"3 a.m. Eternal" | ||||
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Single by the KLF | ||||
from the album The White Room | ||||
Released |
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Genre | House | |||
Length |
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Label | KLF Communications | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Drummond & Cauty singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Music video | ||||
The KLF - 3AM Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.) (Official Video) on YouTube |
"3 a.m. Eternal" is a song by British acid house group the KLF, taken from their fourth and final studio album, The White Room (1991). Numerous versions of the song were released as singles between 1989 and 1992 by their label KLF Communications. In January 1991, an acid house pop version of the song became an international top ten hit single, reaching number-one on the UK Singles Chart, number two on the UK Dance Singles Chart and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, and leading to the KLF becoming the internationally biggest-selling singles band of 1991. [1] [2]
The following year, when the KLF accepted an invitation to perform at the 1992 BRIT Awards ceremony, they caused controversy with a succession of anti-establishment gestures that included a duet performance of "3 a.m. Eternal" with the crust punk band Extreme Noise Terror, during which KLF co-founder Bill Drummond fired machine-gun blanks over the audience of music industry luminaries. A studio-produced version of this song was issued as a limited edition mail order 7-inch single, the final release by the KLF and their independent record label, KLF Communications. Q Magazine ranked "3 a.m. Eternal" number 150 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever" in 2003. [3]
The original 1989 12-inch single release constituted the second of the KLF's "Pure Trance" series. There were two issues, numbered 005T (pink writing on a black sleeve, with two KLF mixes) and 005R (black writing on a pink sleeve, with four more mixes, including remixes by the Cauty/Paterson incarnation of The Orb ("Blue Danube Orbital" [4] ) and The Moody Boys).
A version heavily reworked for a mainstream audience, "3 a.m. Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.)", was issued on 7 January 1991, [5] reaching number one on the UK singles chart and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100. This version incorporated rap verses by Ricardo da Force and opening vocals from soul legend P. P. Arnold, both of whom appear in the music video. Crowd noise (apparently from a live U2 concert) was added to the mix to give the impression that the single was a live recording. The "S.S.L." in the subtitle refers to a Solid State Logic mixing desk. The seven inch version of this mix appears on the album The White Room . The main B-side was a dub-based version of the same song, "3 a.m. Eternal (Guns of Mu Mu)", featuring the bassline from The Clash's "Guns of Brixton". Concurrent with the chart-topping version, yet another 12-inch was released, with resolutely underground remixes by The Moody Boys.
There are two video versions for the SSL video. The American version includes an opening with a travel through the mythical "Land of Mu Mu" where the KLF are performing inside a pyramid scenery with singers in a stadium. The European version shows the KLF vehicle (the police cruiser used in their Timelords incarnation) driving around London with Ricardo da Force rapping in the backseat, intercut with footage of him and a full band performing the song onstage. The video received heavy rotation on MTV Europe. [6]
In January 1992, the KLF released a limited edition mail order only single containing a new version of "3 a.m." featuring the grindcore/crust punk band Extreme Noise Terror (called the "Christmas Top of the Pops 1991" version [7] as the KLF had hoped to perform it on the 1991 Christmas Top of the Pops but were rebuffed by the BBC). [8] The two bands instead performed a live version of the song at the BRIT Awards ceremony in February 1992. The Brits performance included a limping, kilted, cigar-chomping Drummond firing blanks from an automatic weapon over the heads of the crowd.
After viewing the rehearsals, NME writer Danny Kelly said: "Compared to what's preceded it, this is a turbo-powered metallic wolf breaking into a coop full of particularly sick doves... And the noise? Well, the noise is hardcore punk thrash through a disco Techno hit played by crusties. All bases covered, brilliantly. Clever, clever bastards." [9] At the end of the performance, Scott Piering announced to a stunned crowd that "The KLF have now left the music business". Within a few months, they did just that—their records were deleted and the KLF retired from the industry. Kelly later described the Brits performance as the KLF's "self-destruction in an orgy of punk rock..., mock outrage ... and real bad taste". [10] The track finally saw wide release in 2021 when it was included as part of the Solid State Logik compilations released by the KLF in January that year.
