The Magnificent (song)
| "The Magnificent" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the One World Orchestra featuring the Massed Pipes and Drums of the Children's Free Revolutionary Volunteer Guard from the album The Help Album | |
| Released | 9 September 1995 (UK) |
| Recorded | 4 September 1995 |
| Genre | Drum and bass |
| Length | 2:12 |
| Label | Go! Discs Records |
| Writer(s) | Bill Drummond, Jimmy Cauty and Elmer Bernstein |
| Producer(s) | Drummond/Cauty |
"The Magnificent" is a 1995 song by the One World Orchestra (Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, better known as The KLF), recorded for the War Child charity compilation, The Help Album.
The song is a drum 'n' bass cover version of the theme from The Magnificent Seven, with vocal contributions from the Belgradian counter-culturist DJ Fleka of Serbian radio station B92.
The track was used by B92 as a jingle and, in 1996, it became recognised as a protest song against the Serbian government of Slobodan Milošević.
In late summer 1995, Tony Crean of Go! Discs Records spoke with Bill Drummond about the proposed Help Album, a not-for-profit charity LP for children affected by the Bosnian conflict. Although Drummond claimed that the duo "despised the whole idea of people in the entertainment world getting publicly involved with charity", he and his KLF musical partner Jimmy Cauty nonetheless agreed to participate.
The turnaround time of the album's production, from its recording to its appearance in record shops, was a tight five-day schedule, with all recording to be complete by the end of the first day (4 September 1995). To produce the song, Drummond and Cauty re-assembled The KLF's regular production team: keyboardist Nick Coler, engineer Ian Richardson, and mixer Mark "Spike" Stent. Cauty had for some time been entertaining the notion of covering Elmer Bernstein's theme from The Magnificent Seven. According to Drummond, the duo envisaged crafting this alongside the vocals of Robbie Williams, recently sacked from the band Take That for his wayward behaviour in the presence of the paparazzi. Williams, however, was unavailable, holidaying in Turkey with his mother, and so due to the production deadline, this collaborative idea was abandoned.
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