MUSIC | HISTORY
The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu
The legend of Bill Drummond
I admit. I didn’t like the sound of the KLF. I thought they were incredibly annoying. And who the fuck was Tammy Wynette? I never bought their album either. But I loved the disruption that Bill Drummond submitted onto the music industry in the late 80s and early 90s.
Drummond was a legend. He lived by his friend's advice “don’t bother doing anything unless it is heroic!” and boy, was he heroic!
His music credentials were astonishing. He co-founded Big in Japan and went on to produce records for Echo and the Bunnymen, Zodiac Mindwarp, and The Proclaimers. He knew a thing or two about music. He claimed it was all too easy to score a number one hit and duly made it happen with a novelty record. “Doctorin’ the Tardis” by The Timelords is another example of a cloying, ear-worm tune that resists any attempts to cleanse it from your system. After reaching number one, he released a book titled ‘The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way)’. Absolute legend.
He scoffed at the music industry. He was better than that. He didn’t feel the need to kowtow to any executives. He was on a mission to destroy the establishment. And for that, I love Bill Drummond.
