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What Time Is Love?
"What Time Is Love?" is a song released, in different mixes, as a series of singles by the British electronic music band the KLF. It featured prominently and repeatedly in their output from 1988 to 1992 and, under the moniker of 2K, in 1997. In its original form, the track was an instrumental electronic dance anthem; subsequent reworkings, with vocals and additional instrumentation, yielded the international hit singles "What Time Is Love? (Live at Trancentral)" (1990), and "America: What Time Is Love?" (1991), which respectively reached number five and number four on the UK Singles Chart, and introduced the KLF to a mainstream international audience.
The KLF co-founders Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond began releasing music in March 1987, under the pseudonym the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (the JAMs), named after a cultish organisation from The Illuminatus! Trilogy novels. The JAMs' output was created from plagiarised samples of popular music grafted together to form new songs, with beatbox rhythms and Drummond's often political raps. Their second album, Who Killed the JAMs?, was followed by a newsletter which expressed regret that people believed the JAMs were leading "a crusade for sampling", and suggested "We might put out a couple of 12-inch records under the name the K.L.F., these will be rap free just pure dance music, so don't expect to see them reviewed in the music papers." The first incarnation of "What Time Is Love?" followed.
"What Time Is Love?" became one of the KLF's central tracks, dubbed their "three-note warhorse of a signature tune" by Bill Drummond, in reference to the three-note bassline which, together with a high-pitched refrain on two notes (B bending to F#) characterises the song. The bassline is very similar to the one used by Anne Clark the electronic musician in her 1984 song Our Darkness[citation needed] and to the guitar introduction to the song Heaven on Their Minds from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.[citation needed]
In common with the singles "3 a.m. Eternal", "Last Train to Trancentral" and "Justified and Ancient", "What Time Is Love?" evolved through substantial reworkings, each new version taking elements of its predecessors and placing them in the context of a different musical genre.[citation needed] There were three main versions, released in 1988, 1990 and 1991, shifting the KLF's sound from acid house through pop into heavy rock-oriented electronica, and a remake under a different moniker in 1997.
The original 1988 12" single release launched the KLF's minimalist "Pure Trance" series of singles.
The "Pure Trance" version is a synthesiser composition based around an acid house riff on three low-pitched notes and one minor chord (B minor). The subtle progression of the piece occurs through the modulation of the main loops, the dub-like dropping of particular loops, and a recurring high-pitched refrain on two notes (B bending to F#). An Oberheim OB-8 synthesiser provided the instrumentation.
Two discs of different "Pure Trance" mixes, numbered KLF 004T (green writing on a black sleeve) and KLF 004R (yellow writing on a black sleeve, and a cover sticker), were given low-key releases on 24 November 1988 and 24 July 1989 respectively. The cumulative popularity of KLF 004T in continental European clubs prompted the KLF to release a compilation album of selected cover versions and sound-alikes, entitled The "What Time Is Love?" Story.
As Drummond had predicted, the "Pure Trance" release received little attention from the music press. However, upon the release of The "What Time Is Love?" Story, Q Magazine hailed the track as "a whirling house stomper ... not so much of a tune but a good beat".
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What Time Is Love?
"What Time Is Love?" is a song released, in different mixes, as a series of singles by the British electronic music band the KLF. It featured prominently and repeatedly in their output from 1988 to 1992 and, under the moniker of 2K, in 1997. In its original form, the track was an instrumental electronic dance anthem; subsequent reworkings, with vocals and additional instrumentation, yielded the international hit singles "What Time Is Love? (Live at Trancentral)" (1990), and "America: What Time Is Love?" (1991), which respectively reached number five and number four on the UK Singles Chart, and introduced the KLF to a mainstream international audience.
The KLF co-founders Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond began releasing music in March 1987, under the pseudonym the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (the JAMs), named after a cultish organisation from The Illuminatus! Trilogy novels. The JAMs' output was created from plagiarised samples of popular music grafted together to form new songs, with beatbox rhythms and Drummond's often political raps. Their second album, Who Killed the JAMs?, was followed by a newsletter which expressed regret that people believed the JAMs were leading "a crusade for sampling", and suggested "We might put out a couple of 12-inch records under the name the K.L.F., these will be rap free just pure dance music, so don't expect to see them reviewed in the music papers." The first incarnation of "What Time Is Love?" followed.
"What Time Is Love?" became one of the KLF's central tracks, dubbed their "three-note warhorse of a signature tune" by Bill Drummond, in reference to the three-note bassline which, together with a high-pitched refrain on two notes (B bending to F#) characterises the song. The bassline is very similar to the one used by Anne Clark the electronic musician in her 1984 song Our Darkness[citation needed] and to the guitar introduction to the song Heaven on Their Minds from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.[citation needed]
In common with the singles "3 a.m. Eternal", "Last Train to Trancentral" and "Justified and Ancient", "What Time Is Love?" evolved through substantial reworkings, each new version taking elements of its predecessors and placing them in the context of a different musical genre.[citation needed] There were three main versions, released in 1988, 1990 and 1991, shifting the KLF's sound from acid house through pop into heavy rock-oriented electronica, and a remake under a different moniker in 1997.
The original 1988 12" single release launched the KLF's minimalist "Pure Trance" series of singles.
The "Pure Trance" version is a synthesiser composition based around an acid house riff on three low-pitched notes and one minor chord (B minor). The subtle progression of the piece occurs through the modulation of the main loops, the dub-like dropping of particular loops, and a recurring high-pitched refrain on two notes (B bending to F#). An Oberheim OB-8 synthesiser provided the instrumentation.
Two discs of different "Pure Trance" mixes, numbered KLF 004T (green writing on a black sleeve) and KLF 004R (yellow writing on a black sleeve, and a cover sticker), were given low-key releases on 24 November 1988 and 24 July 1989 respectively. The cumulative popularity of KLF 004T in continental European clubs prompted the KLF to release a compilation album of selected cover versions and sound-alikes, entitled The "What Time Is Love?" Story.
As Drummond had predicted, the "Pure Trance" release received little attention from the music press. However, upon the release of The "What Time Is Love?" Story, Q Magazine hailed the track as "a whirling house stomper ... not so much of a tune but a good beat".