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William Ernest Drummond (born 29 April 1953) is a Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer. He was a co-founder of the late-1980s avant-garde pop 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 ...
and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the
K Foundation The K Foundation was an art foundation set up by Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond, formerly of The KLF, in 1993, following their 'retirement' from the music industry. The Foundation served as an artistic outlet for the duo's post-retirement KLF i ...
, with which he famously burned £1 million in 1994. More recent art activities, carried out under Drummond's banner of Penkiln Burn, include making and distributing cakes, soup, flowers, beds, and shoe-shines. More recent music projects include No Music Day and the international tour of a choir called The17. Drummond is the author of several books about art and music.


Background

William Ernest Drummond was born in
Butterworth Butterworth may refer to: Places * Butterworth (ancient township), a former township centred on Milnrow, in the then Parish of Rochdale, England, United Kingdom * Butterworth, Eastern Cape, now also known as Gcuwa, a town located in South Africa * ...
, South Africa, where his father was a minister for the
Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
. His family moved back to Scotland when he was 18 months old, and his early years were spent in the town of
Newton Stewart Newton Stewart ( Gd: ''Baile Ùr nan Stiùbhartach'') is a former burgh town in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. The town is on the River Cree with most of the town to the west of the river, and ...
. He moved to
Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the built-up ...
, Northamptonshire at the age of 11. It was here that he first became involved in performing as a musician, initially working with school friends such as Gary Carson and Chris Ward. He attended the
University of Northampton , mottoeng = Let us not be ignorant , established = 2005 (gained University status) 1975 (Nene College established) , type = Public , endowment = £0.95 m (2015) , chancellor = Richard Coles , vice_chancellor ...
and the
Art and Design Academy The John Lennon Art and Design Building (formerly the Art and Design Academy) in Liverpool, England, houses Liverpool John Moores University's School of Art and Design. The school was formerly located at the Grade II listed Liverpool College of ...
from 1970 to 1973. He later decided that "art should use everything, be everywhere" and that, as an artist, he would "use whatever medium is to hand". He spent two years working as a milkman, gardener, steel worker, nursing assistant, theatre carpenter, and scene painter. Drummond also worked on a trawler.


Career


1970s: ''Illuminatus'', Big in Japan, and Zoo

In 1975 Drummond began working at the
Everyman Theatre, Liverpool The Everyman Theatre stands at the north end of Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1964, in Hope Hall (once a chapel, then a cinema), in an area of Liverpool noted for its bohemian environment and political edge, a ...
as a carpenter and scene painter. In 1976 he was the set designer for the first stage production of ''
The Illuminatus Trilogy ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' is a series of three novels by American writers Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, first published in 1975.''Illuminatus!'' was written between 1969 and 1971, but not published until 1975 according to Robert An ...
'', a 12-hour performance which opened on 23 November 1976, and which was staged by
Ken Campbell Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, writer and director known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre". Campbell achieved notoriety in the ...
's "Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool". The production transferred to the National Theatre, and then the Roundhouse, in London. According to Campbell, Drummond became known as "the man who went for
Araldite Araldite is a registered trademark of Huntsman Advanced Materials (previously part of Ciba-Geigy) referring to their range of engineering and structural epoxy, acrylic, and polyurethane adhesives. Swiss manufacturers originally launched Araldite D ...
": "In the middle of a tour, Drummond announced he was popping out to get some glue – and never returned." Drummond later wrote that none of his career would have happened as it did if not for what he learnt from Campbell, starting with the advice "Bill, don’t bother doing anything unless it is heroic!" After absconding from the ''Illuminatus!'' production in London, Drummond returned to Liverpool and co-founded the band Big in Japan. Other members included Holly Johnson (
Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (singer), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (FGTH drummer), Peter ...
), Budgie (
Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine ...
),
Jayne Casey Jayne Casey (born 1956, in Wallasey, Cheshire) is an English artistic director who was known for being involved in the Liverpool punk and new wave scene in the 1970s and 1980s, with Big in Japan, Pink Military and Pink Industry. A Keychange ...
( Pink Military/
Pink Industry Pink Industry were a post-punk band from Liverpool formed by Jayne Casey after her previous band Pink Military split up in 1981. History When Pink Military split up in 1981, singer Jayne Casey formed the more electronically oriented band Pink ...
) and
Ian Broudie Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...
(
The Lightning Seeds The Lightning Seeds (also known as Lightning Seeds) are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan, Care, and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based s ...
). After the band's demise, Drummond and another member, his best friend
David Balfe David Balfe (born 1958 in Carlisle, Cumberland) is a musician and record company executive, most notable for playing keyboards with the Teardrop Explodes, founding the Zoo and Food independent record labels, signing Blur and for being the subj ...
, founded
Zoo Records Zoo Records was a British independent record label formed by Bill Drummond and David Balfe in 1978. Zoo was launched to release the work of the perennially struggling Liverpool band Big in Japan (the label's first release being the '' From ...
. Zoo's first release was Big in Japan's posthumous EP, '' From Y To Z and Never Again''. They went on to act as producers of the debut albums by Echo & the Bunnymen and
The Teardrop Explodes The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single " Reward", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. ...
, both of which Drummond would later manage somewhat idiosyncratically. With Zoo Music Ltd, Drummond and Balfe were also music publishers for
Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction are a British hard rock group, which was formed in 1985. Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction play a sleazy style of commercial hard rock featuring big riffs and choruses, as was the trend in the band's ...
and
The Proclaimers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
. The production team of Drummond and Balfe was christened The Chameleons, who recorded the single "Touch" together with singer Lori Lartey as
Lori and the Chameleons Zoo Records was a British independent record label formed by Bill Drummond and David Balfe in 1978. Zoo was launched to release the work of the perennially struggling Liverpool band Big in Japan (the label's first release being the '' From ...
''passim''. and were involved with the production on Echo & the Bunnymen's debut album, released on the Korova label.


