This discography lists the key British and notable international releases of The KLF and the other pseudonyms of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty. It also details the other releases on their independent record label, KLF Communications, by KLF-spinoff Disco 2000 and Space (Cauty's solo work). In the United Kingdom—their home country—Drummond and Cauty released six albums and a wide array of 12 " singles on KLF Communications. In other territories their material was typically issued under licence by local labels.
Although the duo's early works as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs) aroused media interest, with many singles being awarded "single of the week" by various music publications,[1] Drummond and Cauty neither sought nor found mainstream chart success until the release of The Timelords' million-selling DIY release "Doctorin' the Tardis" in May 1988.[2] The KLF's single "Kylie Said to Jason", from The White Room soundtrack, was designed for chart success, but failed to reach the UK Top 100.[3] However, The KLF achieved international chart success with the string of pop-house singles that began with "What Time Is Love? (Live at Trancentral)", and they became the internationally highest-selling singles band of 1991.[4][5]
In 1989, as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the duo produced the Moody Boys' single "First National Rapper" and its B-side, "Funky Zulu".
Compilation appearances
The following tracks and remixes were made available only on Various Artists compilation albums. Compilation appearances by tracks which were also released on an album or single are not included. Mixes for DJs and megamixes are also excluded.
4 minutes of a still picture of a brick made from the ashes of the million pounds incinerated by the K Foundation. Premiered at the Barbican Hall, London on 17 September 1997.
The following KLF projects were announced but not released. Some of these, but by no means all, circulate as bootleg recordings/videos; some may not have been recorded at all.[n 10]
Year
Format
Project
Notes
1988
Flexidisc
"Deep Shit (Part 1)"
Given catalogue number DS 1. KLF Communications Information Sheet 8 (1990) claimed that 500 copies had been pressed but had "never been deemed safe to release".[3]
Graphic novel
"Deep Shit (The Further Adventures Of The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu)"
A comic book or graphic novel drawn by Cauty (with words by Drummond) was mentioned in NME and The Face and various KLF Information Sheets.[30][31][32]
Single
"Love Trance" ["Pure Trance 3"]
KLF 006. Sleeves and labels printed.
Single
"Turn Up the Strobe" ["Pure Trance 4"]
KLF 007. Sleeves printed.
Single
"E-Train To Trancentral" ["Pure Trance 5"]
KLF 008. Sleeves and labels printed.
Single
"The Lovers' Side" ["Pure Trance 5"]
This song also featured on the unreleased version of the album The White Room (see below).
JAMS LP4. Very different from the White Room album eventually released, this widely bootlegged recording was scrapped after the commercial failure of the single "Kylie Said to Jason".[3]
KLF VT006. The KLF's road movie. A rough version was completed in 1989, before The KLF decided to film an "Outer Film" to augment it.[3] This was never completed. The "Inner Film" has been screened privately, and bootleg copies of it circulate.
1991
single
"America: What Time Is January?"
KLF 92 PROMO 2. Unreleased remix of "America: What Time Is Love?" Small amounts of single sided promos were pressed on black and clear vinyl.[33][34]
The KLF started work on a final album, but it remains unfinished and unissued.[35]
Notes
^The KLF's complete discography is complex, and it contains many variants and obscure items of interest only to collectors. Limited edition and white label remix singles bearing the same basic catalogue numbers and no new songs (such as KLF 004Y, the Moody Boys and Echo & the Bunnymen remixes of "What Time Is Love? (Live At Trancentral)"); bootlegs; and overseas releases which offer no additional material to the definitive KLF Communications UK catalogue are all outside the scope of this article.
Readers interested in collecting KLF Communications releases should refer to Lazlo's KLF discography (Longmire, Ernie; et al. (2020) [1998]. "Discography: The KLF (including The JAMS, The Timelords, 2K etc.)". Archived from the original on 29 February 2020.) which is the main source from which this article has been compiled.
^According to the label of "Burn The Bastards", "this is a transition record" between The JAMs and The KLF.[24]
^"Burn the Beat" was the name of an instrumental remix of "Burn the Bastards" and also the name of a separate single containing remixes of the song. The singles are credited to The KLF, but the original recording is taken from the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu album Who Killed The JAMs?. For more information see Burn the Bastards.
^Pure Trance 3 ("Love Trance"), 4 ("Turn Up the Strobe"), and the original Pure Trance 5 ("E-Train to Trancentral") were not released, although sleeves and labels were printed. "E-Train to Trancentral" and "Last Train to Trancentral (Pure Trance Original)" may be alternate names for the same recording.
^The last single by The KLF to be sold through normal retail channels.
^Released as a limited edition single in Israel and Palestine in November 1993.
^A remix of a track from the originalThe White Room album.
^A short re-modelling of What Time Is Love? that bears little relation to the original track; in the words of Peter Robinson, an "explosion, followed by 99 seconds of post-nuclear rumbling".[29]
^The following unreleased singles are not listed: "Make It Rain" and "No More Tears", which feature on The White Room. "Go To Sleep" was never scheduled, and featured on the scrapped White Room album. The "Club Mix" of "Madrugada Eterna" was released on a very limited edition white label; alternate mixes were released on Chill Out and "Kylie Said to Jason". The club mix of "It's Grim Up North" (promo only). The Pure Trance LP is excluded because of insufficient sources; it was likely either disc 2 of Shag Times (sometimes called Towards the Trance) or a compilation of the not-completed "Pure Trance" series of singles.
Top 100 peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
