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"3 a.m. Eternal" is a song by British
acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthes ...
group
the KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing ...
, taken from their fourth and final studio album, '' The White Room'' (1991). Numerous versions of the song were released as
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
between 1989 and 1992. In January 1991, an acid house
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...
version of the song became an international top ten hit single, reaching number-one on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, number two on the
UK Dance Singles Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record ...
and number five on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and leading to the KLF becoming the internationally biggest-selling singles band of 1991. The following year, when the KLF accepted an invitation to perform at the 1992 BRIT Awards ceremony, they caused controversy with a succession of
anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...
gestures that included a duet performance of "3 a.m. Eternal" with the
crust punk Crust punk (also known as crust or stenchcore) is a form of music influenced by English punk rock and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on politic ...
band
Extreme Noise Terror Extreme Noise Terror (often abbreviated to ENT) are a British extreme metal band formed in Ipswich, England in 1985 and one of the earliest and most influential crust bands. Noted for one of the earliest uses of dual vocalists in hardcore,Bon ...
, during which KLF co-founder Bill Drummond fired machine-gun blanks over the audience of
music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
luminaries. A studio-produced version of this song was issued as a limited edition mail order
7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...
, the final release by the KLF and their
independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
, KLF Communications. ''
Q Magazine ''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series '' The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ...
'' ranked "3 a.m. Eternal" number 150 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever" in 2003.


Origins

The original 1989
12-inch The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...
single release constituted the second of the KLF's "Pure Trance" series. There were two issues, numbered 005T (pink writing on a black sleeve, with two KLF mixes) and 005R (black writing on a pink sleeve, with four more mixes, including remixes by the Cauty/ Paterson incarnation of
The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...
("Blue Danube Orbital") and
The Moody Boys The Moody Boys or Moody Boyz are Tony Thorpe's UK-based record production and remix outfit, active since 1988. The Moody Boys were closely linked with The KLF - and in particular with KLF member Jimmy Cauty - until the KLF's retirement in 1992, ...
).


Stadium House version

A version heavily reworked for a mainstream audience, "3 a.m. Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.)", was issued on 7 January 1991, reaching number one on the UK singles chart and number five on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. This version had a rap by Ricardo da Force & opening vocals from soul legend
P. P. Arnold Patricia Ann Cole (born October 3, 1946), known professionally as P. P. Arnold, is an American soul singer. Arnold began her career as an Ikette with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in 1965. The following year she relocated to London to pursue a solo ...
(who also features in the music video). Although a lot of crowd noise appears on the mix, it is in fact a purely studio-based creation. The "S.S.L." in the subtitle refers to a
Solid State Logic Solid State Logic (SSL) is a British company based in Begbroke, Oxfordshire, England that designs and markets audio mixing consoles, signal processors, and other audio technologies for the post-production, video production, broadcast, sound re ...
mixing desk. The seven inch version of this mix appears on the album '' The White Room''. The main B-side was a dub-based version of the same song, "3 a.m. Eternal (Guns of Mu Mu)", featuring the bassline from
The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...
's "
Guns of Brixton A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...
". Concurrent with the chart-topping version, yet another 12-inch was released, with resolutely underground remixes by The Moody Boys.


Music video

There are two video versions for the SSL video. The American version includes an opening with a travel through the mythical "Land of Mu Mu" where the KLF are performing inside a pyramid scenery with singers in a stadium. The European version shows the KLF vehicle (the police cruiser used in their '' Timelords'' incarnation) voyage around
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
with rapper Ricardo da Force singing in the backseat and a rave showing in the background. The video received
heavy rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely ...
on
MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serv ...
.