1980s: A&R man & solo recording artist

Drummond later took a job in the mainstream music business as an A&R consultant for the label WEA working with, amongst others,
Strawberry Switchblade Strawberry Switchblade were a Scottish new wave/ pop duo formed in Glasgow in 1981 by Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, best known for their song "Since Yesterday" from 1985, and their flamboyant clothing with bows and polka-dots. History Before ...
and
Brilliant Brilliant may refer to: Music * ''Brilliant'' (album), a 2012 album by Ultravox *Brilliant (band), a British pop/rock group active in the 1980s * "Brilliant" (song), a song by D'espairsRay *Brilliant Classics, Dutch classical music record label * ...
. In July 1986, on his 33 and a third birthday, Drummond repented his corporate involvement and resigned his job by way of a "ringingly quixotic press release": "I will be 33.5 (sic) years old in September, a time for a revolution in my life. There is a mountain to climb the hard way, and I want to see the world from the top..." (In an interview in December 1990, Drummond recalled spending half a million pounds at WEA on the band
Brilliant Brilliant may refer to: Music * ''Brilliant'' (album), a 2012 album by Ultravox *Brilliant (band), a British pop/rock group active in the 1980s * "Brilliant" (song), a song by D'espairsRay *Brilliant Classics, Dutch classical music record label * ...
 – for whom he envisioned massive worldwide success – only for them to completely flop. "At that point I thought 'What am I doing this for?' and I got out.") Drummond was "obviously very sharp," said WEA chairman Rob Dickens, "and he knew the business. But he was too radical to be happy inside a corporate structure. He was better off working as an outsider." Later in the year, Drummond issued a solo album, '' The Man'', a country/folk music recording, backed by Australian rock group
The Triffids The Triffids were an Australian alternative rock and pop band, formed in Perth in Western Australia in May 1978 with David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist.McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry fo"The Triff ...
. The album was released on Creation Records and included the sardonic "
Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side pro ...
Is Dead", where he outlined his fantasy of shooting the Teardrop Explodes frontman in the head, to ensure the band's early demise and subsequent legendary status. The song has commonly been seen as a reply to the Cope song "Bill Drummond Said". Drummond wrote and performed "The Manager", filmed by
Bill Butt Bill Butt is a British filmmaker, artist/designer, television director, writer and producer. Butt produced the '' Eyewitness'' television series during the 1990s and has directed music videos and designed album covers. History Butt was lighting en ...
in which he lamented the state of the music industry and offered his services at £100 a time to help fix it; one of his complaints was about remixes: "songs have to be written, not layered". The spoken-word recording also appeared as a B-side, and on some compilations as "The Manager's Speech". ''The Man'' received positive reviews – including 4 stars from ''
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''. ...
''; and 5 from ''Sounds'' Magazine who called the album a "touching if idiosyncratic biographical statement". Drummond intended to focus on writing books once ''The Man'' had been issued but, as he recalled in 1990, "That only lasted three months, until I had an theridea for a record and got dragged back into it all".