Larry Flick from Billboard commented, "Alternative dance act makes its label debut with an invigorating rave that picks up where the previous "What Time Is Love" left off. Sonic blast of techno/hip-hop, industrial riffs, and R&B diva vocals has the juice to kick hard on the dancefloor and ignite crossover radio action." [11]
In a January 1991 feature on the KLF, NME writer Roger Morton described the "Pure Trance Original" as a "classic club track" and the "Live at the S.S.L." version as "murderously powerful". [12] In 1992, the magazine's David Quantick wrote, "This one-sided, white label, 1,000 copies only, your-mates-won't-have-it-and-you-will seven inch monster is in the great tradition of KLF product, not as shiningly beautiful as "Last Train to Trancentral" or quite as bonkers as "Justified and Ancient", but any band who can discern the secret link between hardcore thrash and hardcore dance are well worth the candle." [13] As Record Mirror's "Single of the Week", the "Live at the S.S.L." version was regarded as "a magnificent pulsating beast combining bleeps and body heat". [14] Appraising the track retrospectively in 2000, The Guardian referred to the "Live at the S.S.L." version as an "epic pop masterpiece". [15]
An editor from Complex commented that "the message [of the song] is universal: Time is eternal." [16] Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger described is as an "awe-inpsiring [sic], colossal, unprecedented dancefloor bulldozer". [17] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report wrote, "Production wizardry from these techno-talents earns three stars for a highly original effort. A #1 track in their native England, it's won over audiences throughout Europe and stands to do the same in North America. Strengthened by a video that is nothing short of exceptional, it's getting major exposure on MTV with five plays a day in "Buzz Bin" rotation." [18]
The "Pure Trance Original" was described by Record Mirror as a "euro-flavoured deep house pulser" with atmospheric chanting and a "cathedral-like resonance". [19]
In 2020, The Guardian ranked the song number 23 in their list of "The 100 greatest UK No 1s". [20]
"3 a.m. Eternal (Pure Trance Original)" was aired as a UK 12-inch single in May 1989. "3 a.m. Eternal (Live from the S.S.L.)" was given an international release as a single on 7 January 1991. A single of remixes by The Moody Boys was given a limited release a week later. In January 1992, a one-sided 7-inch single of the KLF's collaboration with Extreme Noise Terror was released via mail order only, a limited pressing of 1000 copies. [21] [22]
Format (and countries) | Track number | |||
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
Pure Trance Original | ||||
12-inch (KLF Communications KLF 005T) | P | B | ||
12-inch (KLF Communications KLF 005R) | p | O | M | E |
Live at the S.S.L. | ||||
7-inch single, cassette single | l | g | ||
12-inch single (US) | L | G | K | W |
12-inch single (elsewhere) | L | G | ||
CD single (Japan) | l | G | B | W |
CD single (elsewhere) | l | G | B | |
KLF Present the Moody Boys Selection | ||||
12-inch single, CD single | W | R | K | |
The KLF vs ENT version | ||||
7-inch single (limited edition of 1000 copies) | T | |||
Key
P - "3 a.m. Eternal (Pure Trance Original)" (5:55) | g - "3 a.m. Eternal (Guns of Mu Mu)" (edit) (3:30) |
B - "3 a.m. Eternal (Break for Love)" (5:39) | G - "3 a.m. Eternal (Guns of Mu Mu)" (5:20) |
p - "3 a.m. Eternal (Pure Trance Original)" (edit) (3:38) | W - "3 a.m. Eternal (Wayward Dub Version)" (6:54) |
O - "3 a.m. Eternal (Blue Danube Orbital)" (7:35) | R - "3 a.m. Eternal (Rankin' Club Version)" (4:34) |
M - "3 a.m. Eternal (Moody Boy)" (6:50) | K - "3 a.m. Eternal (Klonk Blip Every Trip)" [23] (5:48) |
E - "3 p.m. Electro" (5:58) | T - "3 a.m. Eternal (The KLF vs Extreme Noise Terror: TOTP version)" (2:43) |
l - "3 a.m. Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.)" (edit) (3:42) | |
L - "3 a.m. Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.)" (5:50) | |
Weekly charts
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Certifications
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The White Room is the fourth and final studio album by British electronic music group the KLF, released on 3 March 1991. The album features versions of the band's hit singles, including "What Time Is Love?", "3 a.m. Eternal", and "Last Train to Trancentral".
The Black Room is an unfinished studio album recorded by the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, intended to be the follow-up to their KLF album The White Room.
Chill Out is the third studio album by British electronic music group The KLF, released on 5 February 1990. It is an ambient-styled concept album featuring an extensive selection of samples, portraying a mythical night-time journey throughout the U.S. Gulf Coast states, beginning in Texas and ending in Louisiana. Chill Out was conceived as a continuous piece of music, with original KLF music interwoven with samples from songs by Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac, Acker Bilk, Van Halen, 808 State and field recordings of Tuvan throat singers.
"It's Grim Up North" is a song by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. The song was originally released as a limited edition "Club Mix" in December 1990 with Pete Wylie on vocals. A re-recorded version with Bill Drummond on vocals was released commercially in October 1991. These recordings were the first releases by Drummond and his creative partner Jimmy Cauty under the JAMs moniker since the 1988 compilation album Shag Times, and the last under that name; in the meantime they had operated as the Timelords and the KLF. The 1991 single release reached No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart and entered the top 10 in Denmark and Finland.
