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How to score a No.1 single? KLF wrote the book on it 鈥� literally

29 March 2019

鈥淔irstly, you must be skint and on the dole鈥�

The KLF. They're justified, they're ancient and they once pulled off one of the greatest pop publishing pranks... ever.

This was just after their first number one; they went on to achieve another five top five singles. In 1988 the music duo wrote a tongue-in-cheek book - The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way).

As with all things KLF it was a gag but they were actually pretty qualified.

It's been thirty years since their puzzling pop opus was published but it still stands as one of the greatest acts of subversion in music history. It may even have delivered actual chart success for some of the bands who read it - including a certain No. 2 hit for Chumbawamba.

鈥淚f you don鈥檛 get a number one we will refund the price of the book鈥� 鈥� KLF and their astonishing commercial success

When Dr Who made it to Number One in the charts.

Bill Drummond, a record-label-executive-turned-rebel-popstar, and bandmate Jimmy Cauty formed The Timelords (later The KLF) and became known for their incendiary stunts.

It was an excuse to say a lot of things I wanted to say about how the industry worked.

Bill Drummond

In Rip It Up Unwrapped: The KLF we learn that having worked in the 1980s as an A&R man for giant conglomerate Warner Music, Drummond had become fed up of the unpredictability of commercial success.

So when his own band, The Timelords scored a number one hit with a novelty pop song Doctorin' the Tardis, he was amused.

Deciding to use their success to say something about the bloated pop industry, they wrote a step-by-step guide on how to achieve a number one. They even guaranteed your money back if it didn't work.

Artists who reportedly drew upon the advice of the text with some success included Austrian band Edelweiss, British girl group The Pipettes, Chumbawumba and Klaxons who achieved a UK top 10 and cited the book as an influence.

This wouldn't be the last major stunt by The KLF either, on 23 August 1994, they burned one million pounds on a remote Scottish island.

Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty perform Doctorin' the Tardis on Top of the Pops, 1988

Rip It Up Unwrapped: The KLF

The story of one of pop music鈥檚 most anarchic, perplexing and controversial groups - The KLF.
The KLF @ 大象传媒 Music

Tracks, archive and performances on the 大象传媒 Music website by the British electronic band.
The KLF: Pop鈥檚 saboteurs return after 23 years

The four infamous stunts Cauty and Drummond used to subvert the music business.
The KLF鈥檚 Bill Drummond launches 鈥榩yramid鈥� scheme

The KLF鈥檚 Bill Drummond has started building a pyramid out of bricks filled with people鈥檚 ashes.

It was their mission to cause chaos. And they did.

A sonic roller coaster featuring Paul Higgins (The Thick of It, Line of Duty) as Bill Drummond, Nicholas Burns (Nathan Barley, The World鈥檚 End) as Jimmy Cauty, with Kevin Eldon as Gimpo, Jeremy Stockwell as Ken Campbell and an outstanding cast of multi-voice comedy performers.