1987–1992: The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, The Timelords and The KLF

While out walking on
New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whi ...
1987, Drummond formulated a plan to make a hip-hop record. However, "I wasn't brave enough to go and do it myself", he said. "...although I can play the guitar, and I can knock out a few things on the piano, I knew nothing, personally, about the technology. And, I thought, I knew Jimmy auty I knew he was a like spirit, we share similar tastes and backgrounds in music and things. So I phoned him up that day and said 'Let's form a band called The Justified Ancients of Mu-Mu'. And he knew exactly, to coin a phrase, 'where I was coming from'". Drummond and Cauty (who Drummond had signed to
Food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...
/ WEA as a member of Brilliant) released their first single,
The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu 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 ...
's "
All You Need Is Love "All You Need Is Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in July 1967. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was Britain's contribution t ...
", in March 1987. This was followed by an album – ''
1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?) ''1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)'' is the debut studio album by British electronic band The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (the JAMs), later known as the KLF. ''1987'' was produced using extensive unauthorised samples that plagiarised a wid ...
'' – in June of the same year, and a high-profile copyright dispute with
ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...
and the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society."Thank You for the Music", ''New Musical Express'', 17 October 1987. A second album – '' Who Killed The JAMs?'', also the last album under the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs) name, was released in February 1988. Later in 1988, Drummond and Cauty released a 'novelty' pop single, "
Doctorin' the Tardis "Doctorin' the Tardis" is a 1988 electronic Novelty record, novelty pop Single (music), single by the Timelords ("Time Boy" and "Lord Rock", aliases of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, better known as The KLF). The song is predominantly a Mashup (m ...
" as The Timelords. The song reached number one in 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 ...
on 12 June, and charted highly in Australia and New Zealand. On the back of this success, the duo self-published a book, '' The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way)''. In late 1988, the duo and released their first singles under the moniker
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 ...
, " Burn the Bastards" and " Burn the Beat" (both taken from the JAMs' last album). (From late 1987, Drummond and Cauty's independent record label had been named "
KLF Communications 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 h ...
".) As The KLF, Drummond and Cauty would amass fame and fortune. "
What Time Is Love? "What Time Is Love?" is a song released, in different mixes, as a series of singles by the band the KLF. It featured prominently and repeatedly in their output from 1988 to 1992 and, under the moniker of 2K, in 1997. In its original form, the ...
" – a signature song which they would revisit and revitalise several times in the coming years – saw its first release in July 1988, and its success spawned an album, '' The "What Time Is Love?" Story'', in September 1989. '' Chill Out'', an
ambient house Ambient house is a downtempo subgenre of house music that first emerged in the late 1980s, combining elements of acid house and ambient music. The genre developed in chill-out rooms and specialist clubs as part of the UK's dance music scene. It ...
album which had its roots in Cauty's chill-out sessions with
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 ...
's
Alex Paterson Alex Paterson (also known as Dr Alex Paterson, born Duncan Alexander Robert Paterson; 15 October 1959 in Battersea, London) is an English musician and co-founder of ambient house group The Orb, in which he has worked since its inception. Li ...
, was released in February 1990. Described by ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'' as "The KLF's comedown classic", ''Chill Out'' was named the fifth best dance album of all time in a 1996 ''
Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...
'' feature. The KLF's commercial success peaked in 1991, with '' The White Room'' album and the accompanying "Stadium House" singles, remixes of 1988's "What Time Is Love?", 1989's " 3 a.m. Eternal", 1990's "
Last Train to Trancentral "Last Train to Trancentral" is a song released, in different mixes, as a series of singles by British electronic band The KLF, including "Last Train to Trancentral (Live from the Lost Continent)". A commercially successful single of April 1991, ...
"; and " Justified and Ancient", a new song based on a sample from ''1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)'' In 1992, The KLF were awarded the "Best British group"
BRIT Award 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 ...
. With grindcore group
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 ...
, The KLF performed a live "violently antagonistic performance" of " 3 a.m. Eternal" at the BRIT Awards ceremony in front of "a stunned music-business audience". Later in the evening Drummond and Cauty dumped a dead sheep at the entrance to one of the post-ceremony parties. '' NME'' listed this appearance at number 4 in their "top 100 rock moments", and, in 2003, ''The Observer'' named it the fifth greatest "publicity stunt" in the history of popular music. On 14 May 1992, The KLF announced their immediate retirement from the music industry and the deletion of their entire back catalogue, an act which associate
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 ...
described as " hrowingaway a fortune". When he left WEA, Drummond issued an enigmatic press release, this time talking of a "wild and wounded, glum and glorious, shit but shining path" he and Cauty had been following "...these past five years. The last two of which has led us up onto the commercial high ground—we are at a point where the path is about to take a sharp turn from these sunny uplands down into a netherworld of we know not what." There have been numerous suggestions that in 1992 Drummond was at the edge of a nervous breakdown. ''Vox'' Magazine wrote, for example, that 1992 was "the year of Bill's 'breakdown', when The KLF, perched on the peak of greater-than-ever success, quit the music business, ... ndmachine gunned the tuxedo'd twats in the front row of that year's BRIT Awards ceremony." Drummond himself said that he was on the edge of the "abyss".


