Who Killed The JAMs?

Infobox Album |
Name = Who Killed The JAMs?
Type = Album
Artist = The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu


Released = February 1988
Recorded = Trancentral
Genre = Electronica
Length = 29:54
Label = KLF Communications
Producer =
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5
*"Sounds" Rating|5|5
*"Melody Maker" "Who Killed The JAMs?" Review, "Melody Maker", February 1988.]
*"NME" [Pouncey, E., "Milking The Mu Mu" ("Who Killed The JAMs?" review), "New Musical Express", February 1988.]
* "Spin" Rating|6|10Weisbard & Marks, 1995. p.213]
Last album = "1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)"
This album = "Who Killed The JAMs?"
(1988)
Next album = "Shag Times"
(1988)

"Who Killed The JAMs?" is the second and final studio album by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs). Similar in style to the preceding "1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)", the album is a fusion of hip hop, drum machines and samples of a diversity of musical works, although in general the samples are more covertly integrated here than they are in "1987".

Context

Early in 1987, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty formed The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and released their debut single, "All You Need Is Love". This was followed in June 1987 by their debut album, "1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)", an "energetic ... [and] loopy dance album" [Robbins, I., Trouser Press ( [http://trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=klf link] ). Retrieved 19 April 2006.] but with "too few ideas being spread too thin". [Cranna, I. "1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)" review, "Q Magazine", July (?) 1987 ( [http://www.libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=479 link] ).] In October 1987, The JAMs destroyed most remaining copies of the album following a copyright complaint from ABBA and the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society.Brown, J., "Thank You For The Music", "New Musical Express", 17 October 1987.] The JAMs released several other singles that year and made regular appearances in the British music press.

In a December 1987 interview, Rockman Rock claimed that The JAMs' second album would be heavy metal... "We're gonna do heavy metal covers. We thought we'd do the whole of '"In Rock"'." King Boy D continued: "Before we ever did the '1987' LP, we were gonna do one called 'The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu In Rock' and do all Deep Purple songs. Then we got all these reviews treating us seriously so we thought maybe we should do a bit more of this stuff." Smith, M., "The Great TUNE Robbery", "Melody Maker", 12 December 1987 ( [http://www.libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=52 link] )] In actuality, the duo's second LP, "Who Killed The JAMs?", was "more of this stuff" - a fusion of hip hop, drum machines and samples of a diversity of musical works, albeit with the samples generally more covertly integrated than on "1987". "It's like when you have a crap and you squeeze it out and think 'I'm never going to need another one'", they told "Melody Maker" when discussing plans for a second album, "Then half an hour later you're thinking that maybe you will". ["Excerpts from Amply Sam(ply) Fox's 'Touch Me'", "Melody Maker", 4 July 1987]

Released in February 1988, the sleeve of "Who Killed The JAMs?" pictured Drummond and Cauty with Cauty's Ford Galaxie, later to become credited as the 'writer' of "Doctorin' the Tardis". In the foreground - and in a close-up shot on the reverse of the sleeve - was a bonfire of unsold copies of "1987 (What The Fuck Is Going On?)", which The JAMs had been ordered to destroy following their copyright dispute with ABBA. The fire is referenced in the song "Burn The Bastards", and The JAMs' career story to date told in the song "Prestwich Prophet's Grin".

Upon release, the album was interpreted by sections of the music press to be The JAMs' last album,"Who Killed The JAMs?" Review (February 1988), "Melody Maker".] and, excepting the compilation "Shag Times", it was. Most subsequent releases by Drummond and Cauty would be under their new moniker, The KLF. Drummond: "After all the notoriety we seemed to get on the rock papers news pages over the last year (something we began to feel more and more uncomfortable with) we are going to attempt to keep a low profile in 1988.... [although] we might put out a couple of 12" records under the name The K.L.F. .... As far as sampling is concerned, I'm sure we will continue doing it and from time to time get into trouble because of it, but it has always been only a part of the process of how we put our records together and not the reason for them existing. We will carry on doing what we want to do, when we want to do it, our motivation, everything we see and hear."Drummond, B., KLF Communications Info Sheet, 22 January 1988 ( [http://www.libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=501 link] ).]

Reviews

"Melody Maker" declared "Who Killed The JAMs" to be "divine nihilism", "an outward show of self-deception, irrationality and bankruptcy that worries and rejoices itself to death"."Sounds" thought the album "a masterpiece of pathos", referring to "hopeless bravado in the face of massed corporate opposition", and awarded the maximum five stars. ["The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu: "Who Killed The JAMs?" , "Sounds Magazine", 13 February 1988.]

=Track listingDrummond, B., "Info Sheet One", KLF Communications newsletter, 10 March 1988 ( [http://www.libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=502 link] ). The tracklisting was not actually printed on the album sleeve because, according to Drummond, " to get the record out as fast as possible after we had finished recording it, we had to deliver the art work to the printers before Christmas at which time we didn't know what the tracks were to be called."] =

#The Candystore – 3:07
#The Candyman – 3:29
#Disaster Fund Collection – 5:38
#King Boy's Dream – 0:58
#The Porpoise Song – 5:43
#Prestwich Prophet's Grin – 5:01
#Burn the Bastards – 5:58

References

Notes

*cite book
last= Weisbard
first= Eric
coauthors= Craig Marks
title= Spin Alternative Record Guide
publisher= Vintage Books
year= 1995
isbn= 0679755748