Disco 2000 - History

History

In 1981, Cressida Bowyer and Jimmy Cauty performed in the band Angels 1-5. They later married. Between 1983 and 1986, Jimmy Cauty and June Montana were members of the band Brilliant, in which Jimmy Cauty played guitar. Brilliant were signed to WEA Records by their A&R man of the time, Bill Drummond, but despite considerable investment, the act was commercially unsuccessful. Tired of his job and disillusioned with the industry, Drummond left WEA in July 1986, and some months later co-founded The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs) with Jimmy Cauty. The duo established an independent record label, KLF Communications, as a means to release The JAMs' material, and, as a side project, they dabbled in pop music with 'Disco 2000', a group fronted and vocalised by Cressida Cauty and Mo Brathwaite, who arrived from Leicester. Disco 2000's debut single, the first of three, was "I Gotta CD", released on 30 October 1987. Neither this nor its follow-ups "One Love Nation" (1988) and "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" (1989) entered the UK Singles Chart, despite the pop production sound and some publicity, including music videos for "One Love Nation" and "Uptight". A track entitled "Feel This" was contributed by the group to the 1989 Eternity Project One LP (assembled by former Brilliant member Martin Glover), under the name 'Discotec 2000'.

Cressida and Jimmy Cauty later set up home in a squat that also housed the KLF Communications recording studio, Trancentral. As Drummond and Jimmy Cauty dedicated themselves to The KLF, Cressida took on an organisational role for KLF Communications, in addition to design and choreography work for The KLF, and her own work as an artist.