KLF and ORB
From: J.R.Binks@a.salf.ac.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================================
KLF/ORB request mailing list : NEWS 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ dated 8th December 1991 ]
> UK Christmas Number One ?
From Rage magazine, dated 21st November to 4th December, article on
what will be the UK Christmas Number One single (prices by William
Hill Bookmakers) :
[summary] Cliff Richard @ 5-1
Jason Donovan @ 6-1
Michael Jackson @ 10-1
The KLF @ 14-1
Sinead O'Connor @ 16-1
Pet Shop Boys @ 16-1
Vic Reeves @ 20-1
The Farm @ 20-1
Happy Mondays @ 20-1
[comment] "Chance is just an illusion when you've been given
a fast forward facility to the future", says The
KLF's Bill Drummond of the odds. "Obviously we
know where we'll be come Christmas, but for the
sake of the universe's temporal stability we're
not at liberty to say. All I can say is that
Tammy was pleased with the news."
Also from Rage, this 'news' snippet from 'Bitstream' :
" The KLF's Bill Drummond, disillusioned with life as
a hit-scoring popster, has reportedly applied for
the Head Warden's job at Arundel Wildlife Trust
reserve in West Sussex. "
* Well, since the various articles on the Xmas number one, the death
of Freddie Mercury has totally messed things up, from a predictions
point of view. The prices have all altered, and since the announcement
that "Bohemian Rhapsody" was to be reissued in the UK on 9th December,
no further bets have been taken on the Xmas number One. However, bets
have been continuing on the number two position. The situation looks
like this :
Xmas Number One : Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"
No.2 : George Michael and Elton John
No.3 : I suspect one of either The KLF & Tammy, or
possibly Guns'n'Roses with "Live and Let Die",
also released on 9th Dec. Maybe Diana Ross has
a chance of hanging in there though
The KLF have been getting a very large amount of radio play, and the
video has been featured several times on national UK television. It was
the most-played record last week on Chiltern Sound, a UK local radio
station.
> KLF DIY Video
There is news of a shoot-your-own-KLF-video competition in the USA. These
details and (brilliant!) comment supplied by of Jeff Hansen, editor of 'X
Magazine' :
" Well, the video thing is this keen-o contest put on by Arista
( the dogs who cut the live crowd noises out of the domestic
release of "What Time Is Love"), some obscure video show, and
apparently, the KLF. You shoot raw footage, sync it to any
song on the Arista version of What Time is Love, send it in,
and win ! Oddly enough, the prizes don't seem to match the
mentality of the people entering the contest: the first prize
seems okay (VCR, KLF poncho, KLF subway poster), but the rest
( copies of the video, copies of the new single ) are things
you would _expect_ someone that has the time to create a KLF
video to have.
It always seems that the prize you win in any contest is
inversely proportional to the amount of effort you expend to
win that prize (stick a stamp on a Publisher's Clearing House
envelope, you may win 23 million dollars; spent 4-5 sleepless
nights perfecting the last cut on your KLF video, you get a
VCR (???) and some other stuff). I'm not complaining, since
I'm not in it for the prizes.......this is right up our alley
(the whole staff, or what's left of the staff, is going to be
involved in some way, to the detriment of issue #9 [due quite
soon]). But anyway, they pick a winner a week after the
deadline, and show it on this obscure video show, end of
story. I can see more than a few professional video houses
competing, just for the recognition, if there is any.
But the thing that p*ssed me off was the Original Footage
clause: you can only use footage that you taped........I was
poised to do some major video sampling ( we have got a pretty
keen set-up here.......some of my friends are doing stuff for
Jack Nickalus [his company, Golden Bear]; golf studio type
stuff ( cameras tape the golfer, computers track the swing,
suggestions for improvements are made ). It just seemed kind
of odd, considering "1987" and subsequent albums, to have
some type of no sampling clause.....how ridiculous. But then
again, this is the American way of doing things ( Issue #9 of
coincidentally, will have a big story about Negativland's
legal battle with U2...). "
Great stuff ! Thanks for all that Jeff ! It WILL be interesting to see
what the winning video turns out to be like........
