Jimmy Cauty
Encyclopedia
James Francis Cauty (born 19 December 1956) is a British artist and musician born in Liverpool
, England
, in 1956. Cauty is best known as one half of the hitmaking duo The KLF
; as co-founder of The Orb
and a leading innovator in the birth of the ambient house
genre; and as the man who burnt one million pounds.
Cauty was married to Cressida (née Bowyer), with whom he has twins, Daisy and Harry, and a younger son, Alfie. He later married artist and musician Alannah Currie
(formerly of Thompson Twins
) in 2011.
poster (and later, a counterpart based on The Hobbit
) for British retailer Athena
., as well as the cover for the concept album
The King of Elfland's Daughter
.
In 1981-2 Cauty was guitarist in a band called Angels 1-5, who recorded a Peel session on 1 July 1981. Lead vocalist was Cressida Bowyer, whom Cauty later married.
to form The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs), a collaboration that played out in various guises and media over much of the next decade.
As an A&R
man, Drummond had signed Brilliant to WEA
. Concocting a scheme for a hip-hop record on New Year's Day
1987, Drummond needed a like-minded collaborator with expertise in current music technology. Jimmy Cauty instantly sprang to mind, so Drummond telephoned him. Cauty "knew exactly, to coin a phrase, 'where I was coming from'", said Drummond. A week later, The JAMs had recorded their debut single, "All You Need Is Love
"; Several singles and three albums as The JAMs followed (their debut, 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)
; the follow-up, Who Killed The JAMs?; and compilation Shag Times
) before a change of direction saw the duo mutate into dance and ambient music pioneers, The KLF
. Along the way, the duo scored their first British number one hit single as The Timelords with the Gary Glitter
/Dr. Who
novelty-pop mash-up
"Doctorin' the Tardis".
The KLF released two ground breaking albums - Chill Out
and The White Room
- and a string of top 5 singles, becoming the biggest selling singles act in the world for 1991. In 1992, suddenly and very publicly, however, The KLF "retired" from the music industry and deleted their entire back catalogue.
Drummond and Cauty re-emerged in 1993 as the K Foundation
, releasing one limited edition single ("K Cera Cera
") and awarding the £40,000 K Foundation art award
for the "worst artist of the year". In 1994, the duo courted infamy by setting fire to one million pounds in cash on the Scottish island of Jura
. In 1995, they undertook a screening tour of a film of the burning, before signing a moratorium on K Foundation activities.
Cauty worked with Drummond again in 1997 with a campaign to "Fuck the Millennium
", the highlight of which was a 23-minute live performance satirising the "pop comeback" - in which Cauty and Drummond appeared as grey-haired pensioners and wheeled around the stage in electric wheelchairs.
Throughout The KLF's career, Drummond was most often the mouthpiece of the group and is often viewed as their chief protagonist. NME
, for example, wrote: "One suspects that the real boiling genius of the duo is initiated by Drummond. The elements of the K Foundation affair are classic Drummond - honesty mixed with deranged publicity-seeking, pop terrorism ideas mixed with utter strangeness and mysticism..., and a sense that the things pop groups do should be visionary and above all should not be mundane." Perhaps a little ironically, then, the initial idea for the K Foundation's one million incineration was actually Cauty's, although he was beginning to express regret in 1995 at which time Drummond remained resolute.
Contrasting with Drummond's image, Jimmy Cauty was perceived - or presented - as "Rockman Rock - cool dude"; the "quiet", enigmatic one, a "long-haired and quietly spoken chain-smoker: a leather-jacketed misfit [who] has carried his adolescent rock obsession into adulthood". However, as the previously quoted NME piece cautioned, "We can't underestimate the importance of Jimmy Cauty". Cauty was the musical bedrock of The KLF, whether laying down the starting track for "Doctorin' the Tardis", or playing electric guitar, bass, drums and keyboard on "America: What Time Is Love?
