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I used to work for Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond's record label. This book looks interesting ... but I really wish the focus was on the art and the music, and n

I used to work for Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond's record label. This book looks interesting ... but I really wish the focus was on the art and the music, and not the "the guys who burnt 1 million quid" incident. One thing that the media have a tough time recognizing is the fact that Bill and Jimmy are legit experimental artists, and still love making art of all kinds. And they also happened to have some amazing musical talent and experience (Jimmy: The Orb; Bill: Big In Japan and early manager of Echo and the Bunnymen). So, they decided to take their talents into areas where few experimental artists had ever gone before, taking over the pop charts ... and then proceeded to do what experimental artists are wont to do in such a situation. They gave a huge middle finger to the industry, by barnstorming the big UK music industry award ceremony (the '92 Brit Awards), playing a death metal version of one of their dance hits while Bill fired blanks from a machine gun over the heads of the crowd. Later in the evening they dumped a dead sheep outside one of the after-parties, and shortly afterwards deleted their entire back catalogue. They proceeded to do lots of other experimental stuff, ranging from writing some excellent books (I recommend Bill's "45") to activities such as Jimmy's model English village a few years back. And the music, 30+ years later, is still fantastic! Not just the pop hits. Listen to The White Room. Dig up the club singles and experiments like the Abba and Whitney projects and It's Grim Up North. Yet after all that, what does the media remember them for? More often than not, it's the one-off act of Burning a Million Quid in 1994. Their ground-breaking music, the books, the anti-establishment statements and art ... it's almost an afterthought. It's like releasing an otherwise interesting book about Ozzy Osbourne - a seminal figure in the history of heavy metal with an unusual groundbreaking role in reality TV - and positioning it around a single sensational incident from 1982, "Crazy Train: Ozzy Osbourne, the Man Who Bit The Head Off A Bat"