> Query from jeppe@loke.mainz.dk
" I am a newcomer to this list, and I want to ask if anybody know
if KLF has made other albums than "The White Room" and what can
I expect in the near future.
Who is ORB? "
A brief discography of albums then :
6/87 "1987 - What The Fuck Is Going On?" - The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu
[ brash, noisy, hip hop/rap, but with humour and some interesting ideas ]
2/88 "Who Killed The JAMs?" - The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu
[ more rap influences, but more dance orientated ]
1/89 "Shag Times" - The JAMs/The Timelords/The KLF
[ compilation of early tracks, and new instrumental mixes ]
[ on double album ]
1989 "The History Of The JAMs aka The Timelords" - The JAMs/The Timelords
[ similar compilation, comprising tracks on first half of "Shag ]
[ Times", with minor variations, but only released in the USA and ]
[ Australia/NZ ]
9/89 "The What Time Is Love Story" - The KLF/Various
[ compliation of four European cover versions of "What Time Is ]
[ Love", the original KLF version, and a new live version ]
2/90 "Chill Out" - The KLF
[ Ambient House - produced after Jimmy's experiments with The Orb. ]
[ Lots of keyboard riffs, samples of trains, sheep, goats, shepherds, ]
[ airplanes, children playing, and musical samples from Elvis, ]
[ Fleetwood Mac, Jesus Loves You, and others. Very relaxing ]
[ after-party record ]
7/90 "Space" - Space
[ Jimmy Cauty on his own working partly with old Orb material. Similar ]
[ concept to "Chill Out", with lots of effects, but with a more, well, ]
[ Spacey feel ]
3/91 "The White Room" - The KLF
[ Final versions of tunes originally recorded in 1989. The KLF take a ]
[ trip into the world of 'pop' ]
1/92 "The Black Room" - The JAMs
[ No details yet, but with the release imminent, I hope to have some ]
[ very soon. Described in X Magazine as 'techno metal - Megadeth with ]
[ drum machines', a description verified to me a few months back as ]
[ pretty accurate by the KLF office ]
And the Orb ???
In late 1988, Jimmy from The KLF teamed up with Alex Paterson (who had
compiled "The What Time Is Love Story" tracks), to form the Orb, producing
two singles, one of which was the epic, "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating
Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld (Loving You)". It was
the first in a genre of 'ambient house' records (excepting the experiments
of minimalists such as Philip Glass and Brian Eno). Unfortunately, this
partnership was short-lived, and Alex and Jimmy parted before completion of
the first Orb album, "Space".
Alex later resumed work as the Orb, but this time in partnership with
Thrash, whom he met in his work for the WAU!MrModo record label. Their
unique brand of 'ambient dance/house' continues, with the release last
year of the album "Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld", singles from that
album, and most recently another album of remixes of tracks on
"Adventures..."
> What Time Is Love Story query
This question from Chris Teixeira :
" I have the album "What Time is Love Story" that I picked
up in Toronto, Canada about 2 years ago. Recently, I've
seen numerous postings concerning the availablity of this
album. How rare, if at all, is this album? Has it been
released on CD? Do you know where further interpretations
or imitations can be acquired ? "
The "What Time Is Love Story" WAS available on CD. It isn't rare
particularly in any format, although it is a little harder to get
hold of. There were, according to an interview I heard with Bill
Drummond of The KLF, around 13 or so cover versions of the tune in
Europe, after their original version was released around October
1988 as KLF 004T, and later remixed as KLF 004R (UK catalogue #s.).
I do not however have the details of all these other versions -
but I am currently trying to discover more. I have brief details
of the 4 Euro-versions included on the album, but no more. If
anyone has any information on other cover versions, please let me
have it !
It has been suggested that a double-CD of ALL the KLF versions
should be released, especially as some of the mixes weren't available
outside the UK, or weren't on CD.
