Conception
"It's Grim Up North" was first previewed in December 1990 as a limited edition "Club Mix" with Pete Wylie on vocals. A re-recorded version with Bill Drummond on vocals received a regular release on KLF Communications in October 1991, peaking at #10 in the UK singles chart.
A recurring theme was drab greyness, representing the dreary, overcast skies of the "grim" North. The original release featuring Pete Wylie was on grey-coloured vinyl, and the same colour was retained for the sleeve of the 1991 issue. The video for "It's Grim Up North" was filmed in black and white and showed The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu performing in the pouring rain. Bill Drummond voices the words into a CB microphone held by a female mannequin in military uniform and a tin hat labelled "KLF". Jimmy Cauty is shown playing bass guitar. Cars and trucks rush by, leaving a trail of spray, as evidently The JAMs are performing on one lane of a road, they are lit by the headlights of several vehicles stopped by the performance. As the performance draws to a close, and strains of Jerusalem can be heard, the slogan "The North will rise again" appears on screen.
The sleevenotes further elaborated on The JAMs' inspiration: "Through the downpour and diesel roar, Rockman and Kingboy D can feel a regular dull thud. Whether this is the eternal echo of a Victorian steam driven revolution or the turbo kick of a distant Northern rave is irrelevant. Thus inspired, The JAMS climb into the back of their truck and work."
The single was the first release under The KLF's "JAMs" alias since the 1988 compilation album Shag Times, and the last under that name. The release, with its markedly darker tone, punctuated The KLF's string of upbeat house hits, and it was planned that "It's Grim Up North" would be a prominent track on the ultimately unreleased album The Black Room.
"It's Grim Up North" graffiti - which 'coincidentally' appeared at the time of the single's release - led to a question about "regional imbalance" being asked in the House of Commons.
The single "It's Weird Out West" by Radsonic (1992) was an affectionate homage to the track, the list of northern towns being replaced by locations in Wiltshire and Somerset. Only five hundred copies are known to have been produced, although Annie Nightingale did play it on her BBC Radio 1 programme.
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