". He and his wife, Cressida, were at the centre of KLF operations, living and working at Trancentral (actually the Cauty's squat in Stockwell, London
) and driving the "JAMsmobile" (Cauty's 1968 Ford Galaxie
American police car
) as their regular, everyday vehicle. Cressida, too, helped out, taking on an organisational role for KLF Communications, in addition to design and choreography
work for The KLF, and her own work as an artist.
and the duo began DJ-ing and producing together as The Orb
. Paterson and Cauty's first release was a 1988 acid house
anthem track, "Tripping on Sunshine" released on the German record compilation Eternity Project One
. Eternity Project One also featured a collaborative track between Cauty and future Orb member Kris Weston
. The following year, The Orb released the Kiss EP
, a four-track EP
based on samples from New York City
's KISS FM
. It was released on Paterson and Glover's new record label WAU/Mr. Modo Records, which Paterson and Glover created out of a desire to maintain financial independence from larger record labels. After spending a weekend of making what Paterson described as "really shit drum sounds", the duo decided to abandon beat-heavy music and instead work on music for after-hours listening by "taking the bloody drums away". Paterson and Cauty began DJ-ing in London and landed a deal for The Orb to play the chill out
room at London nightclub Heaven
. Resident DJ Paul Oakenfold
brought in the duo specifically as ambient DJs for his "The Land of Oz" event at Heaven. Though initially The Orb's Monday night performances had only several "hard-core" followers, their "Chill Out Room" act grew popular over the course of their six month stay at Heaven to the point that the small room was often packed with around 100 people. The Orb's performances became especially popular among weary DJs and clubbers who sought solace from the loud, rhythmic music of the dancefloor. The Orb would build up melodies using multitrack recording
s linked to multiple record decks and a mixer
. They incorporated many CDs, cassettes, and BBC sound effects
into their act, often accompanied with pieces of popular dance tracks such as "Sueño Latino
". Most often, they played dub reggae and other chill out music
which they described as "Ambient house for the E generation."
Throughout 1989, Paterson, Cauty, and Martin Glover
developed the musical genre of ambient house
through the use of a diverse array of samples
and recordings. The culmination of their musical work came towards the end of the year when The Orb recorded a session for John Peel
on BBC Radio 1
. The track, then known as "Loving You", was largely improvisational and featured a wealth of sound effects and samples from science fiction
radio plays, nature sounds, and Minnie Riperton
's "Lovin' You". For its release as a single on record label Big Life
, The Orb changed the title to "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld
". In 1990, Paterson and Cauty held several recording sessions at Cauty's studio, Trancentral. Out of these sessions came The KLF album Chill Out
, on which Paterson appeared in an uncredited role. The Grove Dictionary suggests Chill Out to be the first ambient house album. When offered an album deal by Big Life, The Orb found themselves at a crossroads. Cauty preferred that albums by The Orb were released on his KLF Communications
label, whereas Paterson wanted to ensure The Orb did not become an offshoot of The KLF. Due to these issues, Cauty and Paterson split in April 1990, with Paterson keeping the name The Orb. Cauty removed Paterson's contributions from the recordings in progress and released the album as Space on KLF Communications
.
, Marilyn Manson
, Hawkwind
, Ian Brown
, The Orb
etc. In December 1999 he joined with Guy Pratt
to record and release a cellphone-themed novelty-pop record "I Wanna 1-2-1 With You" under the name Solid Gold Chartbusters. It was released as competition for the Christmas Number One but only got to 62.
In 2001, Cauty joined with former collaborators Alex Paterson and Guy Pratt in a London recording studio, together with Dom Beken, an associate of Pratt. Recording later continued in Cauty's Brighton
studio. In 2003, the group released their first single, "Boom Bang Bombay", under the name Custerd. Subsequently, they settled on the name "Transit Kings
". Cauty left the band in 2004 to work on other projects. In 2006, the Transit Kings released their debut album, Living in a Giant Candle Winking at God
; Cauty is listed as a composer on 7 of the album's 12 tracks.
Until mid-2005, together with James Fogarty
and Keir Jens-Smith, he was part of art/music collective Blacksmoke
.