" I have the original "3 A.M. Eternal" single with a purple
'2' on the front - is this rare? "
It depends when you bought it - you may have one of the re-issue
copies. Check the inner sleeve - if it is paper, then it is one of
the original pressing from 1989. If it is a plastic inner sleeve,
then it is one of the repressings from the summer just passed. They
did a repress run of WTIL, and the two original 3 AM 12"s this year,
about 10,000 records altogether. The originals are pretty rare, if
you can prove it IS one of the original pressings, and examining the
inner sleeve is the easiest way to tell.
" Finally, when will "It's Grim Up North" be released
domestically (or even import!) in North America? "
I doubt that "It's Grim Up North" will get a full release in the US;
after all, it IS rather an 'English' song ! Mind you, it IS available
on a 3" CD in Japan.....!
> Warning from Jon Drukman (Desi The Three-Armed Wonder Comic)
" Watch yourself, American KLF buyers - I bought this Arista promo
CD single that said "NEW MIX" on it. It turned out to have the
same version as on the regular "White Room" album. In fact, it
has that same version *twice* with the only difference being
the first one is missing the lead-in "Right now....right now...
it's time to......KICK OUT THE JAMS Mothersrekcuf!!". The cover
photo has the lads with hoods over their heads, standing in
front of a Marshall stack playing sitars (!) in a very cod
heavy-metal posture.
The track listing is:
1. What Time Is Love? Remix
2. What Time Is Love? Live at Trancentral
Avoid this item, it's a waste of space. If some utter bonzo
completist absolutely has to have it, you can have mine for the
princely sum of two (2) American dollars, plus whatever it costs
to mail it to you.
Jon Drukman uunet!sco!jondr jondr@sco.com "
Thanks for that Jon. Curiously, when I went home a couple of weekends back,
there was a copy of this very item waiting for me, that a friend sent over
from the States, and I can confirm the details Jon gave. It DOES seem a
rather pointless promotional CD, one wonders why Arista bothered....
> Music Week
A few weeks back there was a feature in Music Week, the official British
Music Industry Trade publication, about the value of promo videos. They
asked various people in the industry for their comments on the question
"Promos : Ads or Art ? ". Scott Piering made the following comment :
" They're both. Things can go on for ages and you think there
are no new visual ideas. Then suddenly something comes along
that just blows you out, and its not necessarily a big budget
job. "
Scott is The KLF's plugger, and owner of AppEARing, the promotion and
management company with whom The KLF have long been associated. As such,
he is heavily involved with promo video production and distribution.
Scott was credited with some of the incidental vocals on "Last Train To
Trancentral" and "Justified And Ancient".
> Request from Chris Breitenbach
" Does anybody know where I can get "Space" on CD ? I saw it
once at the beginning of this year - but had no idea that I
would have so much trouble locating another copy of it.
If anybody has heard it - what do they think of it ? Thanks! "
Well, you might like to try asking KLF Communications themselves if they
have any copies left. The trouble is, it is currently taking them a VERY
long time to get through correspondance (if they get through it at all),
because Sally and Cressida in the office are having to deal with a LOT of
new releases domestically and overseas (from the UK). Mind you, they never
have been THAT reliable ! So don't expect a speedy reply.....
The address is :
KLF Communications,
Unit 315,
Brixton Enterprise Centre,
Brixton Road,
London SW 9
The U.K.
Fax : +44 71 738 7300
Another alternative is to have a look at some of the dealer catalogues
available, both US and UK. A good source of information is the UK's
'Record Collector' magazine, which you should be able to trace. It carries
advertisements from (primarily) UK dealers and companies, many of whom
publish their own regular catalogues, and should be able to help, as the
"Space" CD isn't at all hard to obtain in the UK (erm, I THINK!)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS compiled 8th December 1991 by Culfinion.
The KLF / Orb request/info-service is managed by Culfinion ( Jethro R Binks )
courtesy of Academic Information Services at the University Of Salford, UK.
Questions/additions/NEWS/etc to KLF@sysa.salford.ac.UK
Enquiries/general comments to Culfinion@sysa.salford.ac.UK
" Over and Out "
===============================================================================
This file was downloaded from -=ð[CROSSPOiNT]ð=- FidoNet: 2:203/132
Over 1100 textfiles On-Line!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================================
KLF/ORB request mailing list : NEWS 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ dated 8th December 1991 ]
> UK Christmas Number One ?
