The ManualTimelords
The Manual
by Timelords · first published 1990
11mentions
3recommended by
9HN commenters
2011–2022first – last mentioned
33% recommend67% neutral
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A more down-to-earth guide, and an absolutely fantastic read at that, is The KLF's "The Manual - How To Have A Number One The Easy Way" by the KLF: http://freshonthenet.co.uk/the-manual-by-the-klf/ It's a bit dated, given that they wrote it in the 80s, but it contains some absolute gems: Stock, Aitkin and Waterman, however, are kings…
on “Becoming A Pop Star With Zero Experience” ↗…rapper to do a club dance song ("Justified & Ancient") seems absolutely bonkers but it worked. (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7_ajdd99CM ) I highly recommend reading Bill Drummond's 1988 book "The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way)." It seemed like brilliant satire (The KLF was releasing experimental trance music at the time) but he and Jimmy ended up at top of the charts on multiple occasions in the years that followed.
on “Jimmy Cauty Model Village: the Aftermath Dislocation Principle” ↗The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual
on “Ask HN: What is the greatest book you've ever read?” ↗As a middle-aged fogey, I hadn’t heard of Rock Stardom for Dumbshits so thanks for the comment. I’d be interested to see how it compares to the The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way)¹ by Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond (the KLF aka the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu aka the Timelords). I only vaguely remember reading it in the early nineties so could probably do with a re-read.
on “Ask HN: Do people not have hobbies anymore?” ↗I just want to add a link to the previous replies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual 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 step by step guide to achieving a No.1 single with no money or musical skills, and a case study of the…
on “The Pirate Bay down, forever?” ↗A similar deconstruction of pop songs is "The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way)" by The Timelords/The KLF. It's a tongue-in-cheek guide to achieving a No. 1 single with no money or musical skills: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual
on “Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard Deconstructs the Science of Songwriting” ↗Related: "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 step by step guide to achieving a No.1 single with no money or musical skills, and a case study of the…
on “How Much Does It Cost to Make a Hit Song?” ↗The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way), the KLF's step by step guide to achieving a No. 1 single with no money or musical skills, advises: “Firstly, you must be skint and on the dole. Anybody with a proper job or tied up with full time…
on “Fear of Failure and Lack of Speed in a Large Corporation” ↗There's already an instruction manual for writing pop hits: The KLF's The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way) is a (tongue-in-cheek) step by step guide to achieving a No.1 single with no money or musical skills. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual
on “Analyzing the chords of 1300 popular songs for patterns” ↗I'm reminded of the KLF's cynical but observant "THE MANUAL: HOW TO HAVE A NUMBER ONE THE EASY WAY": http://freshonthenet.co.uk/the-manual-by-the-klf/ "Firstly, you must be skint and on the dole. Anybody with a proper job or tied up with full time education will not have the time to devote to see…
on “Did Finland’s basic income experiment work? [video]” ↗…this morning about a guy who built his gleefully stupid idea of "a dating site for fans of Kanye West" into something that got him a meeting with that star. [1] And I'm thinking about The KLF's "The Manual: How To Have A Number One The Easy Way" [2] and how much that Kanye-dating story reminded me of the parts of that which weren't specifically about the nuts and bolts of making a pop song for eighties Britain. And I don't necessarily have…
on “On Flooding: Drowning the Culture in Sameness” ↗