The KLF - What Time Is Love? (12" Echo And The Bunnymen Mix)
- 12 INCH VINYL
- Mar 2
- 3 min read
Updated: May 6
The KLF... where do we begin?!
At the end, in 1992, when they announced their exit from the music industry, deleting their entire back catalogue?
At the start, in 1987, with their indie hits All You Need Is Love, Whitney Joins The JAMs, Down Town, and Kylie Said to Jason?
Or with their first UK number one, in 1988 – Doctorin’ the Tardis, under the moniker The Timelords?
Wherever we begin, The KLF are best known for the Stadium House Trilogy – a series of three singles, all of which featured mock live crowd sounds over explosive, sample-heavy dance records – and all of which made the UK Top 5.
What Time Is Love? was the first of the three, reaching #5 in September 1990. 3AM Eternal reached #1 in February 1991, and Last Train to Trancentral peaked at #2 in May 1991.
Prior to their partnership as The KLF, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty were both active in the music industry.
Drummond was as an A&R man and manager of Echo & the Bunnymen, and Cauty as a member of the commercially unsuccessful rock/pop band Brilliant, which Drummond had taken an interest in.
The pair bonded over shared passions for music, art, and subversion.
The journey of What Time Is Love? to the top end of the UK chart is an interesting one.
The first version – the Pure Trance Original – was a longer instrumental that became a club hit in 1988.
With the record not widely available, a series of cover versions and alternative versions began to appear, the best of which were collected on a mini-album called The "What Time Is Love?" Story in 1989.
The mini-album was assembled by Dr. Alex Paterson of The Orb who, while never an official member of The KLF, was close to the band and often DJ’d with Jimmy Cauty.
Given The KLF’s penchant for mischief, there was speculation that they were behind the many versions of What Time Is Love? that were appearing around Europe (at one point, it was reported that 18 different versions were in circulation).
However, each was credited to an artist with a bona fide back catalogue. The mini-album, for example, contained versions by Dr. Felix, KLFS, Liaisons D, and Neon, alongside a Live at The Land of Oz version – Land of Oz being the room at London’s Heaven nightclub, where Paterson and Cauty DJ’d together.
The version that became internationally known was a new, shorter mix featuring the aforementioned crowd sound effects, an MC5 sample to open the track ("Right now, right now, it's time to..."), a sample from American rapper Wanda Dee ("I wanna see you sweat"), and a new rap by Isaac Bello (aka MC Bello).
As was common at the time, Drummond and Cauty hadn’t obtained permission to use the Wanda Dee sample and, in fact, used another sample from the same track on their 1991 hit Last Train to Trancentral ("Come on boy, do you wanna ride?").
This led to a lawsuit, which The KLF agreed to settle, paying Wanda Dee a fee and royalties on future sales of their album The White Room. However, Dee didn’t leave matters there, later touring as The KLF Experience featuring Wanda Dee – based on her claim that What Time Is Love? wouldn’t have been a hit without her sample – and that her band was the real KLF. As Jimmy Cauty said: "9 out of 10 for total insanity."
The KLF released three follow-up singles to the Stadium House Trilogy in 1991 – America: What Time Is Love? (#4), It’s Grim Up North (as The JAMMs, #10), and Justified and Ancient (featuring Tammy Wynette, #1).
Featured here is the Echo & the Bunnymen Remix, from the UK 12" single.
Year: 1990 Label: KLF Communications Cat no: KLF 128199
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