From Rage magazine, dated 21st November to 4th December, article on
what will be the UK Christmas Number One single (prices by William
Hill Bookmakers) :
[summary] Cliff Richard @ 5-1
Jason Donovan @ 6-1
Michael Jackson @ 10-1
The KLF @ 14-1
Sinead O'Connor @ 16-1
Pet Shop Boys @ 16-1
Vic Reeves @ 20-1
The Farm @ 20-1
Happy Mondays @ 20-1
[comment] "Chance is just an illusion when you've been given
a fast forward facility to the future", says The
KLF's Bill Drummond of the odds. "Obviously we
know where we'll be come Christmas, but for the
sake of the universe's temporal stability we're
not at liberty to say. All I can say is that
Tammy was pleased with the news."
Also from Rage, this 'news' snippet from 'Bitstream' :
" The KLF's Bill Drummond, disillusioned with life as
a hit-scoring popster, has reportedly applied for
the Head Warden's job at Arundel Wildlife Trust
reserve in West Sussex. "
* Well, since the various articles on the Xmas number one, the death
of Freddie Mercury has totally messed things up, from a predictions
point of view. The prices have all altered, and since the announcement
that "Bohemian Rhapsody" was to be reissued in the UK on 9th December,
no further bets have been taken on the Xmas number One. However, bets
have been continuing on the number two position. The situation looks
like this :
Xmas Number One : Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"
No.2 : George Michael and Elton John
No.3 : I suspect one of either The KLF & Tammy, or
possibly Guns'n'Roses with "Live and Let Die",
also released on 9th Dec. Maybe Diana Ross has
a chance of hanging in there though
The KLF have been getting a very large amount of radio play, and the
video has been featured several times on national UK television. It was
the most-played record last week on Chiltern Sound, a UK local radio
station.
> KLF DIY Video
There is news of a shoot-your-own-KLF-video competition in the USA. These
details and (brilliant!) comment supplied by of Jeff Hansen, editor of 'X
Magazine' :
" Well, the video thing is this keen-o contest put on by Arista
( the dogs who cut the live crowd noises out of the domestic
release of "What Time Is Love"), some obscure video show, and
apparently, the KLF. You shoot raw footage, sync it to any
song on the Arista version of What Time is Love, send it in,
and win ! Oddly enough, the prizes don't seem to match the
mentality of the people entering the contest: the first prize
seems okay (VCR, KLF poncho, KLF subway poster), but the rest
( copies of the video, copies of the new single ) are things
you would _expect_ someone that has the time to create a KLF
video to have.
It always seems that the prize you win in any contest is
inversely proportional to the amount of effort you expend to
win that prize (stick a stamp on a Publisher's Clearing House
envelope, you may win 23 million dollars; spent 4-5 sleepless
nights perfecting the last cut on your KLF video, you get a
VCR (???) and some other stuff). I'm not complaining, since
I'm not in it for the prizes.......this is right up our alley
(the whole staff, or what's left of the staff, is going to be
involved in some way, to the detriment of issue #9 [due quite
soon]). But anyway, they pick a winner a week after the
deadline, and show it on this obscure video show, end of
story. I can see more than a few professional video houses
competing, just for the recognition, if there is any.
But the thing that p*ssed me off was the Original Footage
clause: you can only use footage that you taped........I was
poised to do some major video sampling ( we have got a pretty
keen set-up here.......some of my friends are doing stuff for
Jack Nickalus [his company, Golden Bear]; golf studio type
stuff ( cameras tape the golfer, computers track the swing,
suggestions for improvements are made ). It just seemed kind
of odd, considering "1987" and subsequent albums, to have
some type of no sampling clause.....how ridiculous. But then
again, this is the American way of doing things ( Issue #9 of
coincidentally, will have a big story about Negativland's
legal battle with U2...). "
Great stuff ! Thanks for all that Jeff ! It WILL be interesting to see
what the winning video turns out to be like........