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Baeocystin 4y ago
>More often than not, it's the one-off act of Burning a Million Quid in 1994. Their ground-breaking music, the books, the anti-establishment statements and art ... it's almost an afterthought. The pain of not having enough is a fundamental human experience, and to see someone who had more than most will ever see in their lifetime literally burn it away hurts. I thought it was deeply selfish stunt then, and still do now. They earned that black check on their reputation by their own actions.
- chrstphrknwtn 4y ago
  > The pain of not having enough is a fundamental human experience I'm not sure that's true. > I thought it was deeply selfish stunt then, and still do now. There are so many more selfish decisions made every single day that have dramatically greater negative impact on people.
- techno_tsar 4y ago
  Deeply selfish? There are literally millions and millions of extremely wealthy people who would spend that amount doing nothing, buying a yacht, their 20th property, or do actual terrible things. I don’t resent them for burning their money. They could have bought toys, instead they made a statement. We live in a world where many of us (myself included) have to live with the pain of not having enough. I’m reminded of that every day. I wonder why we live in such a world. Do you think it has anything to do with why they burned a million quid?
  - flir 4y ago
    > Do you think it has anything to do with why they burned a million quid? Absolutely not. It was all tied up with their distaste for the art industry, not inequality. The burning was the last attempt to create art with the money (after Nailed to the Wall, the failed Money: A Major Body of Cash exhibition, and the K Foundation art award).
    - weego 4y ago
      The true absurdity should have been the message but it got lost in the outcome. From what I remember they tried to sell Nailed to the wall for £300k explicitly stating it was £1 million in legal tender, but the gallery refused to buy it because they couldn't get it insured.
  - logifail 4y ago
    > instead they made a statement What does that mean? I mean really mean? Follow-up question: did they achieve anything .. other than (even more) notoriety?
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NomDePlum 4y ago
Might just be me, I was of that time, but the burning £1M whilst interesting isn't really why I remember them. It's almost the least interesting thing about them. Being Scottish I was more amused by the location being an island in Scotland. To me, they where post-acid house, but still connected to the fun and experimentation that had going for it. A bit like De La Soul they where of themselves. Always wondered if they inspired Daft Punk who had a similar vibe.
- atchoo 4y ago
  Why do you think Daft Punk has a similar vibe? Their early minimal techno stuff isn't terribly imaginative and their pop/disco/funk stuff has always felt safe, commercial and boring to me. The only musical similarity is "use samples". I don't think they've ever ruffled someone's jimmies or done anything musically daring. They appear in Gap adverts whereas the KLF would be more likely to firebomb a Gap store.
- coldtea 4y ago
  Daft Punk just have the "don't focus on our identities/we stay behind the scenes" vibe shared with KLF. But they are mostly safe music, never have been daring (and born to wealth to begin with, so their personal journey and connection to the world is less real and gritty). They're basically producers of polished electronic hits -- which is 1/10 of what makes KLF and their pre- and post- adventures interesting!
cycomanic 4y ago
Funny, I actually did not know about the money burning until a couple of years ago. Admittedly I also did not know about many other things they did, but still remembered them for a few of them.
danceparty 4y ago
Wonder showzen was inspired by this stunt and took their episode budget of ~$100k and paid a homeless person $10k to throw another $10k out of a helicopter onto the statue of liberty. It didn’t work out in the end but still was a hell of a tribute in theory. See https://www.brooklynvegan.com/wonder-showzen-creators-talk-the-shows-lasting-impact-indie-rock-guests-more-in-bv-interview/ https://www.brooklynvegan.com/wonder-showzen-creators-talk-t...
banjomonster 4y ago
I’d be interested to hear your opinion after reading the book, he covered a lot of what you mention. The burning is covered, but then it goes back and goes over everything leading up to that to frame it and put the act in context, and IIRC talks a bit about things after.
zem 4y ago
honestly, if you do a stunt outrageous enough, that is inevitably going to be the main thing people remember about you. this might be the most serious context in which i have ever recommended reading the "angus the bridge builder" joke, but it's very relevant: https://jokes.one/joke/angus-the https://jokes.one/joke/angus-the
timc3 4y ago
Sounds like you are judging the book without reading it, it covers most of what you are talking about and more. In fact I would go so far to say if you had worked with them you are going to find the book really interesting.
Ccecil 4y ago
The white room had a big impression on me. I can still remember the video for 3am eternal clearly. More recently I really started listening to the album more. "Build a fire" has grown on me. Such a great album. Still sounds good today...was amazing then.
- BuckyBeaver 4y ago
  The original pressing is a great example of how good pop music used to sound and how shitty it sounds today because of dynamic compression. “3 a.m. Eternal” sounds huge, and doesn’t inflict pain when turned up LOUD. I haven’t listened to it on streaming services, but most of their catalogs have been ruined by “remastering;” AKA crushing them into a wall of noise with dynamic compression to make them “louder.” It’s despicable.
tinus_hn 4y ago
Unfortunately many of their albums are unavailable to the public at large because the use of samples makes them impossible to license for streaming services.
- sprkwd 4y ago
  There’s a bunch of their tracks on Spotify now.
  - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
    They actually chose to stop selling their music, since that was were the million quid they burnt came from. Part of the same stunt "The KLF has now left the music industry". They relented recently after 23 yesrs but the copyright issue mentioned remains so for example their "Chill Out" album was officially re-released by them as "Come Down Dawn" but the Elvis, Fleetwood Mac and Acker Bilk samples got removed as part of that. Still available on Youtube via unofficial channels though.
jwildeboer 4y ago
Maybe read the book first? All the things you mentioned (and many more) are in it :)
- bambataa 4y ago
  Yes, that complaint just tells me they’d probably enjoy the book! I especially liked the section on Discordianism.
bitL 4y ago
I remember hearing "What Time Is Love" as a kid and that music sounded like coming from an alien spaceship with virtually no peer anywhere. Then it morphed into/kicked off the trance genre and the main riff was reused by many artists later.
matheusmoreira 4y ago
Not surprising. They burned one million £, like the Joker but years before they made the film. People kill for far less.
epistemer 4y ago
It makes me a bit sad thinking about how smart creative people in order to make a bunch of money use to form bands like this. Now they form startups in a much more dull society.
msla 4y ago
It's inherently racist, in that the money could have been used to help poor people (disproportionately PoCs) but was, instead, burned by a bunch of White people.

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Baeocystin 4y ago

>More often than not, it's the one-off act of Burning a Million Quid in 1994. Their ground-breaking music, the books, the anti-establishment statements and art ... it's almost an afterthought. The pain of not having enough is a fundamental human experience, and to see someone who had more than most will ever see in their lifetime literally burn it away hurts. I thought it was deeply selfish stunt then, and still do now. They earned that black check on their reputation by their own actions.

chrstphrknwtn 4y ago
> The pain of not having enough is a fundamental human experience I'm not sure that's true. > I thought it was deeply selfish stunt then, and still do now. There are so many more selfish decisions made every single day that have dramatically greater negative impact on people.
techno_tsar 4y ago
Deeply selfish? There are literally millions and millions of extremely wealthy people who would spend that amount doing nothing, buying a yacht, their 20th property, or do actual terrible things. I don’t resent them for burning their money. They could have bought toys, instead they made a statement. We live in a world where many of us (myself included) have to live with the pain of not having enough. I’m reminded of that every day. I wonder why we live in such a world. Do you think it has anything to do with why they burned a million quid?
- flir 4y ago
  > Do you think it has anything to do with why they burned a million quid? Absolutely not. It was all tied up with their distaste for the art industry, not inequality. The burning was the last attempt to create art with the money (after Nailed to the Wall, the failed Money: A Major Body of Cash exhibition, and the K Foundation art award).
  - weego 4y ago
    The true absurdity should have been the message but it got lost in the outcome. From what I remember they tried to sell Nailed to the wall for £300k explicitly stating it was £1 million in legal tender, but the gallery refused to buy it because they couldn't get it insured.
- logifail 4y ago
  > instead they made a statement What does that mean? I mean really mean? Follow-up question: did they achieve anything .. other than (even more) notoriety?