: he designs stamps and the gallery sells them as stamps, first day covers and limited edition prints.
In 2004, Cauty installed a gift shop, Blackoff, at the Aquarium Gallery, based on the government's Preparing for Emergencies leaflet. The installation included "terror aware" items, such as "terror tea towels", "attack hankies" and "bunker-buster jigsaw puzzles" (missing one piece). He commented, "The gift shop becomes the place we can explore our branding ideas, Cash for trash — it represents the futility and the glory of it all."
In October 2008, Cauty opened an exhibit at the Aquarium entitled jCauty&Son which, in collaboration with his teenage son, Cauty produced work across a range of media that highighted the violence present in cartoons. 25% of proceeds go to Amnesty International
.
In June 2011 he held a public exhibition at L-13 entitled A Riot in a Jam Jar consisting primarily of a series of scale
diorama
s depicting violent confrontations between British rioters and police, each contained within an inverted glass jar
.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1956. Cauty is best known as one half of the hitmaking duo The KLF
The KLF
The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
; as co-founder of The Orb
The Orb
Throughout 1989, the Orb, along with Martin Glover, developed the musical genre of ambient house through the use of a diverse array of samples and recordings. The culmination of its musical work came toward the end of the year when the group recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1...
and a leading innovator in the birth of the ambient house
Ambient house
Ambient house, a music genre that first emerged in the late 1980s, is a sub-genre of house music, combining elements of acid house and ambient music...
genre; and as the man who burnt one million pounds.
Cauty was married to Cressida (née Bowyer), with whom he has twins, Daisy and Harry, and a younger son, Alfie. He later married artist and musician Alannah Currie
Alannah Currie
Alannah Currie is a musician and artist, best known as a former member of the UK pop group, Thompson Twins.-Career:...
(formerly of Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins
The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
) in 2011.
Early career
As a 17-year-old artist, Cauty painted a popular The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
poster (and later, a counterpart based on The Hobbit
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
) for British retailer Athena
Athena (retailer)
Athena is a British art retailer, and was formerly a large retail chain, famous for its distinctive posters.-History:Athena's first shop was opened by Ole Christensen in Hampstead in July 1964, and then bought into E&O PLC, by Chairman, Douglas H. Bayle...
., as well as the cover for the concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
The King of Elfland's Daughter
The King of Elfland's Daughter (album)
The King of Elfland's Daughter is a concept album by former Steeleye Span members Bob Johnson and Peter Knight. It was based on the 1924 fantasy novel of the same name by Lord Dunsany and recorded and released in 1977...
.
In 1981-2 Cauty was guitarist in a band called Angels 1-5, who recorded a Peel session on 1 July 1981. Lead vocalist was Cressida Bowyer, whom Cauty later married.
Artistic partnership with Bill Drummond, 1987–1995, 1997
Cauty joined with Bill DrummondBill Drummond
William Ernest Drummond is a Scottish artist, musician, writer and record producer. He was the co-founder of late 1980s avant-garde pop group The KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with which he burned a million pounds in 1994...
to form The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs), a collaboration that played out in various guises and media over much of the next decade.
As an A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
man, Drummond had signed Brilliant to WEA
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
. Concocting a scheme for a hip-hop record on New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
1987, Drummond needed a like-minded collaborator with expertise in current music technology. Jimmy Cauty instantly sprang to mind, so Drummond telephoned him. Cauty "knew exactly, to coin a phrase, 'where I was coming from'", said Drummond. A week later, The JAMs had recorded their debut single, "All You Need Is Love
All You Need Is Love (The JAMs song)
"All You Need Is Love" is a song by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, independently released as their debut single on 9 March 1987. A politically topical song concerning the UK media's AIDS furore, the track was initially given a 12" white label release because of its sampling of other records.The...
"; Several singles and three albums as The JAMs followed (their debut, 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)
1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)
1987 is the debut album of The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu . 1987 was produced using extensive unauthorised samples which plagiarised a wide range of musical works, continuing a theme begun in The JAMs' debut single "All You Need Is Love"...