1993–1997: K Foundation, burning one million pounds, and other activities with Jimmy Cauty

Despite The KLF's retirement from the music business, Drummond's involvement with Jimmy Cauty was far from over. In 1993, the pair regrouped as the
K Foundation The K Foundation was an art foundation set up by Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond, formerly of The KLF, in 1993, following their 'retirement' from the music industry. The Foundation served as an artistic outlet for the duo's post-retirement KLF i ...
, ostensibly a foundation for the arts. They established the
K Foundation art award The 1994 K Foundation award was an award given by the K Foundation (Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty) to the "worst artist of the year". The shortlist for the £40,000 K Foundation award was identical to the shortlist for the well-established but cont ...
for the "''worst'' artist of the year". The award, worth £40,000, was presented to Rachel Whiteread on 23 November 1993 outside London's
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
. Ms Whiteread had just accepted the £20,000 1993
Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...
award for best British
Contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic ...
ist inside the gallery. The K Foundation award attracted huge interest from the British broadsheet newspapers. Infamy followed when, on 23 August 1994, the K Foundation burnt what remained of The KLF's earnings, one million pounds, at a
boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...
on the
Scottish island This is a list of islands of Scotland, the mainland of which is part of the island of Great Britain. Also included are various other related tables and lists. The definition of an offshore island used in this list is "land that is surrounded by ...
of Jura. A film of the event – ''
Watch the K Foundation Burn a Million Quid A watch is a portable Clock, timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, atta ...
'' – was taken on tour, with Drummond and Cauty discussing the incineration with members of the public after each screening. In 2004 Drummond admitted to the BBC that he now regretted burning the money. "It's a hard one to explain to your kids and it doesn't get any easier. I wish I could explain why I did it so people would understand." On 4 September 1995 the duo recorded " The Magnificent" for ''
The Help Album ''The Help Album'' is a 1995 charity album to raise funds for the War Child charity, which provided aid to war-stricken areas, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. All the songs were recorded in a single day. The album features British and Irish ar ...
''. In 1997, Drummond and Cauty briefly re-emerged as 2K and K2 Plant Hire Ltd. with various plans to "
Fuck the Millennium "Fuck the Millennium", sometimes spelled "***k the Millennium", is a protest song by the band 2K—Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty—better known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (the JAMs) or the KLF. The song was inspired musically by Jeremy ...
". K2 Plant Hire's published aim was to "build a massive pyramid containing one brick for every person born in the UK during the 20th century" Members of the public were urged to donate bricks, with 1.5 bricks per Briton being needed to complete the project. Drummond also contributed a short story titled "Let’s Grind, or How K2 Plant Hire Ltd Went to Work" to the book "Disco 2000".


Music post-KLF

In 1996-1997 Bill Drummond did a music project in
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
, with
Mark Manning Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction are a British hard rock group, which was formed in 1985. Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction play a sleazy style of commercial hard rock featuring big riffs and choruses, as was the trend in the band's ...
and a selection of Finnish artists. Drummond's involvement in the music industry has been minimal since his final collaboration with Jimmy Cauty as 2K in 1997. In 1998, the Scottish Football Association invited Drummond to write and record a theme song for the Scotland national football team's 1998 FIFA World Cup campaign. Drummond decided against doing it (Del Amitri got the job) but he wondered if he had twisted fate by declining, because the other major football songs of that year were made by associates of his: Keith Allen ("Vindaloo") and Ian Broudie ("Three Lions"), two men he had met on the same day when working on ''Illuminatus!'' in 1976, and former protege Ian McCulloch. In 2000, Drummond released '' 45'', a book consisting of a "series of loosely related vignettes forming the rambling diary of one year." ''45'' also explored Drummond's KLF legacy, and was well received by the press. Drummond featured on Seeming's 2020 album ''The Birdwatcher's Guide to Atrocity'', performing the spoken-word portion of "Learn to Vanish". It was his first appearance on record in 20 years.