> Query from jeppe@loke.mainz.dk
" I am a newcomer to this list, and I want to ask if anybody know
if KLF has made other albums than "The White Room" and what can
I expect in the near future.
Who is ORB? "
A brief discography of albums then :
6/87 "1987 - What The Fuck Is Going On?" - The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu
[ brash, noisy, hip hop/rap, but with humour and some interesting ideas ]
2/88 "Who Killed The JAMs?" - The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu
[ more rap influences, but more dance orientated ]
1/89 "Shag Times" - The JAMs/The Timelords/The KLF
[ compilation of early tracks, and new instrumental mixes ]
[ on double album ]
1989 "The History Of The JAMs aka The Timelords" - The JAMs/The Timelords
[ similar compilation, comprising tracks on first half of "Shag ]
[ Times", with minor variations, but only released in the USA and ]
[ Australia/NZ ]
9/89 "The What Time Is Love Story" - The KLF/Various
[ compliation of four European cover versions of "What Time Is ]
[ Love", the original KLF version, and a new live version ]
2/90 "Chill Out" - The KLF
[ Ambient House - produced after Jimmy's experiments with The Orb. ]
[ Lots of keyboard riffs, samples of trains, sheep, goats, shepherds, ]
[ airplanes, children playing, and musical samples from Elvis, ]
[ Fleetwood Mac, Jesus Loves You, and others. Very relaxing ]
[ after-party record ]
7/90 "Space" - Space
[ Jimmy Cauty on his own working partly with old Orb material. Similar ]
[ concept to "Chill Out", with lots of effects, but with a more, well, ]
[ Spacey feel ]
3/91 "The White Room" - The KLF
[ Final versions of tunes originally recorded in 1989. The KLF take a ]
[ trip into the world of 'pop' ]
1/92 "The Black Room" - The JAMs
[ No details yet, but with the release imminent, I hope to have some ]
[ very soon. Described in X Magazine as 'techno metal - Megadeth with ]
[ drum machines', a description verified to me a few months back as ]
[ pretty accurate by the KLF office ]
And the Orb ???
In late 1988, Jimmy from The KLF teamed up with Alex Paterson (who had
compiled "The What Time Is Love Story" tracks), to form the Orb, producing
two singles, one of which was the epic, "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating
Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld (Loving You)". It was
the first in a genre of 'ambient house' records (excepting the experiments
of minimalists such as Philip Glass and Brian Eno). Unfortunately, this
partnership was short-lived, and Alex and Jimmy parted before completion of
the first Orb album, "Space".
Alex later resumed work as the Orb, but this time in partnership with
Thrash, whom he met in his work for the WAU!MrModo record label. Their
unique brand of 'ambient dance/house' continues, with the release last
year of the album "Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld", singles from that
album, and most recently another album of remixes of tracks on
"Adventures..."
> What Time Is Love Story query
This question from Chris Teixeira :
" I have the album "What Time is Love Story" that I picked
up in Toronto, Canada about 2 years ago. Recently, I've
seen numerous postings concerning the availablity of this
album. How rare, if at all, is this album? Has it been
released on CD? Do you know where further interpretations
or imitations can be acquired ? "
The "What Time Is Love Story" WAS available on CD. It isn't rare
particularly in any format, although it is a little harder to get
hold of. There were, according to an interview I heard with Bill
Drummond of The KLF, around 13 or so cover versions of the tune in
Europe, after their original version was released around October
1988 as KLF 004T, and later remixed as KLF 004R (UK catalogue #s.).
I do not however have the details of all these other versions -
but I am currently trying to discover more. I have brief details
of the 4 Euro-versions included on the album, but no more. If
anyone has any information on other cover versions, please let me
have it !
It has been suggested that a double-CD of ALL the KLF versions
should be released, especially as some of the mixes weren't available
outside the UK, or weren't on CD.
