One of the lesser discussed events, or publicity stunts, the KLF created was the Rites of Mu, a three day event taking place on the Isle of Jura off the Scottish coast during summer solstice in 1991.
By mid 1991, the KLF had gone from obscure dance music group to a chart toping pop group with three worldwide top 10 hit singles and an album that reached the top five in the UK and Australia. As a result KLF members Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty were inundated with requests for interviews, however both of them did not want to answer the questions being asked.
The duo referred those questions as the four handmaidens of evil; who, what, where and why. So much so that at one point they flat out refused to do any more press interviews. In order to take control of the situation (and more likely to hold a good party, get a lot of press coverage, and increase the enigma of the group), the KLF invited around a dozen music journalists to a weekend away on the Isle of Jura.
On Friday 21 June 1991, the journalists arrived on the island. There they met Drummond dressed as a border guard who stamped their passports with a KLF pyramid blaster logo stamp and then proceeded to confiscate any alcohol they had on them. In the evening after dinner, the journalists were asked to wear yellow robed hoods and then were marched down a muddy path to a beach, following Drummond in his white hooded robe and a fake rhino’s horn protruding from his forehead. Drummond lead the group in chants of "mu mu" and "om" until they reached a 12 metre wicker man that had been erected at the water’s edge.
Meanwhile all of this was being filmed for a promotional film being directed by Bill Butt who had collaborated with the duo on various music videos and short films since 1987. While Drummond shouted in tongues in front of the stunned journalists, the four Angels of Mu (four Asian women in long blonde wigs, white dresses, with flower head bands), took money from the journalists which was placed in a bag, then inserted inside the wicker man. Right at the summer solstice at 10:21pm, the wicker man was torched, with cameras recording its burning.
On the second day, Drummond forced the journalists to partake in more filming, having them march behind him in the same yellow robes as the previous day. In the evening, a rave was held on the beach, complete with an arena sized sound system, strobe lights and a bonfire blazing until dawn.
On the Sunday, the journalists were ferried and flown back to Liverpool. Drummond cheerfully announced to the unexpecting journalists that they would be performing "Justified and Ancient" before a sold-out crowd of 2,000 at the Liverpool Festival Of Comedy. They were taught the first two verses of the song, told to wear their robes again and filed onstage during the interval at Emo Phillips’s Liverpool Royal Court show, being introduced as "The Lost Children of Mu" before warbling the song in an off key acappella. During the intermission, Drummond and Cauty handed out ice creams to the audience from an ice cream van which had been parked on stage.
On the event Drummond said this; "Instead of granting interviews we turned the tables and had journalists onstage giving a concert, to give them an opportunity to see what it feels like from the other side". However neither Drummond or Cauty would not elaborate any further as to why they decided to spend over £70,000 on this strange event.
The footage of the event was complied into a film called "The Rites of Mu". Several shorter versions and edits of it appeared from the end of 1991 onwards, most notably on the promotional video "The Work". A full 15 minute version the film was prepared for a 1992 UK arthouse cinema release, but was thwarted by Drummond and Cauty themselves when they put a moratorium on their work after they left the music business in May 1992, infuriating Bill Butt who had just completed the final cut of the film, including newly recorded narration from actor Martin Sheen.
Various versions of the film appeared on Youtube over the years, with the final cut being uploaded in 2021. This was pulled from Youtube in late 2023 with the DVD and blu-ray compilation release of "23 Seconds To Eternity", which complies most of Bill Butt's music videos and short films with Drummond and Cauty.
izzy806
2087
germansingergirl
stormborns
prguitarman
romaincrisis
annaxmalina
titsay
