HISTORY


What follows is The First Annual Address to The KLF Re-Enactment Society (KLFRS), given by The Kommittee on the 12th of February 2021

Dear Members of The KLF Re-Enactment Society,

The history of our Society is murky.

All histories are subjective and by their very nature in a constant state of flux.

Many claims have been made – some seismically unsubstantiated.

But…

At this very moment of upload…

It reads as follows…

                         


Enter Philip K Blake

Although the 1st of January 2021 is given as the official founding date of The KLF Re-Enactment Society, many claim it’s spirit began over three years earlier, when a replica of Ford Timelord (aka The JAMs Mobile) careered up and down Bold Street in Liverpool. This careering was done late in the evening of the 22nd of August 2017. At the wheel of this replica of Ford Timelord was the determined and heroically reckless re-enactor Philip K Blake.


                         


The Bucket of White Paint

But there are those in The Society that argue, this replica only truly entered the canon once it was vandalised by the then Justified Ancients of Mu Mu two days later. This vandalisation was done by them throwing a bucket of white paint at the replica Ford Timlord. This being seen as a re-enactment of them painting the original Ford Timelord white during the filming of The White Room sometime in the very late 1980s.

The factionalism that exists in any re-enactment society, has to be both lived with while hoping a Good Friday Agreement can be found.

There are those that hold Lateral Not Literal to be The Society’s motto.

While others seem to veer towards Literal Not Lateral.

We on The Kommittee endeavor to do all we can to resolve the issues between the different factions of The Society.

Compare and contrast the Enactment and Re-Enactment here.


                         


The Ice Kream Van

Only seconds after the replica Ford Timelord was recklessly driven up and down Bold Street in Liverpool, the then Justified Ancients of Mu Mu carefully drove their Ice Kream Van down the same Bold Street – What Time Is Love? ice cream chimes tinkling at their best.

What might have been unknown to The 400, who were lining Bold Street while hoping for something historic to happen, this Ice Kream Van was not thee Ice Kream Van. This Ice Kream Van, which the then Justified Ancients of Mu Mu had only bought days beforehand, using all of the advance they had received from Faber & Faber for their novel 2023, thus cleaning out their bank account once again, was in fact a re-enactment of the original Ice Kream Van.

The original Ice Kream Van being the one that had featured as part of The KLF’s performance at the Liverpool Festival of Comedy in the Summer of ’91. And again later that same year in the full-page newspaper advertisments for their 45 Justified & Ancient.

And again on The KLF’s Top Of The Pop’s appearance performing the aforesaid 45.

This 45 that was not, as planned, that year’s Christmas Number One.
We blame Freddy for dying when he did.
We have forgiven Freddy.
And of course we have cut a deal with the Ron & Russell.
And we will record a re-enactment of Justified & Ancient with Freddy – Hoover in hand.
And Ricardo doing his rap.
This Re-Enactment will happen at some as yet unknown date.
And it will be the Christmas number one song in Heaven.
Thus allowing the Ron & Russell to slip to the number two slot, for just one week.

This is the number one song in Heaven
Why are you hearing it now, you ask
Maybe you are closer to here than you imagine
Maybe you are closer to here than you care to be


                         


2023

It has been suggested by a Mark Silver, that the actual publication of the novel 2023, which happened only moments after the events in Bold Street, as documented in paragraphs above, was, in fact a re-enactment – in a literary form – of the complete history of The KLF, but refracted through a fictitious female electronica duo of the same name that existed in the Ukraine, at the same time as being a very male Northampton based, three piece rock band led by their drummer who went by the name of Alan Moore.


                         


Who Killed The KLF?

Some months prior to the events witnessed by The 400 on Bold Street, it came to be known that there were a pair of actors acting out the roles of The K Foundation. These actors were playing the parts of Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond painting a hire car with their Kontract. This Kontract was with the rest of Humanity and stated that they – The K Foundations – were not to talk about the burning of one million quid for 23 years, before then pushing the said hire care over a stand in for the cliffs at Cape Wrath in 1995. These actors were playing the parts in the film Who Killed The KLF?  by Chris Atkins. This was deemed as very much a re-enactment in a very traditional sense of the word.

This film was released in 2021 and contained a variety of very literal re-enactments within it. Some of those re-enactments are compiled here which may act as a spur for the Lateral faction of the society.