Art activities and the Penkiln Burn

Drummond studied painting at Liverpool School of Art from 1972 to 1973. Following that, he decided that instead of limiting his practice to paint and canvas, as an artist he would use any medium that came to hand. He has said that much of his work since – including the pop-music, book-writing, and The17 choir – has been done as art. From 1998, Drummond's art activities have been carried out using the brand-name of the Penkiln Burn. This is the name of the river in Scotland upon the banks of which he played and fished as a boy. In 1995, Drummond bought ''A Smell of Sulphur in the Wind'' by Richard Long, for $20,000. In Drummond’s own words, he 'fell in love with Richard Long’s work because' "it was art by walking and doing things on his walks." Five years later, Drummond felt that he was no longer "getting his money's worth" from the photograph. He decided to try to sell it by placing a series of placards around the country. When this failed to result in its sale, in 2001 he cut the photograph and mounting card into 20,000 pieces to sell for $1 each. His plan, upon retrieving the $20,000 in cash, is to walk with it to the remote place in Iceland where Richard Long had made the photograph and bury it in a box beneath the stone circle. He will then take his own photograph of the site, bring it home, frame it, hang it in the same place in his bedroom where the Richard Long hung, and call the new work ''The Smell of Money Underground''. Drummond's books ''How to be an Artist'' and a later soft-bound edition titled ''$20,000'' recounts this story. In 2002, Drummond was involved in a controversial exhibition at the deconsecrated
St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Liverpool St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church is a former church in Seel Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England now transformed into a restaurant and bar called Alma de Cuba - "the soul of Cuba". St. Peter's was built in 1788 by Rev A.B. MacDonald of th ...
. Drummond contributed a guestbook which asked visitors "Is God a Cunt?". It was later reported that the artwork had been stolen and a £1000 reward offered for its return. Drummond himself said that he would answer "no" to his own question: "God is responsible for all the things I love, the speckles on a
brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...
; the sound of
Angus Young Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, schoolbo ...
's guitar, the nape of my girlfriend's neck, the song of the
blackcap The Eurasian blackcap (''Sylvia atricapilla''), usually known simply as the blackcap, is a common and widespread typical warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences between the five subspecies are sm ...
when he returns in Spring. I never blame God for all the shit, for the baby
Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
n slaughtered in a casual
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...
, the ever-present wars, drudgery and misery that fills most of our lives." Several Penkiln Burn projects involve making things and then distributing them. Drummond has created a Soup Line drawn across a map going through Belfast and Nottingham to the edges of the British Isles. Anyone living on the Soup Line may contact Drummond to come to their house and make soup for them, their family and friends. Drummond has also constructed – and encourages others to construct – Cake Circles drawn on maps. Cakes are then made and delivered to people who live within the circle with the words "I have baked you a cake, here it is". Other projects involve Drummond building beds from timber in public places which are then raffled off. In 2011, for the Venice Biennale, Drummond took up shoe-shining on the streets of Venice. Each spring, Drummond gives away 40 bunches of daffodils to strangers on the street in different cities. Drummond's web-based projects include MyDeath.net, where people can plan their own funeral. Another site, youwhores.com, was meant for anyone to advertise any kind of service at their own set price. Due to misuse though, youwhores.com has become archival only. Still open for contributions is Drummond's website www.openmanifesto.com which "exists to define what art is and art is not." The Open Manifesto site invites definitions of art in 100 words or less. Drummond was a Director of The Foundry, an arts centre in
Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an imp ...
, London which closed in 2010. He is also owner of The Curfew Tower in
Cushendall Cushendall (), formerly known as Newtownglens, is a coastal village and townland (of 153 acres) in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located in the historic barony of Glenarm Lower and the civil parish of Layd, and is part of Causeway Coa ...
, Northern Ireland."Perfect tower for artistic retreat", Arts Diary, ''
The Belfast News Letter The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737. The newspape ...
'', 26 April 1999, p27
Via an arts trust called in You We Trust, the Curfew Tower acts as an artists' residency.


No Music Day

In 2005, Drummond announced an annual No Music Day on 21 November. The 22 November is Saint Cecilia day – the Patron Saint of Music – so No Music Day represents a fast before the feast. No Music Day was held between 2005 and 2010. In this time,
BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish radio station, radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same na ...
observed it by broadcasting no music, including jingles, for 24 hours. Radio Resonance FM also acknowledged it. In 2009 the entire city of Linz, Austria observed No Music Day with the backing of the city mayor; music was not played on local radio stations or in shops, and the cinemas only showed films without music soundtracks.


