Disco 2000 was a British pop band, a
side project
In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style.
Usually these projects emphasize ...
of
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 ...
. Vocals were handled by Cress (Cressida Cauty, née Bowyer), then-wife of KLF co-founder
Jimmy Cauty, and "Mo". Between 1987 and 1989, Disco 2000 released three singles on the
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 ...
label, none of which entered the top 75 of the UK Singles Chart.
History
In 1981, Cressida Bowyer and Jimmy Cauty performed in the band Angels 1–5. They later married. In 1987, Jimmy Cauty teamed up with Bill Drummond to form
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 h ...
(The JAMs).
/ The duo established an
independent record label,
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 a means to release The JAMs' material, and, as a side project, they dabbled in pop music with 'Disco 2000', a group fronted and vocalised by "Cress" (Cressida Cauty) and "Mo".
Disco 2000's debut single, the first of three, was "I Gotta CD", released on 30 October 1987.
Neither this nor its follow-up "One Love Nation" (1988)
entered the UK Singles Chart. A third single, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" (1989) peaked at #86 in the UK chart.
Music videos
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
were filmed for "One Love Nation" and "Uptight".
A track entitled "Feel This" was contributed by the group to the 1989 ''
Eternity Project One'' LP, compiled by
Martin Glover
Martin Glover (born 27 December 1960), better known by his stage name Youth, is a British record producer and musician, best known as a founding member and bassist of the rock band Killing Joke. He is also a member of the Fireman, along with P ...
"(Eternity", better known as "Youth"), under the name 'Discotec 2000'.
Cressida and Jimmy Cauty later set up home in a squat that also housed the KLF Communications recording studio,
Trancentral.
As Drummond and Jimmy Cauty dedicated themselves to
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 ...
, Cressida took on an organisational role for KLF Communications, in addition to design and choreography work for The KLF, and her own work as an artist.
Reviews
Reporting on a 1988 gig by Disco 2000, ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' writer Barbara Ellen described Mo and Cress as "two raucous, wicked, hideously beautiful she-cats with diamonds for brains.... For men, Disco 2000 must be like
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
without the draggy chat-up scenario,
Mae West
Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...
without the
lard,
Madonna staked out in a jacuzzi looking anything but helpless."
In November 1987, ''NME'' reviewer
James Brown described Disco 2000's single "I Gotta CD" as "A captivating KLF offshoot from the
Jamms' backing singers crammed with slogans,
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
solos,
Farley Jackmaster style pianos, and gorgeously rank clap-a-long choruses. Addictive."
A few weeks later, he remarked on the "accessibility" and increasing "dance-awareness" of recent KLF Communications releases "I Gotta CD", "
Whitney Joins The JAMs" and "
Down Town".
In 2005, ''International DJ'' magazine ranked Disco 2000's "Uptight (Everything's Alright)"—a cover of
Stevie Wonder's "
Uptight"—amongst the twenty "worst cover versions in the history of dance music": "The KLF had some brilliant ideas, but forming their own girl group and covering this classic Stevie Wonder
Motown stomper wasn't one of them. The resulting lurid
day-glo
The Day-Glo Color Corp. (also styled as DayGlo) is a privately held American paint and pigments manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1946 by brothers Joseph and Robert Switzer and is currently owned by RPM International. It ...
fusion of
Stock, Aitken and Waterman pop, edit-heavy '80s house and dodgy female
rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
was possibly one of the worst records in the history of the world."
In contrast, a retrospective piece on the work of The KLF and related acts by ''
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 ...
'' magazine called "Uptight" "entertaining" and "like
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. T ...
on a
rap tip".
Discography
Formats and track listings
Key
Notes
References
{{Authority control
KLF Communications artists
English pop girl groups
English pop music duos
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical groups disestablished in 1989