Beginning in 1987 in London, England, Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) released hip hop-inspired and sample-heavy records as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and, on one occasion (the British number one hit single "Doctorin' the Tardis"), as The Timelords. As The KLF, Drummond and Cauty pioneered the genres "stadium house" (rave music with a pop-rock production and sampled crowd noise) and "ambient house". The KLF released a series of international top-ten hits on their own KLF Communications record label, and became the highest internationally selling UK band of 1991. The duo also published a book, The Manual, and worked on a road movie called The White Room.
From the outset, they adopted the philosophy espoused by esoteric novels The Illuminatus! Trilogy, gaining notoriety for various anarchic situationist manifestations, including the defacement of billboard adverts, the posting of prominent cryptic advertisements in NME magazine and the mainstream press, and highly distinctive and unusual performances on Top of the Pops. Their most notorious performance was at the February 1992 Brit Awards, where they horrified the formal audience with a hardcore thrash version of "3 A.M. Eternal" (performed with the justifiably named Extreme Noise Terror) that also included Drummond spraying the crowd with blanks from an automatic rifle and the post-performance announcement, "The KLF have left the music industry." Topping their already extreme actions, Cauty and Drummond delivered the carcass of a dead sheep -- plus eight gallons of blood -- to the lobby of the hotel after-party. In May 1992 the duo deleted their entire back catalogue.
With The KLF's profits, Drummond and Cauty established the K Foundation and sought to subvert the art world, staging an alternative art award for the worst artist of the year and burning a million pounds sterling. Although Drummond and Cauty remained true to their word of May 1992βthe KLF Communications catalogue remains deletedβthey have released a small number of new tracks since then, as the K Foundation, The One World Orchestra and most recently, in 1997, as 2K. Cauty has provided remixing services for bands as diverse as Hawkwind and Placebo, under the name Scourge of the Earth.
The KLF catalogue remained absent from digital platforms until January 1, 2021, when an 8-track compilation of their 7" hit singles 1988-1991 - Solid State Logik 1 was released on streaming platforms, marking the 1st installment of a series called Samplecity Thru Trancentral.
Trancentral Lost in My Mind
The KLF Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm going to give you a special phone number where you can call me so
that I can send you a special gift this week. Get your paper and pen
ready. Now, here's the service already in progress...
The lyrics to The KLF's song Trancentral Lost in My Mind are seemingly straightforward but hold a deeper meaning. The spoken word interlude in the song, where a voice announces a special phone number for listeners to call and receive a special gift, adds an intriguing layer of surrealism to the otherwise upbeat electronic track. Some interpret this as a commentary on consumerism and the endless pursuit of material possessions. The song seems to be asking listeners to question their priorities and whether the pursuit of material goods is worth sacrificing their mental well-being for.
Additionally, the title of the song itself contains two conflicting ideas - Trancentral, a reference to the transcendent state achieved in electronic dance music, and Lost in My Mind, a more introspective and possibly negative frame of mind. The two phrases together could represent the conflicting emotions and thoughts one can experience while dancing or losing themselves in the music.
Line by Line Meaning
For the next thirty minutes
During the upcoming thirty minutes
I'm going to give you a special phone number
I will provide you with a unique telephone number
where you can call me so
It will enable you to phone me
that I can send you a special gift this week.
So that I can dispatch a special present to you within this week
Get your paper and pen ready.
Please procure writing tools
Now, here's the service already in progress...
Now, the function is already underway
Contributed by Eva M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Name
Seriously takes me back to my rave days,Sasha use to drop itππ,,ohhhh happy dayz
Giorgos Christopoulos
Has there ever been a longer version of this exact tune? Not talking about Lost In Trancentral, but a build-up on this specific arrangement.