; the follow-up, Who Killed The JAMs?; and compilation Shag Times
Shag Times
Shag Times, sometimes called Shag Times , is a UK compilation and remix double album released in 1989 by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu...
) before a change of direction saw the duo mutate into dance and ambient music pioneers, The KLF
The KLF
The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
. Along the way, the duo scored their first British number one hit single as The Timelords with the Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...
/Dr. Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
novelty-pop mash-up
Mashup (music)
A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
"Doctorin' the Tardis".
The KLF released two ground breaking albums - Chill Out
Chill out
Chill out may mean:*Chill out music, a laid-back style of music*Chill Out, an album by KLF*Chill Out *Chill Out, an album by John Lee Hooker...
and The White Room
The White Room
Allmusic said that The White Room "represents the commercial and artistic peak of late-'80s acid-house" and Q magazine called it "strikingly imaginative" and "a more subtle form of subterfuge" than previous works...
- and a string of top 5 singles, becoming the biggest selling singles act in the world for 1991. In 1992, suddenly and very publicly, however, The KLF "retired" from the music industry and deleted their entire back catalogue.
Drummond and Cauty re-emerged in 1993 as the K Foundation
K Foundation
The K Foundation was an art foundation set up by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty in 1993, following their 'retirement' from the music industry. The Foundation served as an artistic outlet for the duo's post-retirement KLF income...
, releasing one limited edition single ("K Cera Cera
K Cera Cera
"K Cera Cera", a presentation of The Red Army Choir by the K Foundation , was released as a limited edition single in Israel and Palestine in November 1993...
") and awarding the £40,000 K Foundation art award
K Foundation art award
The 1994 K Foundation award was an award given by the K Foundation 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 controversial £20,000 Turner Prize for the best British Contemporary artist...
for the "worst artist of the year". In 1994, the duo courted infamy by setting fire to one million pounds in cash on the Scottish island of Jura
Jura, Scotland
Jura is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, situated adjacent and to the north-east of Islay. Part of the island is designated as a National Scenic Area. Until the twentieth century Jura was dominated - and most of it was eventually owned - by the Campbell clan of Inveraray Castle on Loch...
. In 1995, they undertook a screening tour of a film of the burning, before signing a moratorium on K Foundation activities.
Cauty worked with Drummond again in 1997 with a campaign to "Fuck the Millennium
Fuck the Millennium
"Fuck the Millennium" or "***K the Millennium" is an electronic protest song that was released as a single in 1997 by 2K...
", the highlight of which was a 23-minute live performance satirising the "pop comeback" - in which Cauty and Drummond appeared as grey-haired pensioners and wheeled around the stage in electric wheelchairs.
Throughout The KLF's career, Drummond was most often the mouthpiece of the group and is often viewed as their chief protagonist. NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, for example, wrote: "One suspects that the real boiling genius of the duo is initiated by Drummond. The elements of the K Foundation affair are classic Drummond - honesty mixed with deranged publicity-seeking, pop terrorism ideas mixed with utter strangeness and mysticism..., and a sense that the things pop groups do should be visionary and above all should not be mundane." Perhaps a little ironically, then, the initial idea for the K Foundation's one million incineration was actually Cauty's, although he was beginning to express regret in 1995 at which time Drummond remained resolute.
Contrasting with Drummond's image, Jimmy Cauty was perceived - or presented - as "Rockman Rock - cool dude"; the "quiet", enigmatic one, a "long-haired and quietly spoken chain-smoker: a leather-jacketed misfit [who] has carried his adolescent rock obsession into adulthood". However, as the previously quoted NME piece cautioned, "We can't underestimate the importance of Jimmy Cauty". Cauty was the musical bedrock of The KLF, whether laying down the starting track for "Doctorin' the Tardis", or playing electric guitar, bass, drums and keyboard on "America: What Time Is Love?
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...
