"Doctorin' the Tardis" ( sample (help· info)) is a 1988 electronic novelty pop single by The Timelords ("Time Boy" and "Lord Rock", aliases of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, now better known as The KLF). The song is predominantly a mash-up of the Doctor Who theme music, Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll (Part Two)" with sections from "Blockbuster!" by Sweet. The single was panned by critics but a commercial success, reaching number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and charting highly in Australia and New Zealand. This article is about the Time Lords from Doctor Who. ... Image File history File links The_Timelords-_Doctorin'_The_Tardis_(UK_CDV). ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... The KLF (also known as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs), The Timelords and other names) were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s. ... is the 143rd day of the year (144th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... It has been suggested that Childrens gramophone records be merged into this article or section. ... 12 single for U2s Beautiful Day The 12-inch [30 cm] single gramophone record came into existence with the advent of disco music in the 1970s. ... Insert from the Winter cassette single by Tori Amos The cassette single was a music recording format that debuted in the 80s. ... A CD single is a music single in the form of a compact disc. ... Last Train to Trancentral is a song and - in different mixes - a series of singles by The KLF, including Last Train to Trancentral (Live from the Lost Continent), a commercially successful single of April 1991 that reached # 2 in the UK Singles Chart and achieved international top ten placings. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Electronic music (disambiguation). ... For popular forms of music in general, see Popular music. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In the UK, The KLF and their incarnations released an array of 12 singles and albums on their own independent record label KLF Communications. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... William Ernest Drummond[1] (Bill Drummond) (born April 29, 1953, Butterworth, South Africa)[2][3] is a Scottish musician, music industry figure, writer and artist. ... James Cauty, Jimmy or Jimi, also known as Rockman Rock, was born in Devon, England in 1956 and not much is known about him until, as a 17-year old artist, he painted a popular Lord of the Rings poster (and later, a counterpart based on The Hobbit) for Athena. ... // A record chart, also known as a music chart, is a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. ... “British Hit Singles” redirects here. ... William Ernest Drummond[1] (Bill Drummond) (born April 29, 1953, Butterworth, South Africa)[2][3] is a Scottish musician, music industry figure, writer and artist. ... James Cauty, Jimmy or Jimi, also known as Rockman Rock, was born in Devon, England in 1956 and not much is known about him until, as a 17-year old artist, he painted a popular Lord of the Rings poster (and later, a counterpart based on The Hobbit) for Athena. ... Burn the Bastards is a 1988 song by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs), from their second and final album Who Killed The JAMs?. The bastards of the title are copies of The JAMs first album, 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going... What Time Is Love? is a song and - in different mixes - a series of singles by acid house pioneers The KLF. What Time Is Love? is one of the landmark songs of The KLFs career and, in its original form, an acid house anthem. ... Image File history File links The_Timelords_-_Doctorin'_the_Tardis_(excerpt). ... Image File history File links The_Timelords_-_Doctorin'_the_Tardis_(excerpt). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Novelty records are whole albums or singles that capitalize on something interesting (novel) or a current fad. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... William Ernest Drummond[1] (Bill Drummond) (born April 29, 1953, Butterworth, South Africa)[2][3] is a Scottish musician, music industry figure, writer and artist. ... James Cauty, Jimmy or Jimi, also known as Rockman Rock, was born in Devon, England in 1956 and not much is known about him until, as a 17-year old artist, he painted a popular Lord of the Rings poster (and later, a counterpart based on The Hobbit) for Athena. ... The KLF (also known as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs), The Timelords and other names) were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s. ... Bastard pop is a musical genre which, in its purest form, consists of the combination (usually by digital means) of the music from one song with the a cappella from another. ... The Doctor Who theme music was created in 1963, composed by Ron Grainer and realised with electronics by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. ... Paul Francis Gadd aka Gary Glitter (born May 8, 1944) is an English rock and pop singer and songwriter who had a string of chart successes with a collection of 1970s glam rock hits including Rock and Roll parts 1 & 2, I Love You Love Me Love, Im the... Rock and Roll, also known as The Hey Song, is a song performed by British glam rocker Gary Glitter that was released in 1972 as a single and on the album Glitter. ... Blockbuster! is a popular song by The Sweet. ... Sweet (referred to as The Sweet on albums before 1974 and singles before 1975) were a popular 1970s British band. ... “British Hit Singles” redirects here. ...

The Timelords followed up their chart-topping record with a "how to have a number one" guide, The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way). The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way) is a 1988 book by The Timelords (Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty), better known as The KLF. It is a tongue-in-cheek step by step guide to achieving a No. ...

