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Artist Biography
Also known as the JAMS, this coalition saw UK mavericks Bill Drummond (b. William Drummond, 29 April 1953, Butterworth, Cape Town, South Africa) and Jimmy Cauty (b. 1956, Devon, England) engage in some startlingly imaginative methods of undermining the prevailing pop ethos. Drummond had cut his teeth in the Liverpool scene of the early 80s and played a large part in setting up Zoo Records. By 1987, he was working with Cauty and exploiting the techniques of sampling and computers. Their liberal use of other artists’ material within the framework of their own songs resulted in a court case with Abba, following which all remaining copies of the JAMS’ album, 1987 (What The F**k Is Going On?), were legally bound to be destroyed. However, a handful of copies escaped annihilation and ended up on sale for £1, 000 each. The following year the duo switched guises to become the Timelords, enjoying a worldwide hit with ‘Doctorin’ The Tardis’, with Gary Glitter. A manual on how to have a number 1 single was succeeded by work on their film. By this time Drummond and Cauty were calling themselves the KLF and enjoying yet more global success with the ‘Stadium House’ trilogy of singles. In 1991, the JAMS moniker was reactivated for ‘It’s Grim Up North’, a UK Top 10 single that owed several musical moments to composer William Blake. Subsequently, Drummond and Cauty promptly slipped back into KLF mode to record with country singer Tammy Wynette, before staging acts of art terrorism under the K Foundation banner.
Hometown
Liverpool, England
Genre
Electronic
