally met Jimmy Cauty when working with Brilliant during their PWL days on WEA). Hiding (very slightly) behind the pseudonyms of King Boy D and Rockman Rock, they became the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (a band name lifted from Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's "Illuminatus!" trilogy - a work Drummond had helped bring to life on stage as a scenery painter for Ken Campbell's Science Fiction Theatre back in Liverpool in 1978).

Their first single, the AIDs-referencing, Beatles and Samanatha Fox-sampling "All You Need is Love", came out a limited edition promo in March 1987. A new version (with samples now officially cleared) was reissued in April, just before the release of the JAMMs debut album - the legendary "1987 What The Fuck is Going On?" Initially, Drummond and Cauty approached Creation Records to put out their work, but Alan McGee refused, believing them to be deliberately going out to get themselves arrested over copyright violations - so, they set up their own label ("The Sound of Mu(sic)") and put out the single as a 12" and 7", and the album on both LP and cassette.

The record became a quick cult hit, and the JAMMs followed it up that summer with the (legitimately) "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"-sampling "Whitney Joins the JAMs". By now, their record label had changed its name to "Kopyright Liberation Front Records", and the band themselves appeared (for the first time) as the KLF. They would not return to the name for another eighteen months, as legal complications over the "1987" album, and its wholesale sampling of Abba, rapidly overtook them. Forced to legally delete the album, the JAMMs began to get more music press coverage as they travelled to Sweden (allegedly to meet with Abba or their music lawyers) and carried out the first of many media-friendly pranks by setting fire to some copies of the album, and dumping others over the side of the ferry. Later that autumn a 12" called "1987 - The Edits" was released, featuring the entire album without any samples. Sleeve notes on the back helped the listener to fill in the long silences and re-make the album in their own home.

The JAMMs next single, following on from the dancefloor filler of "Whitney", again used a legal sample, this time of Petula Clark. "Downtown" also featured the Brixton Community Choir and some timely reflections by King Boy D on the meaning of Christmas. This single, arguably their least "pranky" to date, was rapidly followed by their fourth, a reworking of Sly and the Family Stone's "Dance to the Music" called "Burn the Bastards" (a reference to the LP-burning escapade to Sweden, and a Drummond rap look back on their first, hectic year in music). A special export version, called "Burn the Beat", was also issued in Europe and the States, released for the second time under the name of the KLF.

Entering 1988, the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu began to mellow. Their work with Disco 2000 (Jimmy's wife Cressida's bands, described as a "punk Bananarama") over two EPs had brought them much praise as dance music producers, and their second album ("Who Killed the JAMs?", proudly emblazoned with a photo of them burning copies of "1987" in a Swedish field on the cover) took them into quieter, more reserved territory. In fact, on some of the tracks there is not much difference between them and the quieter tracks on the KLF's 1991 megahit album "The White Room".

After the release of their second LP (JAMSLP2), the JAMMs announced that they were retiring - at least as "the JAMMs". For according to form, rather than dissappearing from a view, Bill and Jimmy in fact returned to their studio in Dagenham - with a plan to record a number one hit single ...

"You can't put a Glitter Beat Over a Dance Record" (famous last words)

The uploads this time come from a 1998 bootleg CD which featured both of the JAMMs first two albums - "1987 - What The Fuck is Going On?" (JAMSLP1) and "Who Killed the JAMs?" (JAMSLP2). They are lower quality bitrate than normal, but both are quite rare now (especially JAMSLP2).

The cover of "1987"

The back cover of "Who Killed the JAMs", showing many copies of its predecessor ablaze on a Scandanavian bonfire.