Context

The release of "Doctorin' the Tardis" followed a self-imposed break from recording of Drummond and Cauty's sampling outfit, The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs). The single continued The JAMs' strategy of plagiarising and juxtaposing popular musical works. However, unlike the cultish limited releases of The JAMs, in which Drummond's Clydeside rapping and social commentary were regular ingredients, "Doctorin' The Tardis" was an excursion into the musical mainstream, with the change of name to "The Timelords" and an overt reliance on several iconic symbols of 1970s and 80s British popular culture, including Glitter, Doctor Who (the theme song, and the references to Daleks and the TARDIS), Sweet's "Blockbuster!" and Harry Enfield's character 'Loadsamoney'. The song also features the riff from another of Glitter's recordings, "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)". Its name is a reference to "Doctorin' the House" by Coldcut. The Justified Ancients of Mummu is one of the two protagonist secret societies in the Illuminatus! series of books by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The River Clyde opening out at Newark Castle, Port Glasgow past Clydeport Ocean Terminal, Greenock, to the Firth of Clyde on the left, and to the right past Ardmore Point to the Gare Loch. ... For the English folk dance, see Rapper sword. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... The culture of the United Kingdom is rich and varied, and has been influential on culture on a worldwide scale. ... For other uses, see Doctor Who (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Dalek (disambiguation). ... The current TARDIS prop as seen at the BBC Wales reception in 2005. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A top hit for British Rock singer Gary Glitter. ... Coldcut: Jonathan More (left) & Matt Black Coldcut is a duo comprising English DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More. ...

Drummond and Cauty often claimed that the song was the result of a deliberate effort to write a number one hit single. However, in interviews with SnubTV and BBC Radio 1, Drummond offered a more plausible explanation. "We went into the studio on a Monday, thinking we were going to make a house track, a regular underground dance house track using the Doctor Who theme tune... [but] we [then] realised it was in triplet time and you can't have house tracks in triplet time. The only beat that would work with it was the Glitter beat. By Tuesday evening we realised we had a number one and we just went totally for the lowest common denominator". Radio 1 interviewer Richard Skinner called the record an "aberration", to which Drummond pleaded "guilty", adding that "we justified it all by saying to ourselves 'We're celebrating a very British thing here... you know, something that Timmy Mallett understands'".^[1] This page redirects from Radio 1. See Radio 1 (disambiguation). ... Metre or meter (US) is the measurement of a musical line into measures of stressed and unstressed beats, indicated in Western music notation by a symbol called a time signature. ... Paul Francis Gadd aka Gary Glitter (born May 8, 1944) is an English rock and pop singer and songwriter who had a string of chart successes with a collection of 1970s glam rock hits including Rock and Roll parts 1 & 2, I Love You Love Me Love, Im the... In mathematics, the lowest common denominator or least common denominator (abbreviated LCD) is the least common multiple of the denominators of a set of vulgar fractions. ... Richard Skinner (born December 26th 1951) is a British radio and televison broadcaster. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

In a KLF Communications information sheet, Drummond called "Doctorin' the Tardis" "probably the most nauseating record in the world" but added that "we also enjoyed celebrating the trashier side of pop".^[2]

Ford Timelord

Ford Timelord aims for a Dalek in the video to "Doctorin' the Tardis"

In promotional material for the single, credit for the talent behind the song (inspiration and authorship) was attributed not to Time Boy and Lord Rock but to Cauty's 1968 Ford Galaxie American police car, "Ford Timelord" (formerly known as the JAMsmobile). The car, which had previously appeared on the cover of The JAMs' album Who Killed The JAMs?, was thematically tailored to The JAMs, depicting their 'pyramid blaster' emblem on its doors and the number 23 on its roof. Drummond and Cauty claimed the car spoke to them, giving its name as Ford Timelord, and advising the duo to become "The Timelords". Ford featured prominently on the sleeve of "Doctorin' the Tardis", where it is quoted as saying "Hi! I'm Ford Timelord. I'm a car, and I've made a record", and "...I mixed and matched some tunes we all know and love, got some mates down and made this record. Sounds like a hit to me".^[3] The "Timelord" component of Ford's name arrives from the Time Lords, a fictional alien race from the planet Gallifrey in Doctor Who. Its appearance as a police car is interesting considering that the TARDIS looks like a police box. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1966 Ford Galaxie 7 Litre Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ford Galaxie For other uses, see Galaxie (disambiguation). ... Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor of the United States Federal Protective Service. ... Who Killed The JAMS? was the second album by the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the Time Lords from Doctor Who. ... Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... For other uses, see Doctor Who (disambiguation). ... Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor of the United States Federal Protective Service. ... A police box is a telephone kiosk or callbox for use by members of the police. ...

The "Doctorin' the Tardis" music video features Ford Timelord driving around the countryside in pursuit of some rather crudely designed Daleks, his wailing siren audible throughout. The video was filmed in part at the now defunct RAF Yatesbury, a Royal Air Force base in Wiltshire, and - according to The Timelords - cost in the region of £8,000 to make.^[4] A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ... Yatesbury is a village adjacent to Cherhill on the A4 road between Calne and Marlborough in Wiltshire, England. ... Wiltshire (abbreviated Wilts) is a large southern English county. ...

