Omg thank you, you never disappoint. I thrive on such trivia, especially when it involves a deeper understanding of a band and their music. I wish they did meet Benny & Bjorn, can you imagine that resulting collaboration?!
Haha... thanks, Peej. Much appreciated. It was a funny one to do.
The funniest thing, which I came across during my research but couldn’t really use in the story, was that Björn and Benny were actually living in London at the time the KLF went to Sweden. 😁
Anyway, I don’t think Björn & Benny would have been particularly interested in collaborating with the KLF. Sampling their music and releasing it before even asking permission was pretty much tantamount to a declaration of war, so I doubt they would have been in the mood to entertain the idea.
And Björn in particular has always stayed very much in tune with what was, and still is, happening technologically in music production. So I’m sure they had strong opinions about sampling and what it meant for songwriters and copyright while it was actually happening.
In some ways, it’s reminiscent of the problems we’re facing today with the Sunos and Udios of this world: technology moving faster than the rules and raising questions about what you can do with somebody else’s work without their permission. And on that subject, Björn certainly has some very clear opinions.
Well maybe merge this story with your Easy Lover story. Phil Collins produced and provided vocals on ABBA’s Frida hit album Something’s Going On. There’s a wild story about it in the ABBA biography; Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Definitive Biography of ABBA. Six Degrees of Separation?! Really enjoying your stories.
Need to read that one, Peej, if only because I definitely want to cover one of ABBA’s disco singles at some point. Thanks for the compliments. Really appreciate it!
Man I loved that album back in the day. At the time, that really wasn’t my sort of music but for some reason I couldn’t get enough of The K, The L, The F and The Ology (IYKYK). I was in university in Canada when it came out, so although I was aware of the Timelords and JAMMs backstory, I wasn’t aware of any of their other antics until many years later. The whole thing is such an absurd story, but all I know is that The White Room hit hard back in 91.
Same here, Mark. Just hearing that opening “We want to dance, motherfucker!” on What Time Is Love? immediately transports me back. That’s the power of music.
Thanks for reading, reacting and sharing. Really appreciate it!
I enjoyed some of their pranks until they sacrificed another living being just to be provocative. It's why I'm not a fan of artist Damien Hirst.
And, really, I guess my question is what message they were trying to send and why. So you can game the system and they showed you can do it? Many people have. (Getting onto the charts!)
I have to agree with Paul in another comment. It comes across as blokey stunts, which are amusing for a while but then become boring and pointless.
I agree Ellen. It’s a great example of what happens if you drink too much of your own Kool Aid and combine it with too much drugs. Thanks for reading and taking the time to leave a comment
Arguably one of the most fascinating pop music stories ever. And Zoo released a comp of Scott Walker curated by Julian Cope that helped reframe the reclusive 60s icon
After revisiting their story, I think it was a combination of drinking too much of their own Kool-Aid and a rather heavy intake of drugs 😁 Thanks for reading and reacting, Emm! Really appreciate it.
Why do I struggle to engage with the KLF? After all, the Pet Shop Boys really rate them which should be recommendation enough. Maybe it's because when they were at their peak during 91/92, selling more singles than anyone else and smashing up the Brit Awards, pop seemed to have been overwhelmed by dance and I had kinda lost interest. So although I was still vaguely aware of what was going on, I was viewing from a distance.
But maybe there's a deeper reason: the world of the KLF is a world without women. What about Tammy Wynette, you counter? I hope Justified and Ancient was a welcome distraction fom her growing health problems at the time, but after you get over the mild amusement of seeing a country superstar in such an incongrous setting, you realise that it's a record utterly oblivious to the woman's perspective that Wynette pursued so doggedly in her work. And then there's that awful story of getting the sex worker to "impersonate" Agnetha Falkstog. I'd love to know what either woman thought of that; insulting and degrading to both, I would argue. And there's the rub; the endless "stunts" are all so blokey, shouty and ultimately boring; "sound and fury signifying nothing".
You have a point, Paul. I completely agree with the “sound and fury, signifying nothing” comparison. For me, the KLF are an especially good example of what can happen when you drink waaaaaay too much of your own Kool-Aid. 😁
Anyway, thanks for reading and taking the time to react!
Thanks, Andy. It was such a fun one to write. You know that feeling when you’re actually laughing out loud while writing a piece? 😁
I’d always found the whole story completely bonkers, so the KLF were on my shortlist from the start. But when I started researching it properly and checking all the facts, I came to realise just how incredible the whole thing really was.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Glad you enjoyed it too!
Omg thank you, you never disappoint. I thrive on such trivia, especially when it involves a deeper understanding of a band and their music. I wish they did meet Benny & Bjorn, can you imagine that resulting collaboration?!
