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The White Room by The KLF

Davie Scott unravels one of Scotland's most fascinating pop anecdotes with the help of Bill Drummond.

Davie Scott unravels one of Scotland's most fascinating pop anecdotes. Bill Drummond - son of a Church of Scotland minister - was almost 40 years old when he decided to create a 'Stadium House' band. He wanted to unite music fans with "gigantic anthems". A former top music exec, he understood pop music hype and hyperbole and used that to his advantage. While some might have judged he and partner Jimmy Cauty as over-the-hill, Bill's marketing know-how pushed The KLF to become the bestselling singles act in the world in 1991. 'Justified and Ancient' (featuring Tammy Wynette) was inescapable. It was No.1 in 18 countries and provided her highest-ever Billboard placing. 'What Time is Love' provided the first taste of The KLF's big commercial sound and was soon answered by the number 1 single '3am Eternal'.

And it wasn't just the fans who loved them. The music press couldn't get enough of their contrary ways, one journalist enthusing that "as providers of perverse, throwaway, three-minute pop-song manna... (they're) punk rock, the Renaissance, Andy Warhol and Jesus Christ all rolled into one."
The gigantic commercial success of the band flew in the face of taste-making rhetoric, and Bill and Jimmy caused further alarm when - at the height of their success - they gave a "violently antagonistic performance" at the 1992 Brit Awards and left the stage to a tannoy announcement stating that "The KLF have now left the music business". Job done!

30 minutes

Last on

Wed 5 Apr 2023 01:30
主播大秀 Radio 6 Music

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    • Virgin.

  • Naughty by Nature

    Hip Hop Hooray

Broadcasts

  • Fri 19 Apr 2019 02:00
    主播大秀 Radio 6 Music
  • Fri 18 Oct 2019 02:00
    主播大秀 Radio 6 Music
  • Fri 10 Apr 2020 03:30
    主播大秀 Radio 6 Music
  • Wed 2 Jun 2021 22:00
    主播大秀 Radio Scotland except Extra
  • Sun 24 Oct 2021 06:00
    主播大秀 Radio Scotland
  • Wed 5 Apr 2023 01:30
    主播大秀 Radio 6 Music