Reaction

While the music-buying public of the UK embraced the single, taking it to the number 1 spot within three weeks of its release, the music press were strongly negative. Melody Maker described it as "pure, unadulterated agony ... excruciating";^[5] Sounds reasoned that it was "a record so noxious that a top ten place can be its only destiny", calling it a "rancid reworking of ancient discs".^[6] Select magazine later reported that "Doctorin' the Tardis" sold over a million copies.^[7] It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Music critic. ... Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was (until its closure) the worlds oldest weekly music newspaper. ... Sounds was a British music magazine, published weekly from October 10, 1970 – April 6, 1991. ... Select was a UK music magazine of the 90s, particularly famous for its involvement in Britpop. ...

In a restrospective look at novelty records and a defence of the genre, Peter Paphides wrote in The Observer's music monthly that "the one novelty record most people admit to liking is 'Doctorin' The Tardis' by The Timelords... The reason for this, presumably, is that it's nice to be in on the same joke as arch pop ironist Bill Drummond. Fine, but let's not forget that if The KLF weren't passionate about how brilliantly dumb pop can be they wouldn't have got to Number One." The "reason we purport to hate novelty records", he argued, "is because we continue to romanticise the creative process. We feel that our intelligence is insulted by novelty."^[8] Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

A 1994 piece in The Guardian called "Doctorin'" a "piss-take". "It was a triumph for Trash Art and it spent exactly one week at the top of the chart. Perfect."^[9] The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ...

Legacy

The Timelords released one other product on the strength of "Doctorin' the Tardis", a 1989 book called The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way), in which they candidly described the logistical processes and efforts that sealed the record's commercial success. The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way) is a 1988 book by The Timelords (Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty), better known as The KLF. It is a tongue-in-cheek step by step guide to achieving a No. ...

After The Timelords, Drummond and Cauty became The KLF. An American reissue of the single in the mid-1990s lists the artist as The Timelords/The KLF, and features both a KLF track (the original uncut version of "What Time Is Love?") and "Gary Joins The JAMS", a version of "Doctorin' the Tardis" with new vocals by Gary Glitter referencing his own songs. What Time Is Love? is a song and - in different mixes - a series of singles by acid house pioneers The KLF. What Time Is Love? is one of the landmark songs of The KLFs career and, in its original form, an acid house anthem. ...

Later attempts of Drummond and Cauty to top the charts were less successful: The KLF's "Kylie Said To Jason" failed to achieve the chart success for which it was designed,^[10] peaking outside the Top 100, and Cauty's novelty project Solid Gold Chartbusters with Guy Pratt, which was designed to be a Christmas number one single, did not reach the UK Top 10. However, The KLF's string of "Stadium House" singles, beginning with "What Time Is Love?", found popular appeal and worldwide chart success while dispensing with the opportunistic sheen of "Doctorin' the Tardis". The KLF (also known as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs), The Timelords and other names) were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s. ... Guy Pratt is a well-known session bassist and also a songwriter, actor and comedian. ... Each year, record companies compete for the Christmas number one single spot on the British charts. ... What Time Is Love? is a song and - in different mixes - a series of singles by acid house pioneers The KLF. What Time Is Love? is one of the landmark songs of The KLFs career and, in its original form, an acid house anthem. ...

In 2005, "Doctorin' the Tardis" was mixed with Green Day's "Holiday", to create a track called "Dr. Who on Holiday". The song was part of the Green Day mash-up project American Edit. This article is about the band Green Day. ... American Idiot track listing Jesus of Suburbia (2) Holiday (3) Boulevard of Broken Dreams (4) Holiday is an alternative rock song by Green Day, released as the third single off of their seventh studio album American Idiot (2004). ... The mash-up album American Edit, whose creators Party Ben and team9 took the shared alias Dean Gray, pays tribute to the acclaimed Green Day album American Idiot, and was acclaimed as a landmark release in its own genre. ...

Formats and track listing

"Doctorin' the Tardis" was given an international single release on 23 May 1988. In the US it was re-issued in 1991, containing The KLF's "What Time Is Love? (Pure Trance Original)". The formats and track listings are tabulated below: is the 143rd day of the year (144th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... What Time Is Love? is a song and - in different mixes - a series of singles by acid house pioneers The KLF. What Time Is Love? is one of the landmark songs of The KLFs career and, in its original form, an acid house anthem. ...

Key Usual types of gramophone record (phonograph record in U.S. English) are discussed in the main article. ... CD Video (also known as CDV, CD-V, or CD+V) was a format introduced in the mid-1980s that combined the technologies of compact disc and laserdisc. ...

• d - "Doctorin' the Tardis" (radio edit / 7" Mix) (3:37)
• D - "Doctorin' the Tardis" (Club Mix / 12" Mix) (8:15)
• M - "Doctorin' the Tardis (Minimal)" (4:28)
• V - "Doctorin' the Tardis (Video Mix)" (2:20)
• g - "Gary in the Tardis" (3:26)
• gM - "Gary in the Tardis (Minimal)" (4:08)
• G - "Gary Joins The JAMs" (usually 6:22)
• W - "What Time Is Love? (Pure Trance Original)" (7:06)

External link

• "Doctorin' the Tardis" music video

References