The KLF vs Extreme Noise Terror

In January 1992, the KLF released a limited edition mail order only single containing a new version of "3 a.m." featuring the
grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. ...
/crust punk band
Extreme Noise Terror Extreme Noise Terror (often abbreviated to ENT) are a British extreme metal band formed in Ipswich, England in 1985 and one of the earliest and most influential crust bands. Noted for one of the earliest uses of dual vocalists in hardcore,Bon ...
(called the "Christmas Top of the Pops 1991" version as the KLF had hoped to perform it on the 1991 Christmas
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
but were rebuffed by the BBC). The two bands instead performed a live version of the song at the
BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
ceremony in February 1992. The Brits performance included a limping, kilted, cigar-chomping Drummond firing blanks from an automatic weapon over the heads of the crowd. After viewing the rehearsals, '' NME'' writer Danny Kelly said: "Compared to what's preceded it, this is a turbo-powered metallic wolf breaking into a coop full of particularly sick doves... And the noise? Well, the noise is hardcore punk thrash through a disco Techno hit played by crusties. All bases covered, brilliantly. Clever, ''clever'' bastards." At the end of the performance,
Scott Piering Scott Piering (13 September 1946, Duluth, Minnesota – 22 January 2000) was a successful and influential American-born music publicist for many British music acts, including Pulp, The KLF, The Smiths (who he also managed), Stereophonics, The Or ...
announced to a stunned crowd that "The KLF have now left the music business". Within a few months, they did just that—their records were deleted and the KLF retired from the industry. Kelly later described the Brits performance as the KLF's "self-destruction in an orgy of punk rock..., mock outrage ... and real bad taste". The track finally saw wide release in 2021 when it was included as part of the Solid State Logik compilations released by the KLF in January that year.


Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...
from ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...
'' commented, "Alternative dance act makes its label debut with an invigorating rave that picks up where the previous "What Time Is Love" left off. Sonic blast of techno/hip-hop, industrial riffs, and R&B diva vocals has the juice to kick hard on the dancefloor and ignite crossover radio action." In a January 1991 feature on the KLF, '' NME'' writer Roger Morton described the "Pure Trance Original" as a "classic club track" and the "Live at the S.S.L." version as "murderously powerful". As ''Record Mirror''s "Single of the Week", the "Live at the S.S.L." version was regarded as "a magnificent pulsating beast combining bleeps and body heat". Appraising the track retrospectively in 2000, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' referred to the "Live at the S.S.L." version as an "epic pop masterpiece". An editor from '' Complex'' commented that "the message f the songis universal: Time is eternal." Tom Ewing of
Freaky Trigger ''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2000 ...
described is as an "awe-inpsiring  ic colossal, unprecedented dancefloor bulldozer". Dave Sholin from the ''
Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The p ...
'' wrote, "Production wizardry from these techno-talents earns three stars for a highly original effort. A #1 track in their native England, it's won over audiences throughout Europe and stands to do the same in North America. Strengthened by a video that is nothing short of exceptional, it's getting major exposure on MTV with five plays a day in "Buzz Bin" rotation." The "Pure Trance Original" was described by ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...
'' as a "euro-flavoured
deep house Deep house is a subgenre of house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music produce ...
pulser" with atmospheric chanting and a "cathedral-like resonance". In 2020, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' ranked the song number 23 in their list of "The 100 greatest UK No 1s".


Formats and track listings

"3 a.m. Eternal (Pure Trance Original)" was aired as a UK
12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...
in May 1989. "3 a.m. Eternal (Live from the S.S.L.)" was given an international release as a single on 7 January 1991. A single of
remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...
es by
The Moody Boys The Moody Boys or Moody Boyz are Tony Thorpe's UK-based record production and remix outfit, active since 1988. The Moody Boys were closely linked with The KLF - and in particular with KLF member Jimmy Cauty - until the KLF's retirement in 1992, ...
was given a limited release a week later. In January 1992, a one-sided 7-inch single of the KLF's collaboration with Extreme Noise Terror was released via
mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...
only, a limited pressing of 1000 copies. Key


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:3 A.M. Eternal 1989 songs 1989 singles 1991 singles The KLF songs KLF Communications singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in Finland Song recordings produced by the KLF English house music songs Songs written by Jimmy Cauty Songs written by Bill Drummond