The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. The Timelords. K Foundation.

The KLF.

This enigmatic group assumed a number of names in their relatively short heyday from 1987-1992, when dramatically the KLF left the music industry , deleted their back catalogue of records, and literally set fire to the profits they had made–$1 million British pounds.

What possessed the KLF to do that?

Who are the KLF, and what’s it all about?

Are they (shudder) performance artists? rave pioneers? a pop group? Pranksters? Magicians? agents of chaos?

Oso Blanco and Poolhouse, co-hosts of the acclaimed bi-weekly internet radio program I Was There™, set forth on a journey to retrace the legend of this historic and sublimely influential group most notoriously known as the KLF–2 disaffected pop musicians who changed the trajectory of music FOREVER, and the myriad of ways in which this was done.

To understand what the KLF is REALLY about requires an intense schizo-affective sperg-out, a stress testing of the limits of history and trivia and myth and mystique, in a way like only Poolhouse and Oso can perform for you.

To know why the KLF burned a million pounds, and deleted their records, and got sued by ABBA, and what that all has to do with usury, the Illuminati and..Marduk.. requires a soul sonic historiography like none other, one that spans 20,000 years and touches everything from acid house to crank religions to Tammy Wynette.

This re-telling weaves transcends “Behind the Music” style biography. By blending life experience, pop criticism, esoteric interpretations, and paranoid American folklore, this program creates an experience for you to get lost in.

This is much more than “the KLF story.” This is the tale of two pairs of men–Rockman Rock & Kingboy D, Oso and Pool–and their respective struggles to balance the forces of order and chaos as they delve into the mysteries of ritual, performance, and creation, in search of redemption and escape from the machinations of the shadowy forces who dwell beneath the political horizon.

Follow Oso on X

https://x.com/OsoBlanc0

Program Notes & Selected Discography

Listen to The KLF on Spotify (the JAMS sadly belong only to The Void):

KLF - First Impressions (00:08:22)

Intro: This is What the KLF is About (00:15:05)

The KLF - 3am Eternal

The KLF - Last Train to Trancentral

KLF Burn $1 Million (1994) [The 3rd Fire] (00:23:23)

20,000 Years of ShoutShoutShout (00:45:54)

“The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu” from The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, Soundtrack from the Audio Book featuring Ken Campbell and Christopher Fairbank

Samplecity (1987) (00:54:23)

The JAMS - Queen and I

The JAMS - All You Need is Love

The JAMS - Whitney Joins the Jams

The KLF - Build a Fire

The JAMS Burn Their Debut Album [The nd Fire]

INTERMISSION: Poolhouse Kicks Out the Jams Suite (1:03:57)

- Disaster Fund Collection

- Rockman Rock (Parts 2 and 3)

- Hey Hey We are not the Monkees

- Me Cu Rong

Who Killed the JAMS? (1988) (1:08:15)

The JAMS - Porpoise Song

The JAMS - Prestwich Prophet’s Grin

The JAMS - Burn the Bastards

Timelords (1990) (1:21:18)

Timelords - Doctorin’ the TARDIS

Turn Up the Strobe (1990-1991)

Trancentral (1991-1992) (1:39:11)

“The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu” from The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, Soundtrack from the Audio Book featuring Ken Campbell and Christopher Fairbank

The KLF - Rites of Mu (VHS) (The Second Fire)

The KLF - What Time is Love? (Live from SSL)

The KLF - Go to Sleep (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Version)

The KLF - Kylie Said to Jason

Liaison D - Heartbeat

The KLF - Madrugada Eterna

The KLF feat. Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient

Resources:

The Illuminatus! Trilogy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illuminatus!_Trilogy

The Rites of Mu (the 2nd Fire)

KLF on Tops of the Pops

The Manual

http://klf.de/home/publication/manual-number-one-easy-way/

http://www.lee-web.net/pdfs/the_manual_full.pdf

K Foundation Burn a Million Quid

Listen to the I WAS THERE™ archive, featuring Oso and Poolhouse - via backklash:

https://backklash.substack.com/s/i-was-there

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit backklash.substack.com