KLF aka "Timelords"

JAMs, one of KLF's alternate names, is short for "Justified Ancients of Mu-Mu." While it is not known for certain what the acronym KLF actually stands for, it has been suggested that it could be "Kallisti Liberation Front" (a reference to Discordianism, a modern chaos-based religion originally described by Malaclypse the Younger in Principia Discordia, but popularized by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson in the Illuminatus! books, written between 1969 and 1971 that reverences the Greek goddess Eris aka Discordia), which the KLF do acknowledge.

Kallisti (meaning "for the fairest" or "to the prettiest", a reference to the Golden Apple of Discord the hero Paris was to award one of three goddesses: Hera, Athena & Aphrodite, and was said to have been the origin of the Trojan War) was also the ancient name of Santorini (aka Thera) in the Aegean Sea of Greece. The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions the planet has ever seen: the Minoan eruption (sometimes called the Thera eruption), which occurred some 3,500 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization.

A popular theory holds that the Thera eruption is the source of the legend of Atlantis.

Beginning in 1987, Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) released hip hop-inspired and sample-heavy records asThe Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, and on one occasion (the British number one hit single "Doctorin' the Tardis") as The Timelords. The abbreviation of the band has long been a mystery; however in a interview in Wired 2010 Bill revealed it to stand for "Kentucky Liberation Front", meant as a satire of the United States as the band saw it at the time.

As The KLF, Drummond and Cauty pioneered the genres "stadium house"....releasing a series of international top-ten hits on their own KLF Communications record label, and became the biggest-selling singles act in the world for 1991.

From the outset, they adopted the philosophy espoused by esoteric novel series The Illuminatus! Trilogy, gaining notoriety for various anarchic situationist manifestations, including the defacement of billboard adverts, the posting of prominent cryptic advertisements in NME magazine and the mainstream press, and highly distinctive and unusual performances on Top of the Pops.

Re-reading Illuminatus! in late 1986, and influenced by hip-hop, Drummond felt inspired to react against what he perceived to be the stagnant soundscape of popular music. Recalling that moment in a later radio interview, Drummond said that the plan came to him in an instant: he would form a hip-hop band with former colleague Jimmy Cauty, and they would be called The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu.(JAMs or JAMMs)

Early in 1987, Drummond and Cauty's collaborations began. They assumed alter egos—King Boy D and Rockman Rock respectively—and they adopted the name The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs), after the fictional conspiratorial group "The Justified Ancients of Mummu" from The Illuminatus! Trilogy. In those novels, the JAMs are what the Illuminati (a political organization which seeks to impose order and control upon society) call a group of Discordians who have infiltrated the Illuminati in order to feed them false information.

As The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, Drummond and Cauty chose to interpret the principles of the fictional JAMs in the context of music production in the corporate music world. Shrouded in the mystique provided by their disguised identities and the cultish Illuminatus!, they mirrored the Discordians' gleeful political tactics of causing chaos and confusion by bringing a direct, humorous but nevertheless revolutionary approach to making records, often attracting attention in unconventional ways. The JAMs' primary instrument was the digital sampler with which they would plagiarise the history of popular music, cutting chunks from existing works and pasting them into new contexts, underpinned by rudimentary beatbox rhythms and overlayed with Drummond's raps, of social commentary, esoteric metaphors and mockery.

The Timelords

In 1988, Drummond and Cauty became "Time Boy" and "Lord Rock", and released a 'novelty' pop single, "Doctorin' the Tardis" as The Timelords. The song is predominantly a mash-up of the Doctor Who theme music, "Block Buster!" by The Sweet and Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll (Part Two)", with sparse vocals inspired by The Daleks and Harry Enfield's "Loadsamoney" character. 

Drummond and Cauty declared that the car had spoken to them, giving its name as Ford Timelord, and advising the duo to become "The Timelords".

The KLF's chart success continued with the single "Last Train to Trancentral" hitting number two in the UK, and number three in the Eurochart Hot 100.[37] In December 1991, a re-working of a song from 1987, "Justified & Ancient" was released, featuring the vocals of American country star Tammy Wynette.

All bound for Mu Mu Land

All bound for Mu Mu Land

(hey)

(hey hey)

All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified)

(hey hey)

All bound for Mu Mu Land

(Bring the beat back!)

They're Justified, and they're Ancient

And they like to roam the land.

(just roll it from the top)

They're Justified, and they're Ancient

I hope you understand

(to the bridge, to the bridge, to the bridge now)

They called me up in Tennessee

They said "Tammy, stand by The Jams"

But if you don't like what they're going to do,

You better not stop them 'cause they're coming through

(bring the beat back)

(Hey hey)

All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified)

(Hey hey)

All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified)

(Ancients of Mu Mu)

Mu Mu Land

Mu Mu Land

All bound for Mu Mu Land

They're Justified, and they're Ancient

And they drive an ice cream van

(just roll it from the top)

They're Justified and they're Ancient

With still no master plan

(to the bridge, to the bridge, to the bridge now)

The last train left an hour ago

They were singing "All aboard"

All bound for Mu Mu Land

Then someone starting screaming "Turn up the Strobe"

