The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds

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So before blurting out your condemnation of their ideas, let it filter through you; don’t try and over rationalise or look for the logical answer. These owners are usually very enthusiastic and encouraging types who have a long, broad and deep love of all things musical; often they have been musicians themselves but have decided to knock their days on the road on the head and get into what they hoped would be the more lucrative and stable business of owning a studio.

Was this destruction of the remaining savings from their music career - “the act they can never explain or get over” - some form of confrontational artistic statement? You will find engineers everywhere trying to impress you with the fact that “Sergeant Pepper” was recorded on a four track. Listen to what they all have to say but take nothing as gospel; you are going to have to start building up your own picture of how it all moves. Stunning' Dan Schreiber, No Such Thing As a Fish'A pop biography for people who don't read pop biographies' Dorian Lynskey, Guardian'Brilliant, discursive and wise' Ben Goldacre'Utterly irresistible and totally brilliant' The Quietus'A thing of endlessly fascinating, utterly demented genius' Alexis PetridisThey were the bestselling singles band in the world. The book is a gauche attempt to weave together the story of a band (about which I actually learned very little, but perhaps and in retrospect more than I needed to) with an eclectic mix of incongruous, incoherent and poorly stitched together theories about art, psychology, alchemy, magic and (I’m serious) the world financial crisis of 2008.They will be too worried that you are thinking they are the total dick head and on that basis will book a rival studio. All through these years, alongside the scratchy and austere indie labels, has grown what might be termed the independent service industries, providing services that previously only the majors could command: numerous pluggers, publicists, sales forces and, most important of all, reliable and comprehensive distribution. So, when he says they do have the five consecutive days but not starting until the tenth (or whatever date they quote) tell him to pencil it in (“pencil” means provisionally booked) and you will get back to him in a couple of days to let him know either way. Remember, Top of the Pops is all powerful and has outlasted all the greats (Cliff being the exception to the rule). What can be achieved when no great financial rewards or long term career prospects allowing for creative freedom can be hoped for, let alone guaranteed?

It was whilst perusing the Audible sale, I came across Paul Higgs’ book, The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds, and, based on my curiosity, I purchased it. The celebrated, of course, are apt to fall into a world of drugs, drink, broken marriages and bankruptcy but even this is given the glamour treatment instead of the squalid misery that it is in reality.

It is a little known fact but when it comes to creative ideas the majority of people are creative geniuses. To put it simply, the recording studio engineer’s job is to put the noise that musicians create on tape. From now on every time you telephone someone on business remember to give them your name and the company you are from (even though it’s only you).