deleted 4y ago

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NomDePlum 4y ago

Might just be me, I was of that time, but the burning £1M whilst interesting isn't really why I remember them. It's almost the least interesting thing about them. Being Scottish I was more amused by the location being an island in Scotland. To me, they where post-acid house, but still connected to the fun and experimentation that had going for it. A bit like De La Soul they where of themselves. Always wondered if they inspired Daft Punk who had a similar vibe.

atchoo 4y ago
Why do you think Daft Punk has a similar vibe? Their early minimal techno stuff isn't terribly imaginative and their pop/disco/funk stuff has always felt safe, commercial and boring to me. The only musical similarity is "use samples". I don't think they've ever ruffled someone's jimmies or done anything musically daring. They appear in Gap adverts whereas the KLF would be more likely to firebomb a Gap store.
coldtea 4y ago
Daft Punk just have the "don't focus on our identities/we stay behind the scenes" vibe shared with KLF. But they are mostly safe music, never have been daring (and born to wealth to begin with, so their personal journey and connection to the world is less real and gritty). They're basically producers of polished electronic hits -- which is 1/10 of what makes KLF and their pre- and post- adventures interesting!

cycomanic 4y ago

Funny, I actually did not know about the money burning until a couple of years ago. Admittedly I also did not know about many other things they did, but still remembered them for a few of them.

danceparty 4y ago

Wonder showzen was inspired by this stunt and took their episode budget of ~$100k and paid a homeless person $10k to throw another $10k out of a helicopter onto the statue of liberty. It didn’t work out in the end but still was a hell of a tribute in theory. See https://www.brooklynvegan.com/wonder-showzen-creators-talk-the-shows-lasting-impact-indie-rock-guests-more-in-bv-interview/ https://www.brooklynvegan.com/wonder-showzen-creators-talk-t...

banjomonster 4y ago

I’d be interested to hear your opinion after reading the book, he covered a lot of what you mention. The burning is covered, but then it goes back and goes over everything leading up to that to frame it and put the act in context, and IIRC talks a bit about things after.

zem 4y ago

honestly, if you do a stunt outrageous enough, that is inevitably going to be the main thing people remember about you. this might be the most serious context in which i have ever recommended reading the "angus the bridge builder" joke, but it's very relevant: https://jokes.one/joke/angus-the https://jokes.one/joke/angus-the

timc3 4y ago

Sounds like you are judging the book without reading it, it covers most of what you are talking about and more. In fact I would go so far to say if you had worked with them you are going to find the book really interesting.

Ccecil 4y ago

The white room had a big impression on me. I can still remember the video for 3am eternal clearly. More recently I really started listening to the album more. "Build a fire" has grown on me. Such a great album. Still sounds good today...was amazing then.

BuckyBeaver 4y ago
The original pressing is a great example of how good pop music used to sound and how shitty it sounds today because of dynamic compression. “3 a.m. Eternal” sounds huge, and doesn’t inflict pain when turned up LOUD. I haven’t listened to it on streaming services, but most of their catalogs have been ruined by “remastering;” AKA crushing them into a wall of noise with dynamic compression to make them “louder.” It’s despicable.

tinus_hn 4y ago

Unfortunately many of their albums are unavailable to the public at large because the use of samples makes them impossible to license for streaming services.

sprkwd 4y ago
There’s a bunch of their tracks on Spotify now.
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  They actually chose to stop selling their music, since that was were the million quid they burnt came from. Part of the same stunt "The KLF has now left the music industry". They relented recently after 23 yesrs but the copyright issue mentioned remains so for example their "Chill Out" album was officially re-released by them as "Come Down Dawn" but the Elvis, Fleetwood Mac and Acker Bilk samples got removed as part of that. Still available on Youtube via unofficial channels though.

jwildeboer 4y ago

Maybe read the book first? All the things you mentioned (and many more) are in it :)

bambataa 4y ago
Yes, that complaint just tells me they’d probably enjoy the book! I especially liked the section on Discordianism.

bitL 4y ago

I remember hearing "What Time Is Love" as a kid and that music sounded like coming from an alien spaceship with virtually no peer anywhere. Then it morphed into/kicked off the trance genre and the main riff was reused by many artists later.

matheusmoreira 4y ago

Not surprising. They burned one million £, like the Joker but years before they made the film. People kill for far less.

epistemer 4y ago

It makes me a bit sad thinking about how smart creative people in order to make a bunch of money use to form bands like this. Now they form startups in a much more dull society.

msla 4y ago

It's inherently racist, in that the money could have been used to help poor people (disproportionately PoCs) but was, instead, burned by a bunch of White people.