Duo Burn £1M In Midnight Madness- Library of Mu
- Library of Mu record:
- Title: Duo Burn £1M In Midnight Madness
- Date: 01 October, 1994 ?
- Journal: Daily Express
- Author: Ian McKerron
- Type of resource: News items
- Status: text
- No. views: 5989
- Description: Islanders on Jura (pop 180) are horrified by what they call the night of madness
Duo Burn £1M In Midnight Madness
By Ian McKerron (01 October, 1994, ? Daily Express)
Outcry as witnesses tell of a stunt by pop stars
Two pop stars are alleged to have burned £1 million cash in a bizarre
ritual on a remote island.
The destruction, carried out at night in an abandoned boathouse, came
after the two KLF musicians had picked up wads of cash from a security
company.
Days later, islanders found charred £50 notes strewn across the ground.
The locals, appalled what they call The Night Of Madness, are convinced
the claims are genuine. They have since handed almost £1,500 worth of
the money to police.
The ritual burning is claimed to have been performed by Jimmy Cauty and
Bill Drummond, of disbanded chart-toppers KLF. Cauty, 37, and Drummond,
42, are said to have used the last of their fortune, claiming their
action was a demonstration of the fragility of money.
Shortly before the ceremony, the men sat in an hotel bar having a snack.
They left about midnight, collecting two suitcases.
Then the men emptied 20,000 Bank of England £50 notes in the boathouse
on the Scottish island of Jura - population 180. Using survival flares
for light, they systematically incinerated the money in an open hearth.
"It took about two hours for the cash to go up in flames," said friend
and freelance writer Jim Reid. "I looked at it closely, It was real.
"It came from a bona fide secuity firm and was not swapped at any time.
"More importantly, perhaps, after working with the two, I know they are
capable of this." He said he watched the £1 million burn first with
a overpowering sense of guilt and then, after about 10 minutes, with boredom.
The men had hired Ratedale Security of Crawley, Sussex, to pick up the
money from a bullion store in Kent. Managing director Ken Apps yesterday
confirmed that the K Foundation - run by the two stars had asked him to
supply £1 million in cash.
Accompanied by Reid and a former soldier known as Gimpo, who also
witnessed the burning, the men picked up the cash and flew to Scotland.
It is not the, first bizarre act by the pair. In 1992 KLF announced
their departure from the music world by leaving a dead sheep outside an
awards ceremony.
Drummond - from Newton Stewart in the Borders, and Cauty from Devon -
re-emerged as the K Foundation and tried-to mount an exhibition. Its
showpiece was an exhibit featuring - 1 million in £50 notes nailed to a
wall. But they could find no one willing to house it. And Cauty suggested
apparently jokingly: "Why don't we just burn it?"
They may have chosen Jura after going there once to record a pop video.
Main pic: The Jura boathouse, sheep in the foreground
pic: Drummond/Cauty in classic pose.
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Posted by Guest on 2005-04-16 03:13:15
I can confirm this ! I was one of the security blokes who picked up the cash from Maidstone !
Mick W - Sussex
Posted by Guest on 2008-08-24 04:16:53
I shall shortly be making a withdrawal from the big bank in the sky...
watch this space
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