". He and his wife, Cressida, were at the centre of KLF operations, living and working at Trancentral (actually the Cauty's squat in Stockwell, London
Stockwell
Stockwell is a district in inner south west London, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth.It is situated south south-east of Charing Cross. Brixton, Clapham, Vauxhall and Kennington all border Stockwell...
) and driving the "JAMsmobile" (Cauty's 1968 Ford Galaxie
Ford Galaxie
The Ford Galaxie was a full-size car built in the United States by the Ford Motor Company for model years 1959 through 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford’s full-size range from 1959 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the excitement surrounding the Space Race...
American police car
Police car
A police car is a ground vehicle used by police, to assist with their duties in patrolling and responding to incidents. Typical uses of a police car include transportation for officers to reach the scene of an incident quickly, to transport criminal suspects, or to patrol an area, while providing a...
) as their regular, everyday vehicle. Cressida, too, helped out, taking on an organisational role for KLF Communications, in addition to design and choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
work for The KLF, and her own work as an artist.
Ambient house, 1988–1992
In the late 1980s, Cauty met Alex PatersonAlex Paterson
Alex Paterson is an English musician and co-founder of the ambient group The Orb, in which he has worked since its inception....
and the duo began DJ-ing and producing together as The Orb
The Orb
Throughout 1989, the Orb, along with Martin Glover, developed the musical genre of ambient house through the use of a diverse array of samples and recordings. The culmination of its musical work came toward the end of the year when the group recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1...
. Paterson and Cauty's first release was a 1988 acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
anthem track, "Tripping on Sunshine" released on the German record compilation Eternity Project One
Eternity Project One
Eternity Project One was a 1989 British compilation released by Gee Street Records. It featured the first recorded material by The Orb as well as tracks by several acid house artists of the late 1980s. Many of the tracks include production from Bass , Rockman , and Eternity...
. Eternity Project One also featured a collaborative track between Cauty and future Orb member Kris Weston
Kris Weston
Kris Weston is a British electronic musician, record producer and remixer best known for his work as a member of The Orb....
. The following year, The Orb released the Kiss EP
Kiss EP
Kiss EP is a 1989 EP by The Orb released on WAU/Mr. Modo Records on vinyl only.-Track listing:Side one – Roof#"Kiss Your Love" – 4:28#"Kiss Your Love" – 4:23Side two – Floor...
, a four-track EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
based on samples from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's KISS FM
Kiss FM
-United States:* KISS-FM , a brand name used for several Top 40 stations, many owned by Clear Channel Communications including:** KBKS-FM, better known as "106.1 KISS-FM", in Seattle** KHKS-FM, better known as "106.1 KISS-FM", in Dallas...
. It was released on Paterson and Glover's new record label WAU/Mr. Modo Records, which Paterson and Glover created out of a desire to maintain financial independence from larger record labels. After spending a weekend of making what Paterson described as "really shit drum sounds", the duo decided to abandon beat-heavy music and instead work on music for after-hours listening by "taking the bloody drums away". Paterson and Cauty began DJ-ing in London and landed a deal for The Orb to play the chill out
Chill out music
Chill out music is an umbrella term for several styles of electronic music characterized by their mellow style and mid-tempo beats — "chill" being derived from a slang injunction to "relax."Chill out music emerged in the early and mid-1990s in "chill rooms" at dance clubs, where relaxing music...
room at London nightclub Heaven
Heaven (nightclub)
Heaven is a Superclub in London, England which appeals predominantly to the gay market. It is located underneath Charing Cross railway station in Central London, just off Trafalgar Square.-Early history:...
. Resident DJ Paul Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
brought in the duo specifically as ambient DJs for his "The Land of Oz" event at Heaven. Though initially The Orb's Monday night performances had only several "hard-core" followers, their "Chill Out Room" act grew popular over the course of their six month stay at Heaven to the point that the small room was often packed with around 100 people. The Orb's performances became especially popular among weary DJs and clubbers who sought solace from the loud, rhythmic music of the dancefloor. The Orb would build up melodies using multitrack recording
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
s linked to multiple record decks and a mixer
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
. They incorporated many CDs, cassettes, and BBC sound effects
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware...
into their act, often accompanied with pieces of popular dance tracks such as "Sueño Latino
Sueño Latino
Sueño Latino is an Italo House band from Italy: Andrea Gemolotto, Claudio Collino, Davide Rizzatti, Riccardo Persi.In 1989 they released the Ambient House classic, "Sueño Latino". The track is based on Manuel Göttsching's "E2-E4"...