The17

Drummond's most recent music project is a
choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
called The17. His first formal performance of The17 was staged with 16 other men in a studio in Leicester in 2004. It followed thoughts about music that Drummond had been having for many years. With the advent of recorded music via the internet, iPods and MP3 players etc. Drummond proclaims that "all recorded music has run its course." The17 creates music that follows no musical history, or necessarily has words, melodies or rhythms. It may be made up of many human voices or none. Performances may only be recorded and played back once and then deleted. The17 can be made up of as many people who want to be a part of it at the time of a performance; they are all then lifetime members. After the first 17 Scores for The17 Drummond opened the writing process to collaborations with The17 members. The17 now has several thousand members who have carried out performances on Drummond's Coast-to-Coast tour across the UK, and a World Tour which has included Jerusalem, Beijing, Port-au-Prince and Gothenburg. 100 performances REPEAT in the town of Derby as a residency for the new Quad arts centre titled ''Slice Through Derby'', were photographed as an ongoing exhibit at the gallery and published as a 100 piece photoset. Performances and actions in Port-au-Prince for the Ghetto Biennale at the end of 2009 preceded the January Haitian earthquake, and the habitual graffito "Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow And All Music Has Disappeared" took on a new resonance in a city with no electricity or infrastructure, rendered suddenly -relatively - musicless. Local artist Claudel Casseus wrote an account of this for Drummond during the reconstruction published as a book ''Imajine'' (Penkiln Burn 14, 2011), and Drummond's own feelings on the residency and the17 actions, Haiti and the earthquake form four of the interview questions in Drummond's ''100'' project originally posed by Radio 4. The17 is the subject of the 2008 book ''17'' published by Beautiful Books/PB (Penkiln Burn 12, 2008). This was preceded by a small book ''SCORES 18-76'' (Penkiln Burn 11, 2006) featuring the second batch of works by The17, developed in actions in schools in the North East of England, in May 2006, Performances, scores, tours and Drummond's related graffiti are documented on a website: the17.org. In 2012 Drummond had a residency in Sheffield at Site Gallery, and the17 were convened at sites around the city, the actions performed here are recounted in the book ''Ragworts'' (Penkiln Burn 18, 2012) and led to the instigation of the annual ''Ragwort Week''. The book was published in an edition of 1000 copies, and 100 copies are made available each year and sold only during ''Ragwort Week''. A performance of The17's SURROUND, originally planned to take place in Damascus, Syria, took place in London on 18 March 2012. Drummond explains in his essay for Treuchet Magazine: 'it would best for all concerned if the Syrian leg of the tri-nation festival was postponed for a few weeks or maybe months, when things would have undoubtedly settled down'.


The Atlantic Archipelago

Between 8-19 April 2012 saw a series of Drummond actions and invocations of The17 in a performance titled '' The Atlantic Archipelago''. This was to mark the conclusion of the 17 project, or at least its curation by Drummond. It began with a performance of Man Bangs a Drum - which would become a staple of his later 25 Paintings tour - on Skegness beach, before heading west along a straight line drawn across a map crossing Matthew St in Liverpool, and ending in Inshmore in Ireland. The17 were summoned at various locations along this line and the preparations for these performances were filmed by director
Stefan Schwietert Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...
for a film ''Coast to Coast'', and documented by photographer
Tracey Moberly Tracey Moberly (born Tracey Karen Wood, Tredegar, South Wales, 1964; formerly married as Sanders-Wood) is an interdisciplinary artist, author and radio show host, and was also a co-owner of the Foundry in London. She exhibits prolifically and ...
for a book of the same name. On 28 April 2013, the day before his 60th birthday, Drummond took part in what has been billed as the last performance of The17. A seventeen-hour version of Score 1: IMAGINE was performed while standing on a manhole cover at the bottom of Mathew Street in Liverpool. Between 3 and 8 July - Drummond screened a film of his Atlantic Archipelago project, '' Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow And All Music Has Disappeared'' along the same 53.1256 degree line of latitude the original performances had been undertaken. Beginning at the home of film and gender theorist Ellen Wright, in
Louth, Lincolnshire Louth () is a market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.OS Explorer map 283:Louth and Mablethorpe: (1:25 000): Louth serves as an important town for a large rural area of eastern Lincolnshire. Visitor a ...
, with a version of The17 which include musicians
Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming pa ...
, Hell Uberend and
Dave Formula Dave Formula (born David Tomlinson 11 August 1946, Whalley Range, Manchester, England), is an English keyboardist and film-soundtrack composer from Manchester, who played with the post-punk bands Magazine and Visage during the end of the 1970s ...
. before moving on to a dawn screening on Skegness beach, through the various locations featured in the film, taking in The Galway Film Fleadh (the only paid ticketed event on the tour), culminating in a sunset screening at Dún Aonghasa on the west coast of Ireland. Between dawn on Monday the 4th of July to sunset on Friday 8 July, Bill Drummond will be screening the film at numerous locations along the latitude ofs North.


