Shag Times
Encyclopedia
Shag Times, sometimes called Shag Times (Circa 1987), is a UK compilation
and remix
double album released in 1989 by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs). The album also introduced Bill Drummond
and Jimmy Cauty
's new incarnation - and one which would become considerably more famous - The KLF
.
Part one of Shag Times is a selection of The JAMs' singles and album tracks, followed by The Timelords' "Doctorin' the Tardis". The remainder of the album consists of tracks originally by The JAMs, The Timelords and Disco 2000
, remixed by and credited to The KLF.
" that also appeared as promotional billboard graffiti at the time of the single's release. The gatefold
sleeve of the Shag Times vinyl
double
LP
alludes to a newspaper, whose columns recount The JAMs' actions as reported in the music press
, alongside reviews of their musical output.
Released in January 1989 (see 1989 in music
), Shag Times includes a selection of The JAMs' singles and album tracks, followed by The Timelords' "Doctorin' the Tardis". The remainder of the album consists of tracks originally by The JAMs, The Timelords and Disco 2000
, remixed by and credited to The KLF
. These KLF remixes were produced in 1988 by Drummond and Cauty, with engineering by Ian Richardson and programming by Nick Coler. The compilation showcases The JAMs' characteristic sample
-driven hip hop
and bastard pop, and in equal measure it introduces the minimalistic
house
sound of The KLF that characterised their subsequent "Pure Trance" releases "What Time Is Love" and "3 a.m. Eternal
".
Following Shag Times, The KLF became Drummond and Cauty's main vehicle; the only future release by The JAMs was the industrial techno single "It's Grim Up North
".
".
Q
magazine said, in reference to Shag Times, that The JAMs had "...helped re-open the whole debate [about the laws of creative ownership] and, what often seems neglected in the furore, made a sequence of very amusing juxtapositions, of which The Timelords 'Doctorin' the Tardis' (included here) is the tamest. A great party album."
" that has damaged so many early and rare KLF CDs.
Elsewhere in Europe
, Shag Times was released on vinyl through Rough Trade, without the remix contributions of The KLF, and in the US, a similar compilation entitled The History of The JAMs (a.k.a. The Timelords) was released, also without the remixes, the CD version containing "Gary in the Tardis" as a bonus track. A final edition of The History of the JAMs was issued by the Possum Label in Australia, on cassette, CD and vinyl, and features a unique mix of "Burn the Bastards" (called Burn the Beat) as well as the only CD appearance of the track "Disaster Fund Collection" and an edit of "All You Need is Love".
Disc One: The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu
Disc Two: The KLF
The tracks on Disc Two are labelled (inaccurately) in terms of their beats per minute (BPM); the titles in square brackets above are those given to the same tracks where they occur elsewhere in the catalogue of KLF Communications
(see The KLF discography).
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
and remix
Remix album
A remix album is an album consisting mostly of remixes or re-recorded versions of a music artists' earlier released material.One of the earliest remix albums was 1971's Aerial Pandemonium Ballet by Harry Nilsson, which was released by Nilsson after the successes of Everybody's Talkin and The Point!...
double album released in 1989 by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs). The album also introduced Bill Drummond
Bill 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...
and Jimmy Cauty
Jimmy Cauty
James Francis Cauty is a British artist and musician born in Liverpool, England, in 1956...
's new incarnation - and one which would become considerably more famous - 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....
.
Part one of Shag Times is a selection of The JAMs' singles and album tracks, followed by The Timelords' "Doctorin' the Tardis". The remainder of the album consists of tracks originally by The JAMs, The Timelords and Disco 2000
Disco 2000
Disco 2000 was a British pop band, a side project of The KLF. Vocals were handled by Cressida Cauty and June Montana, also known as Mo...
, remixed by and credited to The KLF.
Context
The title of the album relates to the slogan "Shag Shag Shag", a lyric from The JAMs' 1987 debut single "All You Need Is LoveAll 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...
" that also appeared as promotional billboard graffiti at the time of the single's release. The gatefold
Gatefold
A gatefold is a type of fold used for advertising around a magazine or section, and for packaging of media such as vinyl records.- LP covers :...
sleeve of the Shag Times vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
double
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
alludes to a newspaper, whose columns recount The JAMs' actions as reported in the music press
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
, alongside reviews of their musical output.
Released in January 1989 (see 1989 in music
1989 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...
), Shag Times includes a selection of The JAMs' singles and album tracks, followed by The Timelords' "Doctorin' the Tardis". The remainder of the album consists of tracks originally by The JAMs, The Timelords and Disco 2000
Disco 2000
Disco 2000 was a British pop band, a side project of The KLF. Vocals were handled by Cressida Cauty and June Montana, also known as Mo...