Links: http://www.protectlinks.com/95310

p/w: inverarity

Tracks

"1987 - What The Fuck is Going On?" (JAMSLP1) May 1987

(1) Hey Hey We Are Not The Monkee
(2) Don't Take Five (Take What You Want)
(3) Rockman Rock (Parts 2 and 3)
(4) Me Ru Con
(5) The Queen And I
(6) All You Need Is Love (106 bpm)
(7) Next

"Who Killed the JAMs?" (JAMSP2) February 1988

(1) The Candystore
(2) The Candyman
(3) Disaster Fund Collection
(4) King Boy's Dream
(5) The Porpoise Song
(6) Prestwich Prophet's Grin
(7) Burn The Bastards

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Bill Drummond "King of Joy" 12"

2008-05-05T11:45:17+02:00

After some Jimmy Cauty solo work, here's Bill Drummond's first and only solo single - or at least it's b-sides.

Following a couple of years as an A&R man at WEA Records, working with acts like Strawberry Switchblade and encouraging the nascent Proclaimers (whose singing style Bill's would closely resemble), King Boy D himself approached head of Creation Records Alan McGee and asked to record and release a solo album. At the age of 33 1/3 (in autumn 1986) Drummond wanted to release one final definitive statement of rock'n'roll, and then go off to be a writer. Friend and admirer McGee encouraged him, and an album ("The Man", CRECD/LP14) was written and recorded over a swift ten-day period at the Village Hall in Newton Mearns, Galloway (the town Bill had lived in until the age of eight) with the help of various musicians, including some members of the Triffids, Voice of the Beehive, and later KLF collaborator Nick Coler.

The album will be uploaded soon, in its rare Japanese edition, but here we have the b-sides to the album's one single - "King of Joy", including the work of famous jazz musician Henry Lowther, and Bill Drummond's spoken word piece "The Manager's Speech" in both its 12" and 7" form.

Henry Lowther photographed in 2007.

Tracklisting:

(1) The Manager's Speech (Edit)
(2) I Want That Girl (feat. Henry Lowther)
(3) The Manager's Speech (Full Version)

Link:

http://www.protectlinks.com/95268

p/w: inverarity

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Brilliant "Rarities"

2008-05-04T21:35:41+02:00

Featuring Youth (real name: Martin Glover), bass player from Killing Joke, and Jimmy Cauty, future keyboardist and insurrectionist in the KLF (of which, a lot more later), this US fan-made compilation CD collects Brilliant's early singles, b-sides, off-cuts and Peel Sessions before they sank below the pop firmament with their Stock, Aitken and Waterman-produced debut (and only) album "Kiss the Lips of Life" in 1985.

Youth would continue to occasionally collaborate with Cauty during the latter's "ambient house" days with the KLF (roughly speaking, 1989-1990), recording "Naked in the Rain" as Blue Pearl with former Pink Floyd vocalist Durga McBroom (which was remixed by Cauty both on the CD single, and in two versions on a rare 12" promo), and collaborating with former Killing Joke roadie "Dr" Alex "LXD" Patterson on the third Orb single "Little Fluffy Clouds" (Cauty was in the Orb's original line-up, and worked with LXD on the debut "Kiss EP" and the twenty-minute masterpiece "A Huge Ever-Growing Pulsating Brain That Grows From the Centre of the Ultraworld (Loving You)" in its various incarnations).

Youth can also be spotted dancing in the basement of Jimmy Cauty's Stockwell squat/KLF headquarters, the famous Trancentral, at some point in early 1989, in the KLF's much-bootlegged road movie "The White Room".

Alex Patterson (l) DJing at Trancentral, with Youth (r) dancing, still taken from "The White Room" movie.

Tracklisting of Brilliant "Rarities" TRIZ CD 103

(1) That's What Friends Are For ...
(2) Push
(3) Colours
(4) Soul Murder (Fierce)
(5) Wait For It (Megacitymix)
(6) Cutprice (Megacitymix)
(7) Coming Up For the Downstroke
(8) Hoist
(9) Scream Like An Angel
(10) Growler
(11) I Think This is True (Live)
(12) Colours (Live)
(13) Bells (Peel Session 8/11/82)
(14) Colours/Break It Down (Peel Session 8/11/82)

Links:

http://www.protectlinks.com/95217
http://www.protectlinks.com/95219

p/w: inverarity

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