We already covered that music often is political, and that is of course just as true for the followers of anarchism. But whereas the typical representative of that mindset has a high likelihood of founding a punk band, and expressing her frustrations about the state of the world by screeching in sweat-soaked cellar holes, there are some who take a more sophisticated approach. Such as The KLF (also known by several other monikers), whose explicit goal was to subvert the art world. And so they defaced billboards, fired machine gun blanks into their audiences, deleted their catalogue, and burned all of their earnings in a blazing fire – one million pound sterling.
“Justified And Ancient” had been in the making since the group was formed, originally even sharing the name. Like kindling to blaze it grew over the years and was remade in an upbeat pop-house version, named with the subtitle “Stand by the JAMs” – with vocals by the “First Lady Of Country Music” Tammy Wynette who is best known for “Stand by Your Man” – shortly before they went out with a bang in the aforementioned burning performance, effectively ending the project that was The KLF.
Both Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty would continue with artistic and anarchic projects, but while some of them were really good – Drummond’s “The17” project resonated specifically with me – none made quite as big a splash on a popular front.
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