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Colourbox

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Colourbox was an English electronic group that released records on the label 4AD between 1982 and 1987. The brothers Martyn and Steve Young founded the band with Ian Robbins and the singer Debbion Currie. In 1983 Currie and Robbins left, and Lorita Grahame became the new singer. The Young brothers also played on albums by This Mortal Coil.

Music and breakthrough

On 4AD, the label of dreamy bands such as Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance, Colourbox stood out. Their music was a colourful mix of reggae and soul, drum machine rhythms as in hip-hop, dub and industrial sounds. They covered songs by U-Roy and Augustus Pablo. The only full album, Colourbox from 1985, set hard, sample-filled instrumentals beside sad piano pieces, pop songs such as The Moon Is Blue and soul covers such as You Keep Me Hanging On. From 1983 on the group had already worked a great deal with samples.

Influence

That experience came together in 1987. Under the name M|A|R|R|S they made the song Pump Up the Volume with the group A.R. Kane, which consisted almost entirely of snippets of other records. It became an international hit, and for a pop record that way of working was new at the time. The sudden success and the lawsuits over the use of samples meant that Colourbox never recorded again. The group is thus important above all as an early pioneer of sampling culture in British dance music.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Pump Up the Volume by M|A|R|R|S. Notice how the track is built from separate snippets of other records, such as voices and rhythms, pasted over a tight dance beat.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists