Anyone remember Colourbox?

I was flicking thru the recent edition of Q after reading the NO article and saw that the magnificent Colourbox were releasing a 'Best of'.

The Official Colourbox World Cup theme surely has to be the best instrumental ever ever?! They also had some quality songs about Horses as well....pump up the volume.

I loved "Philip Glass" by Colourbox, errrr.. or was it the other way around.... "Just Give 'em Whiskey", that was another..

I REMEMBER ,YEARS AGO WHEN THEIR 'BREAKDOWN' SINGLE WAS RELEASED, THE REVIEWER IN SOUNDS MAG SUGGESTED THE PUBLIC SHOULD BUY THIS INSTEAD OF 'BLUE MONDAY' WHICH HAD JUST ENTERED THE CHARTS AT THE TIME. I DID (I ALREADY HAD BLUE MONDAY OF COURSE! 1ST DAY IT CAME OUT!!) ANYWAY, I WAS MIGHTILY IMPRESSED AND BECAME A FAN FROM THEN ON...... STILL NOT AS GOOD AS THE ORDER THOUGH!

Quite! I'm glad some other people remember this innovative bunch..... they never did bring out another full LP after their 1985 debut did they?? (Their first self-titled 4-tracker was more a mini-lp than a full one but still yielded a killer: the buggered-about-to-fuck-with "Justice" - worth a listen if you can get hold of it). It seemed after M/A/R/R/S they just disappeared off the face of the earth. As for cut-up-and-sample-scratch-dub-funk- hip-hop-rock-skank-electro-pop mavericks, they were amongst the first! No one seems to give them the belated credit they deserved!! Yeah, I saw the Best of LP that's to come out too - so I went hurriedly to 4AD's website to check out the track listing and.....it's crap!!
Sorry, but a mere10 songs - most of which appeared on their two sole CD issues already - but this time including the much overlooked minimalist classic "Philip Glass" does not a "Best of" LP make!! Where's "The Moon Is Blue" (the most divinely overlooked POP gem of the mid-80's by far)? "Punch"? "Keep on Pushing"? All these were singles ferchrissakes!! There should be at least 16 tracks on there!! What a cop-out! Not much of a introduction to the band is it? I recall that their last ever singles as Colourbox came out on the same day didn't they? "Baby I Love You So" (utterly ace version of old Augustus Pablo chestnut) and the aforementioned "World Cup Theme". And since then? Not a whisper. Anyway, I still find it so bizarre that this lot made number one with "Pump Up The Volume"!!! That first LP though - I still play it loads to this day: Sleepwalker/Just Give 'em Whiskey/Arena/Sex Gun..... and Edit The Dragon is fuckin' bonkers - listen to it on headphones dead loud!!

Quite! I'm glad some other people remember this innovative bunch..... they never did bring out another full LP after their 1985 debut did they?? (Their first self-titled 4-tracker was more a mini-lp than a full one but still yielded a killer: the buggered-about-to-fuck-with "Justice" - worth a listen if you can get hold of it). It seemed after M/A/R/R/S they just disappeared off the face of the earth. As for cut-up-and-sample-scratch-dub-funk- hip-hop-rock-skank-electro-pop mavericks, they were amongst the first! No one seems to give them the belated credit they deserved!! Yeah, I saw the Best of LP that's to come out too - so I went hurriedly to 4AD's website to check out the track listing and.....it's crap!!
Sorry, but a mere10 songs - most of which appeared on their two sole CD issues already - but this time including the much overlooked minimalist classic "Philip Glass" does not a "Best of" LP make!! Where's "The Moon Is Blue" (the most divinely overlooked POP gem of the mid-80's by far)? "Punch"? "Keep on Pushing"? All these were singles ferchrissakes!! There should be at least 16 tracks on there!! What a cop-out! Not much of a introduction to the band is it? I recall that their last ever singles as Colourbox came out on the same day didn't they? "Baby I Love You So" (utterly ace version of old Augustus Pablo chestnut) and the aforementioned "World Cup Theme". And since then? Not a whisper. Anyway, I still find it so bizarre that this lot made number one with "Pump Up The Volume"!!! That first LP though - I still play it loads to this day: Sleepwalker/Just Give 'em Whiskey/Arena/Sex Gun..... and Edit The Dragon is fuckin' bonkers - listen to it on headphones dead loud!!

Fuck, I'd forgotten about the other tracks ("The Moon Is Blue" - fabulous) I'm going to dig out the lp now and play it!

Other good ColourBox tracks

Inside informer Suspicion

However you've already the 3 of the best CB tracks

Mentioning Colourbox got me scurrying thru my vinyl,to which I have a compilation called "Funky Alternatives".This came out in 1986 and features exclusive mixes / tracks by Colourbox,New Order(Evil Dust instrumental),Tackhead,D.A.F.,23 Skidoo,Chris and Cosey,400 Blows..... Well worth checking out if you see a copy.

funnily enough, i came across a copy of colourboxs self titled mini lp last saturday, retailing for a whopping £1.99. apart from the "pump up the volume" connection (and ive never particularly liked that track) i didnt know anything about them so i bought something else instead. anyway, this thread has been a bit of an education and ill try and get my mits on the lp tomorrow.

sure. they were on the 4ad label in the mid to latter eighties. very tasteful synth pop. intelligent and esoteric

Yep, I've got Official World Cup Theme - Jimmy Hill on the sleeve!

Recently stuck it on an mp3 as well, if anyone's interested....

Colourbox never realised their full potential did they? The worst thing that happened was all those bands who used cut-ups and samples in their wake: like Big Audio Dynamite, Pop Will Eat Itself, Bomb The Bass, S-Express, et al, getting all the plaudits and dosh instead.......whilst, thanks to Pete Watermelon, Steve and Martyn from Colourbox / M/A/R/R/S never saw a penny from the success of Pump Up The Volume. No wonder they never ever bothered making another record.. Sometimes life just ain't fair.

The B-side of Pump Up the Volume is excellent (massive beats, drums and screeching guitars), probably better than the A-side. I also bought at the time the AR Kane album (who were the other half of MARRS) and that had some pretty good stuff on it as well - sort of funky feedback.

Originally posted by Mr Disco The B-side of Pump Up the Volume is excellent (massive beats, drums and screeching guitars), probably better than the A-side. I also bought at the time the AR Kane album (who were the other half of MARRS) and that had some pretty good stuff on it as well - sort of funky feedback.

M`ARRS is on fire... hehe... i'm bored

Originally posted by Mr Disco The B-side of Pump Up the Volume is excellent (massive beats, drums and screeching guitars), probably better than the A-side. I also bought at the time the AR Kane album (who were the other half of MARRS) and that had some pretty good stuff on it as well - sort of funky feedback.

Yeah, you're absolutely right - it WAS better than the A side, and , though the single was billed as a double-A-side, everybody ignored the AR Kane track. Still sounds blistering to this day. In fact I still play it, whereas PUTV just sounds a lot dated now. I liked AR Kane as well: they all but invented that screechy feedbacky guitar snowstorm sound that bridged the gap between the Mary Chain and the Bloody Valentines/shoegazery bands that followed. Their first two LPs and few singles were brilliant!! Nuff sed.