" I have the original "3 A.M. Eternal" single with a purple
'2' on the front - is this rare? "
It depends when you bought it - you may have one of the re-issue
copies. Check the inner sleeve - if it is paper, then it is one of
the original pressing from 1989. If it is a plastic inner sleeve,
then it is one of the repressings from the summer just passed. They
did a repress run of WTIL, and the two original 3 AM 12"s this year,
about 10,000 records altogether. The originals are pretty rare, if
you can prove it IS one of the original pressings, and examining the
inner sleeve is the easiest way to tell.
" Finally, when will "It's Grim Up North" be released
domestically (or even import!) in North America? "
I doubt that "It's Grim Up North" will get a full release in the US;
after all, it IS rather an 'English' song ! Mind you, it IS available
on a 3" CD in Japan.....!
> Warning from Jon Drukman (Desi The Three-Armed Wonder Comic)
" Watch yourself, American KLF buyers - I bought this Arista promo
CD single that said "NEW MIX" on it. It turned out to have the
same version as on the regular "White Room" album. In fact, it
has that same version *twice* with the only difference being
the first one is missing the lead-in "Right now....right now...
it's time to......KICK OUT THE JAMS Mothersrekcuf!!". The cover
photo has the lads with hoods over their heads, standing in
front of a Marshall stack playing sitars (!) in a very cod
heavy-metal posture.
The track listing is:
1. What Time Is Love? Remix
2. What Time Is Love? Live at Trancentral
Avoid this item, it's a waste of space. If some utter bonzo
completist absolutely has to have it, you can have mine for the
princely sum of two (2) American dollars, plus whatever it costs
to mail it to you.
Jon Drukman uunet!sco!jondr jondr@sco.com "
Thanks for that Jon. Curiously, when I went home a couple of weekends back,
there was a copy of this very item waiting for me, that a friend sent over
from the States, and I can confirm the details Jon gave. It DOES seem a
rather pointless promotional CD, one wonders why Arista bothered....
> Music Week
A few weeks back there was a feature in Music Week, the official British
Music Industry Trade publication, about the value of promo videos. They
asked various people in the industry for their comments on the question
"Promos : Ads or Art ? ". Scott Piering made the following comment :
" They're both. Things can go on for ages and you think there
are no new visual ideas. Then suddenly something comes along
that just blows you out, and its not necessarily a big budget
job. "
Scott is The KLF's plugger, and owner of AppEARing, the promotion and
management company with whom The KLF have long been associated. As such,
he is heavily involved with promo video production and distribution.
Scott was credited with some of the incidental vocals on "Last Train To
Trancentral" and "Justified And Ancient".
> Request from Chris Breitenbach
" Does anybody know where I can get "Space" on CD ? I saw it
once at the beginning of this year - but had no idea that I
would have so much trouble locating another copy of it.
If anybody has heard it - what do they think of it ? Thanks! "
Well, you might like to try asking KLF Communications themselves if they
have any copies left. The trouble is, it is currently taking them a VERY
long time to get through correspondance (if they get through it at all),
because Sally and Cressida in the office are having to deal with a LOT of
new releases domestically and overseas (from the UK). Mind you, they never
have been THAT reliable ! So don't expect a speedy reply.....
The address is :
KLF Communications,
Unit 315,
Brixton Enterprise Centre,
Brixton Road,
London SW 9
The U.K.
Fax : +44 71 738 7300
Another alternative is to have a look at some of the dealer catalogues
available, both US and UK. A good source of information is the UK's
'Record Collector' magazine, which you should be able to trace. It carries
advertisements from (primarily) UK dealers and companies, many of whom
publish their own regular catalogues, and should be able to help, as the
"Space" CD isn't at all hard to obtain in the UK (erm, I THINK!)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS compiled 8th December 1991 by Culfinion.
The KLF / Orb request/info-service is managed by Culfinion ( Jethro R Binks )
courtesy of Academic Information Services at the University Of Salford, UK.
Questions/additions/NEWS/etc to KLF@sysa.salford.ac.UK
Enquiries/general comments to Culfinion@sysa.salford.ac.UK
" Over and Out "
===============================================================================
This file was downloaded from -=ð[CROSSPOiNT]ð=- FidoNet: 2:203/132
Over 1100 textfiles On-Line!
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Post a Comment