The 25 Paintings World Tour: 2014–2025

In February 2014, Drummond announced plans for a world tour, beginning under Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham on 13 March 2014 and ending at the same place on 28 April 2025. Taking in twelve cities in twelve different countries, each leg of the tour will last three months, during which he will produce 25 paintings whilst working on other art projects. A book ''The 25 Paintings'' (Penkiln Burn 19; 2014) featured the paintings themselves in their initial states - to be repainted in different cities of the tour, each describing the different art actions that would for his practice during the following years - some new, some well established - and which would replace the 17 in his repertoire. Other paintings and actions are expected to evolve as the tour progresses and the canvasses are reworked. So far the 25 Paintings Tour has travelled to: 2014: Birmingham, UK 2015: Belgrade, Serbia 2016: Kolkata, India 2018: Lexington, North Carolina, USA and will conclude in 2027: Damascus, Syria


Best Before Death / White Saviour Complex

A film ''Best Before Death'' covering the actions (jobs) ''Bang Drum'', ''Man Made Bed'', ''Make Soup'' and ''Man Shines Shoes'' during the 2016
Kolkata, India Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commerci ...
and 2018
Lexington, North Carolina Lexington is the county seat of Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 18,931. It is located in central North Carolina, south of Winston-Salem. Major highways include I-85, I-85B, U ...
legs of the world tour was made by Paul Duane, Robbie Ryan (Kolkata) and Patrick Jordan (Lexington). The finished film had difficulties gaining distribution and festival screenings as it was criticised as being an example of White Saviour Complex. Drummond wrote a play in his Tenzig Scott Brown persona called ''White Saviour Complex'' consisting of three acts, two of which formed a dialogue between Drummond as Brown, and the actor Tam Dean Burn playing Drummond, Duane's film formed the second act, and this toured the UK and its script became a book (Penkiln Burn 22, 2019). The DVD Release of ''Best Before Death'' (Anti-Worlds, 2019) featured a booklet with a piece written by Drummond called ''Best Before death'' and featuring the script for an imaginary film by Tenzing Scott Brown called ''Bad Wisdom''.


Return of The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu

Drummond reunited with Jimmy Cauty in 2017. They returned as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, with a novel - '' 2023: A Trilogy'' - and a 3-day event, "
Welcome to the Dark Ages Welcome to the Dark Ages was a three-day event organised by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (the JAMs; more widely known as The KLF), held in Liverpool in August 2017. The event heralded a revival of the creative partnership between Jimmy Cauty a ...
". Cauty confirmed that the duo's work is an ongoing project.


Reviews, accolades and criticism

In 1993, '' Select'' magazine published a list of the 100 Coolest People in Pop. Drummond was number one on the list. "What has this giant of coolness not achieved?", they asked: "Like the Monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Drummond has always been a step ahead of human evolution, guiding us on. Manager of The Teardrop Explodes, co-inventor of ambient and trance house, number one pop star, situationist pagan, folk troubadour, pan-dimensional zenarchist gentleman of leisure...and then, ladies and gentlemen, he THROWS IT ALL AWAY, machine-guns the audience and dumps a dead sheep on the doorstep of the Brit Awards and vanishes to build dry-stone walls. His new 'band' The K Foundation make records but say they won't release them at all until world peace is established. Deranged, inspired, intensely cool." Also in 1993, an ''NME'' piece about the
K Foundation The K Foundation was an art foundation set up by Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond, formerly of The KLF, in 1993, following their 'retirement' from the music industry. The Foundation served as an artistic outlet for the duo's post-retirement KLF i ...
found much to praise in Drummond's career, from
Zoo Records Zoo Records was a British independent record label formed by Bill Drummond and David Balfe in 1978. Zoo was launched to release the work of the perennially struggling Liverpool band Big in Japan (the label's first release being the '' From ...
through to the
K Foundation art award The 1994 K Foundation award was an award given by the K Foundation (Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty) to the "worst artist of the year". The shortlist for the £40,000 K Foundation award was identical to the shortlist for the well-established but cont ...
: "Bill Drummond's career is like no other... there's been cynicism... and there's been care (no one who didn't love pop music could have made a record so commercial and so
Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo ...
-lovely as '
Kylie Said to Jason "Kylie Said to Jason" was a 1989 single by The KLF, referring to Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, then stars in the popular Australian TV soap opera ''Neighbours''. Designed for chart success, the single nonetheless failed to enter the UK top 10 ...
', or the madly wonderful '
Last Train to Trancentral "Last Train to Trancentral" is a song released, in different mixes, as a series of singles by British electronic band The KLF, including "Last Train to Trancentral (Live from the Lost Continent)". A commercially successful single of April 1991, ...
', or the
Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta ...
version of ' Justified and Ancient'). There's been mysticism... But most of all there's been a belief that, both in music and life, there's something more."
Charles Shaar Murray Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the ''New Musical Express'' and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of ...
wrote in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' that "
ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...
Drummond is many things, and one of those things is a magician. Many of his schemes... involve symbolically-weighted acts conducted away from the public gaze and documented only by Drummond himself and his participating comrades. Nevertheless, they are intended to have an effect on a worldful of people unaware that the act in question has taken place. That is magical thinking. Art is magic, and so is pop. Bill Drummond is a cultural magician..." In 2001, NME readers voted "the KLF's Art Terrorism" at the Brit Awards in 1992 at number 4 in the "top 100 Rock moments of all time." NME also ranked Drummond as number 17 in its 20 "Greatest Cult Heroes" in 2010. Art Review's artworld "Power 100" listed Drummond as number 98 in 2003. ''
Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
'' has referred to Drummond as a "high-concept joker". In 2006, Drummond's book ''45'' was ranked 21 in the Observer's list of "The 50 greatest music books ever". Kitty Empire of the Guardian included ''45'' in her list of "10 best music memoirs". in 2010. ''45'' also featured in a 2010 book list compiled by Belle & Sebastian. BBC Radio 1 in 2006 included Drummond in a survey of "Most Punk Persons".
Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
ranked Drummond at number 8 in a list of "Most Eccentric Musicians".
Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side pro ...
said in 2000, "I have no relationship with this guy. He burned a million pounds which was not all his, and some of it was mine. People should pay off their creditors before they pull intellectual dry-wank stunts like that." Drummond's 1986 solo album ''The Man'' is among Uncut Magazine's 2010 list of "Greatest Lost Albums".