Haha... thanks, Peej. Much appreciated. It was a funny one to do.
The funniest thing, which I came across during my research but couldn’t really use in the story, was that Björn and Benny were actually living in London at the time the KLF went to Sweden. 😁
Anyway, I don’t think Björn & Benny would have been particularly interested in collaborating with the KLF. Sampling their music and releasing it before even asking permission was pretty much tantamount to a declaration of war, so I doubt they would have been in the mood to entertain the idea.
And Björn in particular has always stayed very much in tune with what was, and still is, happening technologically in music production. So I’m sure they had strong opinions about sampling and what it meant for songwriters and copyright while it was actually happening.
In some ways, it’s reminiscent of the problems we’re facing today with the Sunos and Udios of this world: technology moving faster than the rules and raising questions about what you can do with somebody else’s work without their permission. And on that subject, Björn certainly has some very clear opinions.
Well maybe merge this story with your Easy Lover story. Phil Collins produced and provided vocals on ABBA’s Frida hit album Something’s Going On. There’s a wild story about it in the ABBA biography; Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Definitive Biography of ABBA. Six Degrees of Separation?! Really enjoying your stories.
Need to read that one, Peej, if only because I definitely want to cover one of ABBA’s disco singles at some point. Thanks for the compliments. Really appreciate it!
Man I loved that album back in the day. At the time, that really wasn’t my sort of music but for some reason I couldn’t get enough of The K, The L, The F and The Ology (IYKYK). I was in university in Canada when it came out, so although I was aware of the Timelords and JAMMs backstory, I wasn’t aware of any of their other antics until many years later. The whole thing is such an absurd story, but all I know is that The White Room hit hard back in 91.
Same here, Mark. Just hearing that opening “We want to dance, motherfucker!” on What Time Is Love? immediately transports me back. That’s the power of music.
Thanks for reading, reacting and sharing. Really appreciate it!
I enjoyed some of their pranks until they sacrificed another living being just to be provocative. It's why I'm not a fan of artist Damien Hirst.
And, really, I guess my question is what message they were trying to send and why. So you can game the system and they showed you can do it? Many people have. (Getting onto the charts!)
I have to agree with Paul in another comment. It comes across as blokey stunts, which are amusing for a while but then become boring and pointless.
Yet, that said, I did enjoy the songs.
I agree Ellen. It’s a great example of what happens if you drink too much of your own Kool Aid and combine it with too much drugs. Thanks for reading and taking the time to leave a comment
Arguably one of the most fascinating pop music stories ever. And Zoo released a comp of Scott Walker curated by Julian Cope that helped reframe the reclusive 60s icon
I know, and that was something I found really remarkable when you consider what else ZOO released 😂
The whole story is wild with KLF. You could argue it was a stunt, a commentary, foolish, etc., and you'd probably hit on some truth.
After revisiting their story, I think it was a combination of drinking too much of their own Kool-Aid and a rather heavy intake of drugs 😁 Thanks for reading and reacting, Emm! Really appreciate it.
Why do I struggle to engage with the KLF? After all, the Pet Shop Boys really rate them which should be recommendation enough. Maybe it's because when they were at their peak during 91/92, selling more singles than anyone else and smashing up the Brit Awards, pop seemed to have been overwhelmed by dance and I had kinda lost interest. So although I was still vaguely aware of what was going on, I was viewing from a distance.
But maybe there's a deeper reason: the world of the KLF is a world without women. What about Tammy Wynette, you counter? I hope Justified and Ancient was a welcome distraction fom her growing health problems at the time, but after you get over the mild amusement of seeing a country superstar in such an incongrous setting, you realise that it's a record utterly oblivious to the woman's perspective that Wynette pursued so doggedly in her work. And then there's that awful story of getting the sex worker to "impersonate" Agnetha Falkstog. I'd love to know what either woman thought of that; insulting and degrading to both, I would argue. And there's the rub; the endless "stunts" are all so blokey, shouty and ultimately boring; "sound and fury signifying nothing".
You have a point, Paul. I completely agree with the “sound and fury, signifying nothing” comparison. For me, the KLF are an especially good example of what can happen when you drink waaaaaay too much of your own Kool-Aid. 😁
Anyway, thanks for reading and taking the time to react!
Oh man, this is insane in the wildest, most beautiful sense. Like Peej said, you never disappoint. 😂 Brilliant work!
Thanks, Andy. It was such a fun one to write. You know that feeling when you’re actually laughing out loud while writing a piece? 😁
I’d always found the whole story completely bonkers, so the KLF were on my shortlist from the start. But when I started researching it properly and checking all the facts, I came to realise just how incredible the whole thing really was.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Glad you enjoyed it too!