, remixed by and credited to 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....
. These KLF remixes were produced in 1988 by Drummond and Cauty, with engineering by Ian Richardson and programming by Nick Coler. The compilation showcases The JAMs' characteristic sample
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...
-driven hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and bastard pop, and in equal measure it introduces the minimalistic
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
sound of The KLF that characterised their subsequent "Pure Trance" releases "What Time Is Love" and "3 a.m. Eternal
3 a.m. Eternal
"3 a.m. Eternal" is a song by The KLF, numerous versions of which were released as singles between 1989 and 1992. In January 1991, an acid house pop version of the song became an international top ten hit single, hitting #1 in the UK Singles Chart and #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and leading to...
".
Following Shag Times, The KLF became Drummond and Cauty's main vehicle; the only future release by The JAMs was the industrial techno single "It's Grim Up North
It's Grim Up North
"It's Grim Up North" was a 1991 single by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu , the main lyrics of which consist of a list of towns and cities in the North of England, set to a pounding industrial techno accompaniment reminiscent of steam whistles, all of which segues into an orchestral instrumental of...
".
Reviews
Allmusic claimed that Shag Times was "one of the many deliberate cash-ins released in the wake of the Timelords" but that it "confirmed Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty's supremacy over every last imitator and pop stunt plagiaristPlagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
".
Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine said, in reference to Shag Times, that The JAMs had "...helped re-open the whole debate [about the laws of creative ownership] and, what often seems neglected in the furore, made a sequence of very amusing juxtapositions, of which The Timelords 'Doctorin' the Tardis' (included here) is the tamest. A great party album."
Track listing
The following track listing is for the vinyl double LP UK release of Shag Times; the UK CD release featured the same tracks and running order but on one disc. Another CD of JAMSCD3 was issued in Switzerland, at some point between 1989 and 1992, and is identical to the UK release apart from "Made in Switzerland" written on the back sleeve above the barcode. This disc seems to be official, and is much sought-after as it is the only copy of the CD not to be manufactured by P.D.O., and is therefore immune to the "bronzingCD bronzing
CD bronzing is a specific variant of disc rot, a type of corrosion that affects the reflective layer of CDs and renders them unreadable over time...
" that has damaged so many early and rare KLF CDs.
Elsewhere in Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
, Shag Times was released on vinyl through Rough Trade, without the remix contributions of The KLF, and in the US, a similar compilation entitled The History of The JAMs (a.k.a. The Timelords) was released, also without the remixes, the CD version containing "Gary in the Tardis" as a bonus track. A final edition of The History of the JAMs was issued by the Possum Label in Australia, on cassette, CD and vinyl, and features a unique mix of "Burn the Bastards" (called Burn the Beat) as well as the only CD appearance of the track "Disaster Fund Collection" and an edit of "All You Need is Love".
Disc One: The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu
- "All You Need Is Love (106 bpm)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...
" – 5:01 - "Don't Take Five (Take What You Want)" – 4:07
- "Whitney Joins The JAMsWhitney Joins The JAMs-Release:"Whitney Joins The JAMs" was given a low-key release in the UK, initially as a run of 500 one-sided 12-inch singles in generic monochrome KLF Communications sleeves. The vinyl labels contained only the title and "120 bpm"...
" – 7:10 - "Down TownDown Town"Down Town" was the a 1987 release by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu . The song is gospel music driven by house music rhythms, incorporating a sample of Petula Clark's 1964 single "Downtown".-Origins:...
" – 4:29 - "Candyman" – 3:29
- "Burn the BastardsBurn the Bastards"Burn the Bastards" is a 1988 song by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu , from their second and final album Who Killed The JAMs?...
" – 6:31 - "Doctorin' the Tardis" – 3:26
Disc Two: The KLF
- 114 BPM [Remix of "Whitney Joins The JAMs"] – 6:38
- 90 BPM ["I Love Disco 2000Disco 2000Disco 2000 was a British pop band, a side project of The KLF. Vocals were handled by Cressida Cauty and June Montana, also known as Mo...
"] – 5:30 - 118 BPM [Remix of "Down Town"] – 6:28
- 125 BPM ["Burn the Beat (Club Mix)"] – 4:56
- 120 BPM ["Prestwich Prophet's Grin (Instrumental Remix)"] – 4:16
- 118 BPM ["The Porpoise Song (Instrumental Remix)"] – 5:14
- 120 BPM ["Doctorin' the Tardis (Minimal)"] – 4:27
The tracks on Disc Two are labelled (inaccurately) in terms of their beats per minute (BPM); the titles in square brackets above are those given to the same tracks where they occur elsewhere in the catalogue of 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...
(see The KLF discography).