The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - 1987 (What The Fuck is Going On?)
I remember the day Rough Trade delivered a box of this LP to our little chain record shop in Swan Lane, Guildford. We played the album instore from beginning to end that lunchtime (the boss cringing at every f*ck ) and sold the lot!
Within a week it was banned - I was really glad that I had bought the last copy off the instore play turntable, its worth a few bob now.
The JAMS (aka Justified Ancients of MuMu, aka The Timelords, aka The KLF) were former Zoo guru, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty (aka Rockman Rock).
This hilarious parody of mid-80's Britain was so full of blatant sampling (without all the necessary permissions of course), agressive language and anti-political bias that the BPI saw fit to ban it and demand that all copies be withdrawn from sale. This form of mass corporate censorship hasn't been seen since, but The JAMS acheived their aims and managed to piss-off Rob Dickinson and all the other BPI cronies.
As for the album itself, stand out tracks have always been The Queen and I and All You Need is Love.
The JAMS reinvented themselves as the KLF and went on to parody Whitney Houston and perform a duet with Gary Glitter & Doctor Who and finally a complete album with a herd of sheep.
Tracklisting:
1. Hey Hey Hey, We Are Not The Monkees
2. Don't Take Five (Take What You Want)
3. Rockman Rock
4. Me Ru Con
5. The Queen and I
6. All You Need Is Love
7. Next
The time you spent ripping this stuff is definitely appreciated, good sir!
ReplyDeleteI thought it only fitting that this particular album be my inaugural "sampling" of your estimable collection. Thanks!
I recently got a copy of this and it's appallingly bad but utter genius. Cauty and Drummond can do no wrong in my eyes :-D
ReplyDeleteGoogle Sound It Out record shop in Stockton on Tees, one of the remaining proper record shops, and he doesn't charge the earth for most stuff :)
Michael said...
ReplyDeleteI have a copy of this too. Any idea of its value? Are people queuing up "round the block" for it?
When (Bi)Polar Music's legal nazis said "Burn That Record" - and they did - the remaining copies were worth a fortune. I loved the NME advert they took out When they themselves found five copies in a small record shop (they said...) , offering them for £1000 each. I missed it but being equally nas perverse as the band at the time, happily shelled out for the BONKERS release that was a version of the LP WITHOUT all the samples but including instructions on how to recreate the 1987:WTFIGO experience.
ReplyDeleteCauty and Drummond were madder than a chocolate frying pan and I loved them. And, thanks to your upload, I have FINALLY heard the few tracks off this I was still missing. Fabulous :o)
Swan Lane in Guildford? LOL. I probably knew it, used to hang around a lot in Record Collector and Ben's in the early 90s, unless it was just before my time.
ReplyDeleteI have a copy of the unofficial Dutch (?) re-release .