". Most often, they played dub reggae and other chill out music
Chill out music
Chill out music is an umbrella term for several styles of electronic music characterized by their mellow style and mid-tempo beats — "chill" being derived from a slang injunction to "relax."Chill out music emerged in the early and mid-1990s in "chill rooms" at dance clubs, where relaxing music...
which they described as "Ambient house for the E generation."
Throughout 1989, Paterson, Cauty, and Martin Glover
Martin Glover
Martin Glover, also known as Youth, is a record producer and a founding member and bassist of the UK band Killing Joke. He is a member of The Fireman along with Paul McCartney. Glover was born in Africa.-Early career:...
developed the musical genre of ambient house
Ambient house
Ambient house, a music genre that first emerged in the late 1980s, is a sub-genre of house music, combining elements of acid house and ambient music...
through the use of a diverse array of samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
and recordings. The culmination of their musical work came towards the end of the year when The Orb recorded a session for John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
. The track, then known as "Loving You", was largely improvisational and featured a wealth of sound effects and samples from science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
radio plays, nature sounds, and Minnie Riperton
Minnie Riperton
Minnie Julia Riperton was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You". She was married to songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph from 1972 until her death in the summer of 1979. They had two children - music engineer Marc Rudolph and actress/comedienne Maya...
's "Lovin' You". For its release as a single on record label Big Life
Big Life
Big Life was a record label established in 1987 by Jazz Summers and Tim Parry. It featured hundreds of releases from artists such as The Orb, Stare, Yazz, Junior Reid, Coldcut, and De La Soul....
, The Orb changed the title to "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld
A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From the Centre of the Ultraworld
"A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld" is a single by the ambient house group The Orb. It was originally released in October 1989 and made the UK Singles Chart in 1990, peaking at #78. The 'Peel Session' version was also voted into #10 place in John...
". In 1990, Paterson and Cauty held several recording sessions at Cauty's studio, Trancentral. Out of these sessions came The KLF album Chill Out
Chill out
Chill out may mean:*Chill out music, a laid-back style of music*Chill Out, an album by KLF*Chill Out *Chill Out, an album by John Lee Hooker...
, on which Paterson appeared in an uncredited role. The Grove Dictionary suggests Chill Out to be the first ambient house album. When offered an album deal by Big Life, The Orb found themselves at a crossroads. Cauty preferred that albums by The Orb were released on his KLF Communications
KLF Communications
This discography lists the key British and notable international releases of The KLF and the other pseudonyms of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty. It also details the other releases on their independent record label, KLF Communications, by KLF-spinoff Disco 2000 and Space...
label, whereas Paterson wanted to ensure The Orb did not become an offshoot of The KLF. Due to these issues, Cauty and Paterson split in April 1990, with Paterson keeping the name The Orb. Cauty removed Paterson's contributions from the recordings in progress and released the album as Space on KLF Communications
KLF Communications
This discography lists the key British and notable international releases of The KLF and the other pseudonyms of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty. It also details the other releases on their independent record label, KLF Communications, by KLF-spinoff Disco 2000 and Space...
.
Post-KLF
In 1999 Cauty produced several remixes under the alias The Scourge Of The Earth for artists such as PlaceboPlacebo (band)
Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...
, Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson (band)
Marilyn Manson is an American metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Formed in 1989 by Brian Warner and Scott Putesky, the group was originally named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids with their uniquely theatrical performances gathering a local cult following in the early '90s. This attention...
, Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
, Ian Brown
Ian Brown
Ian George Brown is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses, which broke up in 1996 but are confirmed to reunite in 2012. Since the break-up of the Stone Roses he has pursued a solo career...
