Colourbox On Turning Down Top Of The Pops

Seminal pre-acid house samplists Colourbox, whose 1987 number 1 hit Pump Up The Volume helped popularise acid house, release a Greatest Hits compilation shortly featuring all their best tunes from 1982-87. The duo of Steven and Martyn Young were amongst the first producers to successfully utilise samplers, inserting whole chunks of dialogue from such sources as Escape From New York and The Prisoner into their dub-orientated electronic tracks. Hooking up with Dave Dorrell, CJ Mackintosh and indie stalwarts AR Kane, the pair wrote Pump Up The Volume as a one off track, and then watched it climb British charts with no radio support and minimal marketing. Eventually reaching number 2, the track's success then drew an invitation to appear on Top Of The Pops.

"We didn't want anyone to do TV appearances," Martyn says on the new CD's sleeve notes.

"I remember going to clubs and hearing records but having absolutely no idea who they were by- I like that idea of a record being its own entity. There was a lot of pressure on us, especially when it went to number 2- people wondered why we were in this business if we didn't want to double our sales with a single (TV) appearance but it was just embarrassing. We're not performers - it went to number one anyway."

Colourbox- Best of 82/87 is out now on 4AD records and is an absolutely must-buy purchase for anybody interested in the history of dance music (as well as for its truly exceptional tunes including Andy Weatherall favourite Looks Like We're Shy One Horse).

http://www.colourboxmusic.com

http://www.4ad.com

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