Artistic output


Discography (solo)

* '' The Man'' (Creation Records, 1986) * ''The King of Joy'' (Creation Records, 1986)


Exhibitions

* ''How to be an Artist'' (OUTPOST, Norwich, 2004) * ''Ragworts'' (
Site Gallery Site Gallery is an art gallery in Sheffield, England. It specialises in moving image, new media and performance based art. Site Gallery is based at Brown Street in Sheffield's Cultural Industries Quarter. It is an international centre for cont ...
, Sheffield, 2012) * ''The 25 Paintings'' ( Eastside Projects, Birmingham, 2014)


Bibliography

* '' The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way)'', with Jimmy Cauty as The Timelords ( KLF Publications, 1988) * ''A Bible of Dreams'', with
Mark Manning Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction are a British hard rock group, which was formed in 1985. Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction play a sleazy style of commercial hard rock featuring big riffs and choruses, as was the trend in the band's ...
(Curfew Press, 1994) * ''
Bad Wisdom Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect *Unhealthy, or counter to well-being * Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...
'', with Mark Manning (
Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.45'' (Penkiln Burn, 2000) * ''How To Be An Artist'' (Penkiln Burn, 2002) * ''Wild Highway'', with Mark Manning (Creation Books, 2005) * ''Scores 18–76'' (Penkiln Burn, 2006) * '' 17'' (Beautiful Books, 2008). . * ''$20,000'' (Penkiln Burn, 2010 – second edition of ''How To Be An Artist'') (Beautiful Books Limited (UK), 2010) . * ''Man Makes Bed'' (Penkiln Burn 2011) * ''Imajine'' by Claudel Casseus with Introduction by Bill Drummond (Penkiln Burn, 2011) * ''Man Shines Shoes'' (Penkiln Burn, 2011) * ''Ragworts'' (Penkiln Burn, 2012) * ''100'' (Penkiln Burn, 2012) * ''The 25 Paintings'' (Penkiln Burn, 2014) * ''Bill Drummond-Lecture at Spoiler, Vienna 2002.'' (Robert Jelinek, Ed.) Der Konterfei 011, 2015, * ''Missionary Or Cannibal?'' (Penkiln Burn/
Blurb, Inc. Blurb is an American self-publishing platform that allows users to create, self-publish, promote, share, and sell their own print and ebooks. It also offers digital software for laying out books. History The company was founded in 2005 by Eile ...
, 2015) * '' 2023: A Trilogy'', with Jimmy Cauty as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...
, 2017) * As Tenzing Scott Brown: ''White Saviour Complex'', a play (Penkiln Burn, 2019)


Projects

* The17 * No Music Day


Football

Bill Drummond is a fan of Scottish football club Queen of the South, which he says is due to their proximity to his home town of Newton Stewart. " Queen of the South" is also the title of the sixth track on his 1986 album, '' The Man''.


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drummond, Bill 1953 births Living people People from Mnquma Local Municipality South African people of Scottish descent The KLF members British conceptual artists Creation Records artists Scottish record producers Scottish artists Scottish electronic musicians Scottish rock musicians Scottish music managers Scottish writers People from Newton Stewart Scouse culture of the early 1980s Alumni of the University of Northampton Big in Japan (band) members