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1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)

1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)
The JAMS- 1987 (What The Fuck Is Going On?).jpg
Studio album by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu
Released June 1987 (1987-06)
Recorded 1987
Genre House music
Length 40:56
Label The Sound of Mu(sic)
Producer The KLF
The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu chronology
1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?) Who Killed The JAMs?
(1988)Who Killed The JAMs?1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 2.5/5 stars
Q 3/5 stars
Sounds 5/5 stars
Spin Alternative Record Guide 6/10 stars

1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?) is the debut album of British band the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs: Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty), later to be known as the KLF. 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" (included on the album). These samples provided a deliberately provocative backdrop for beatbox rhythms and cryptic, political raps. The album was released to mixed reviews, but was a commercial success.

Shortly after independent release in June 1987, the JAMs were ordered by the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society to destroy all unsold copies of the album, following a complaint from ABBA. In response, The JAMs disposed of many copies of 1987 in unorthodox, publicised ways. They also released a version of the album titled "1987 (The JAMs 45 Edits)", stripped of all unauthorised samples to leave periods of protracted silence and so little audible content that it was formally classed as a 12-inch single.

A limited edition release subjected to recall and a destruction order, 1987 became something of a rarity and by 2000, mint condition copies were trading for £60.

On New Year's Day 1987, Bill Drummond decided to make a hip hop record under the pseudonym "The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu". Despite his small knowledge about modern music technology, he invited Jimmy Cauty, a former member of the band Brilliant, to join him. Cauty reportedly agreed, and The JAMs' debut single "All You Need Is Love" was independently released on 9 March 1987 as a limited edition one-sided white label 12-inch. Cauty conceived the pseudonym "Rockman Rock", and Drummond used the nickname "King Boy D".


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