The KLF

padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
also in re culture jamming if everyone is culture jamming is anyone culture jamming, or is that just culture

jamming implies some kind of conscious detournement of original meaning

shitposting is related but idk if it's the same thing exactly

same for bots, platform manipulation, fake news - they're more like reality jamming (or shaping) than culture jamming
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
I think Paul Meme was at that Barbican performance thing.

Me and him leafletted the London showing of the "K Foundation burn a million quid" film in the nineties with our thoughts on it all and we got a nice letter back from Drummond. Probably nicer than we deserved. I think the leaflet is quoted in the book of the film but I never saw a copy myself.

What I liked about them in the 90s was that irreverant attitude to everything and especially copyright and private property:

NME cover story -

STEAL IT!

www.uncarved.org

It really did feel at the time that we were on the cusp of something amazing - and I think there is a line from there to jungle cutting up breakbeats for sure. But obviously you'd need to draw a distinction between the arty types who did this sort of thing self-consciously and people who just did it - the latter generally making better music.

They always did great interviews as well - I remember one where they just parked up their absurdly conspicuous american cop car and stood on top of it pasting a huge JAMMS logo onto a billboard in central London.
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
Drummond's "45" book is good too.

The book Martin lent me where goes to the north pole with Zodiac Mindwarp hasn't aged very well. Mainly this is not Drummond's fault.
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
Like a lot of stuff culture hacking has been normalised now. I look at several images a day and think (is that real or has it been photoshopped) and that is healthy in some ways but unhealthy in others.
 
pattycakes_

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
With their own history of controversial sampling, the KLF agreed to a settlement: Wanda received a payment, a share in royalties and co-writing credits on the U.S. release of the album The White Room. Under the agreement, Wanda also appeared in the "Stadium House" video to "Last Train To Trancentral".[4] Drummond and Cauty also agreed to produce a track for Wanda's upcoming solo album, but this collaboration never materialised. Wanda described her involvement with the KLF, beginning with the latter's copyright infringement: "I wasn't INVITED into The KLF, I was IGNITED!"[3]

Wanda's temporary involvement with the KLF - including the album deal - abruptly ended when Drummond and Cauty left the music business in early 1992. Even before that, the duo had vehemently refused to advertise their records by going on tour. After they had disbanded (and deleted their back catalogue), Wanda took off on a two-year concert tour that spanned 150 cities in 90 countries. The show, dubbed "The KLF Experience featuring Wanda Dee" or "The Voice of KLF, Wanda Dee", combined the KLF's pre-recorded music with her own live vocals and lavish costumes.[2][3][4] Drummond and Cauty, who were angered by Wanda's use of the KLF moniker, pleaded with their U.S. distribution company, Arista Records, to issue a cease and desist order, but the company ignored these requests, estimating that an international tour would only boost their sale of KLF material.[2] Wanda's repeated claim that she had been an integral or even the decisive part in the KLF's success[2][3] raised controversy among observers.[5]
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pattycakes_

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
john eden said:
Drummond's "45" book is good too.

The book Martin lent me where goes to the north pole with Zodiac Mindwarp hasn't aged very well. Mainly this is not Drummond's fault.
Click to expand...

Some of the schemes from '45'

- traveling as close as possible to the north pole to plant a picture of elvis to send 'positive vibes' around the world

- buying an acclaimed photo for $20k, selling the photo for the another $20k, putting the $20k in a box, burying it where the photo was taken, then taking a photo of the same site

- getting echo & the bunnymen to play in iceland the same time the teardrop explodes performs in an uncharted area of new guinea (?) while drummond stood on a manhole in liverpool, thereby uniting the "interstellar ley lines" that drummond himself made up

- hanging a dead cow from a power pylon with a sign around its neck that says "FUCKING COW"

- using band revenue to buy equipment and machinery to destroy stonehenge

Really enjoyed Bad Wisdom in my 20s. Total madness mixed with the odd bit of poignance. Would like to read the follow up where they go to Africa. Anyone read that one?
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
padraig (u.s.) said:
that is absolutely true

tho certainly not the kind of Situationist-derived culture jamming Adbusters etc envisioned, which seems incredibly passe, v late 90s/early 00s
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I remember some big billboard adverts in London being messed about with "subvertisers" years ago. It all seemed very self-conscious and very art school. Whiff of Banksy about it.

I much prefer it when I see a poster for, say, a new Tom Cruise film, and someone who just happened to see it and had a biro on them has scrawled PRICK on his forehead.
 
WashYourHands

WashYourHands

Cat Malogen
When I think of the KLF, 23 is usually the first thought that comes to mind. I mean, they‘re out there. Just look at sports.

That may or may not be a valid reply.
 
pattycakes_

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
klf1-a.jpg


klf2.jpg


klf3.jpg
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
Mr. Tea said:
I remember some big billboard adverts in London being messed about with "subvertisers" years ago. It all seemed very self-conscious and very art school. Whiff of Banksy about it.

I much prefer it when I see a poster for, say, a new Tom Cruise film, and someone who just happened to see it and had a biro on them has scrawled PRICK on his forehead.
Click to expand...

Stewart Home did a characteristically good sleight of hand trick transforming the base into art. He did an interview with a couple of newspapers (I thinkk the Observer and the Big Issue?) about Glop Art. Which was a new art sensation in London where a young artist detourned posters in tube stations. Obviously they needed to interview the artist.

I somehow, after a couple of beers, ended up being the artist and did the interviews on my bosses' phone when she was out of the office. Still have the press cuttings somewhere - it was the cover story of the Big Issue.
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
@pattycakes_ I remember that iD piece being very good. I suppose it's an example of them reacting against rock 'n' roll becoming boring - even the excess being this crappy repetition of groupies and vandalism and drugs. They elevated rock n roll excess back to being cosmically weird - or at least gave it a go.
 
hucks

hucks

Your Message Here
I had a long sleeve black KLF tshirt as a teen, was my absolute pride and joy. Chill Out is great, that version of It's Grim Up North is OK but the original is better - and also really banging in places and this performance on Top of the Pops is fantastic.


The original versions of 3am and What time is love are really good bits of techno too.

Doctorin' the Tardis isn't amazing, granted.
 
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