, The Orb
The Orb
Throughout 1989, the Orb, along with Martin Glover, developed the musical genre of ambient house through the use of a diverse array of samples and recordings. The culmination of its musical work came toward the end of the year when the group recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1...
etc. In December 1999 he joined with Guy Pratt
Guy Pratt
Guy Pratt is a session bassist and also a songwriter, actor and comedian. He is the son of actor Mike Pratt. In Kensington and Chelsea, London, in 1996, Pratt married Gala Wright, the daughter of Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright...
to record and release a cellphone-themed novelty-pop record "I Wanna 1-2-1 With You" under the name Solid Gold Chartbusters. It was released as competition for the Christmas Number One but only got to 62.
In 2001, Cauty joined with former collaborators Alex Paterson and Guy Pratt in a London recording studio, together with Dom Beken, an associate of Pratt. Recording later continued in Cauty's Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
studio. In 2003, the group released their first single, "Boom Bang Bombay", under the name Custerd. Subsequently, they settled on the name "Transit Kings
Transit Kings
The Transit Kings are a British electronic music group consisting of Alex Paterson, Guy Pratt and Dom Beken. Jimmy Cauty, co-founder of The Orb with Paterson, was involved in initial recording sessions but does not take part in live sessions. He is currently on "extended leave". The Transit Kings'...
". Cauty left the band in 2004 to work on other projects. In 2006, the Transit Kings released their debut album, Living in a Giant Candle Winking at God
Living in a Giant Candle Winking at God
Living in a Giant Candle Winking at God is the debut album by the Transit Kings. It featured guest appearances from The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and comedian Simon Day...
; Cauty is listed as a composer on 7 of the album's 12 tracks.
Until mid-2005, together with James Fogarty
James Fogarty
James Fogarty is an English multi-media artist. Concentrating mainly on music crossing over between metal and sampled based music, his projects past and present are The Blacksmoke Organisation, The Bombs Of Enduring Freedom, Ewigkeit, Jaldaboath and producing occasional releases for Death To...
and Keir Jens-Smith, he was part of art/music collective Blacksmoke
Blacksmoke
Blacksmoke a.k.a. The Blacksmoke Organisation are "an occasional art collective and musical group dedicated to the propagation of audio visual noise". The precise creative membership of Blacksmoke is a closely guarded secret. It is documented that a founding member is The KLF co-founder Jimmy Cauty...
.
Art
Cauty exhibits art work at the The Aquarium L-13 gallery, London. He has worked in conjunction with the gallery on the Cautese Nationál Postal DisserviceCautese Nationál Postal Disservice
The Cautese Nationál Postal Disservice is a fantasy stamp producer founded by British artist/musician Jimmy Cauty.It produces parodies of Royal Mail stamps, some of which are collected by enthusiasts...
: he designs stamps and the gallery sells them as stamps, first day covers and limited edition prints.
In 2004, Cauty installed a gift shop, Blackoff, at the Aquarium Gallery, based on the government's Preparing for Emergencies leaflet. The installation included "terror aware" items, such as "terror tea towels", "attack hankies" and "bunker-buster jigsaw puzzles" (missing one piece). He commented, "The gift shop becomes the place we can explore our branding ideas, Cash for trash — it represents the futility and the glory of it all."
In October 2008, Cauty opened an exhibit at the Aquarium entitled jCauty&Son which, in collaboration with his teenage son, Cauty produced work across a range of media that highighted the violence present in cartoons. 25% of proceeds go to Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
.
In June 2011 he held a public exhibition at L-13 entitled A Riot in a Jam Jar consisting primarily of a series of scale
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...
diorama
Diorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
s depicting violent confrontations between British rioters and police, each contained within an inverted glass jar
Jar
A jar is a rigid, approximately cylindrical container with a wide mouth or opening. Jars are typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic. They are used for foods, cosmetics, medications, and chemicals that are relatively thick or viscous...
.