This discography lists the key British and notable international releases of The KLF and the other pseudonyms of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty. It also details the other releases on their independent record label, KLF Communications, by KLF-spinoff Disco 2000 and Space. In the United Kingdom—their home country—Drummond and Cauty released six albums and a wide array of 12 " singles on KLF Communications. In other territories their material was typically issued under licence by local labels.
1987 is the debut studio album by British electronic band The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, later known as the KLF. 1987 was produced using extensive unauthorised samples that plagiarised a wide range of musical works, continuing a theme begun in the JAMs' debut single "All You Need Is Love". These samples provided a deliberately provocative backdrop for beatbox rhythms and cryptic, political raps.
"Last Train to Trancentral" is a song released, in different mixes, as a series of singles by British electronic band The KLF, including "Last Train to Trancentral ". A commercially successful single of April 1991, it reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, number one on the UK Dance Singles Chart and achieved international top ten placings. It is a central song within The KLF's work, and is distinctive for an uplifting string-synthesiser break.
"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? " (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.
"Justified & Ancient" is a song by British band the KLF. It was featured on their 1991 album, The White Room, but its origins date back to the duo's debut album, 1987 .
Shag Times is a UK compilation and remix double album released in 1989 by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. The album also introduced Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty's new incarnation – and one which would become considerably more famous – The KLF.
"Doctorin' the Tardis" is a novelty single by the Timelords. The song is predominantly a mash-up of the Doctor Who theme music and Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll" with sections from "Block Buster!" by The Sweet. The single was not well received by critics but was a commercial success, hitting number one on the UK and New Zealand singles charts, and reaching the top 10 in Australia, Finland, Ireland and Norway.
"Whitney Joins the JAMs" is a song and 1987 single by the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. The song, released on the JAMs' independent label KLF Communications, is built around plagiarised samples of Whitney Houston in which—thanks to studio technology—she "joins the JAMs".
"Kylie Said to Jason" was a 1989 single by The KLF, referring to Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, then stars in the popular Australian TV soap opera Neighbours. Designed for chart success, the single nonetheless failed to enter the UK top 100.
The KLF are a British electronic band who originated in Liverpool and London in the late 1980s. Scottish musician Bill Drummond and English musician Jimmy Cauty began by releasing hip hop-inspired and sample-heavy records as the JAMs. As the Timelords, they recorded the British number-one single "Doctorin' the Tardis", and documented the process of making a hit record in a book The Manual . As the KLF, Drummond and Cauty pioneered stadium house and, with their 1990 LP Chill Out, the ambient house genre. The KLF released a series of international hits on their own KLF Communications record label and became the biggest selling singles act in the world in 1991.
"Fuck the Millennium", sometimes spelled "***k the Millennium", is a protest song by the band 2K—Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty—better known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu or the KLF. The song was inspired musically by Jeremy Deller's "Acid Brass" project, where a traditional brass band plays acid house classics; these include the KLF's "What Time Is Love?". They were also inspired topically by the then-forthcoming end of the second millennium and the plans to celebrate it.
"Paranoimia" is a song by the English synth-pop group Art of Noise, released in April 1986 from their second studio album, In Visible Silence (1986). A better-known version was released as a single, featuring television character Max Headroom on vocals. This version was first included on the 1986 album Re-Works of Art of Noise.
"Posse (I Need You on the Floor)" is a song by German band Scooter. It was released on 21 May 2001 as the lead single from their eighth studio album We Bring the Noise!. Following the success of "The Logical Song" and "Nessaja", it was released in the United Kingdom in November 2002, reaching number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. The song reached the top 10 in Austria, Germany, and Romania and the top 20 in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.
Brit Awards 1992 was the 12th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 12 February 1992 at Hammersmith Apollo in London.
Solid State Logik is a 2021 two-part digital compilation album by British electronic band the KLF, released to streaming services on KLF Communications, in a series of planned six official compilations Samplecity thru Trancentral. Part 1 subtitled 7″ Hit Singles 1988–1991, was released on 1 January 2021 – and part 2, subtitled 12″ Master Mixes 1988–2017, was released on 23 March 2021.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)This one-sided, white label, 1,000 copies only, your-mates-won't-have-it-and-you-will seven inch monster is in the great tradition of KLF product, not as shiningly beautiful as 'Last Train To Trancentral' or quite as bonkers as 'Justified And Ancient', but any band who can discern the secret link between hardcore trash and hardcore dance are well worth the candle. This is a record that makes you laugh 'til your ears bleed.