(bring the beat back)

(Hey hey)

All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified)

(Hey hey)

All bound for Mu Mu Land (Ancients of Mu Mu)

(Bring the beat back)

Justified and Ancient, Ancient and a-justified

Rocking to the rhythm in their ice cream van

with the plan and the key to

enter into Mu Mu

Vibes from the tribes of the Jams

I know where the beat is at

'cos I know what time it is

Bring home a dime

Make mine a "99"

New style, meanwhile, always on a mission while

Fishing in the rivers of life

Fishing in the rivers of life (hoi)

Fishing in the rivers of life (hoi)

Fishing in the rivers

Fishing in the rivers

Fishing in the rivers of life (hoi)

Voo-va-voolie

Za-shi-va-zom

Voo-va-voolie

(Bring the beat back)

(Hey hey)

All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified)

(Hey hey)

All bound for Mu Mu Land (Ancients of Mu Mu)

Mu Mu Land (Ancients of Mu Mu)

Mu Mu Land (Ancients of Mu Mu)

All bound for Mu Mu Land

Mu Mu Land (Ancients of Mu Mu)

Mu Mu Land (Ancients of Mu Mu)

All bound for Mu Mu Land

Mu Mu Land

Mu Mu Land

All bound for Mu Mu Land

The "ethnic chorus line" to which NME referred is the refrain "All bound for Mu Mu land", a reference to the Lost Continent of Mu, which is identified with the land of Lemuria in The Illuminatus! Trilogy novels. Some research suggests that underwater archeological remains located off the coast of Japan may be Mu.

Indeed, at the end of the "Justified and Ancient" music video, The KLF exit in a submarine. KLF Communications' advert for "Justified and Ancient", with a quote from the lyrics: 

"They travel the world in their ice cream van, they've voyaged to the bottom of time. They've been to the place where the Mu-Mu mate, and the children still cry 'Mine's a 99!'"

On 12 February 1992, (their most notorious performance) The KLF and crust punk group Extreme Noise Terror performed a live version of "3 a.m. Eternal" at the BRIT Awards, the British Phonographic Industry's annual awards show; a "violently antagonistic performance" in front of "a stunned music-business audience". Drummond and Cauty had planned to throw buckets of sheep's blood over the audience, but were prevented from doing so due to opposition from BBC lawyers and "hardcore vegans" Extreme Noise Terror. The performance was instead garnished by a limping, kilted, cigar-chomping Drummond firing blanks from an automatic weapon over the heads of the crowd.

As the band left the stage, The KLF's promoter and narrator Scott Piering announced over the PA system that "The KLF have now left the music business". 

Later in the evening the band dumped a dead sheep with the message "I died for you—bon appetit" tied around its waist at the entrance to one of the post-ceremony parties.

Reactions were mixed. Piers Morgan, writing in The Sun, under the headline "KLF's Sick Gun Stunt Fails To Hit The Target", called The KLF "pop's biggest wallies"

In the weeks following the BRITs performance, The KLF continued working with Extreme Noise Terror on the album The Black Room, but it was never finished. On 14 May 1992, The KLF announced their immediate retirement from the music industry and the deletion of their entire back catalogue:

We have been following a wild and wounded, glum and glorious, shit but shining path these past five years. The last two of which has [sic] led us up onto the commercial high ground—we are at a point where the path is about to take a sharp turn from these sunny uplands down into a netherworld of we know not what. For the foreseeable future there will be no further record releases from The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, The Timelords, The KLF and any other past, present and future name attached to our activities. As of now all our past releases are deleted....

 If we meet further along be prepared...our disguise may be complete.

The KLF's departed from the music business  in May 1992 and shortly after the duo deleted their entire back catalogue.

Ok man, take it away

Ummm-hmmm-hm

Whoah-nanananana

Hmmmmm mmmm

Ummm-hmmm-hm-yeah

Ummm-hmmm-hm-yeah

Ummm-hmmm-hm-yeah

Ummm-hmmmmmm

They're justified and they're ancient

And they like to roam the land

They're justified and they're ancient

I hope you understand

They don't want to upset the apple cart

And they don't want to cause any harm

But if you don't like what they're going to do

You better not stop them cause they're coming through

They're justified and they're ancient

And they know what time is love

They're justified and they're ancient

Did they come from up above?

Rock man he's just made of bricks

And king boy lost his screws

The jams don't need no master plan

To do whatever -- ever they can

Ummm-hmmm-hm

Whoah-nanananana, uh huh

All righhht, uh huh

Yeah

They're justified and they're ancient

And they like to roam the land

They're justified and they're ancient

I hope you understand

They don't want to upset the apple cart

And they don't want to cause any harm

But if you don't like what they're going to do

You better not stop them cause they're coming through

They're justified and they're ancient

And they know what time is love

They're justified and they're ancient

Did they come from up above?

Rock man he's just made of bricks

And king boy lost his screws

The jams don't need no master plan

To do whatever -- ever they can do

Ummm-hmmm-hm

Whoah-nanananana, unh huh

KLF Videos

The KLF's body of work as "a series of colorful sonic marketing experiments".  The have come to be known as the "kings of cultural anarchy".

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