Colourbox

Colourbox
Origin	London, England
Genres	Electronica, soul, reggae
Years active	1982–1987
Labels	4AD
Associated acts	M/A/R/R/S
Website	Colourbox at 4AD.com
Past members
Steven Young Martyn Young Ian Robbins Lorita Grahame Debian Curry

Colourbox were an English electronic musical group on the 4AD label, releasing a number of records between 1982 and 1987. The band was formed by brothers Martyn and Steve Young, along with guest singers, until Lorita Grahame joined as a permanent member in 1983.

Colourbox stood apart from their then-4AD labelmates - bands such as Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, and This Mortal Coil (although the Young brothers contributed to tracks on the latter project's first two albums It'll End in Tears and Filigree & Shadow^[1][2]). Their sound was eclectic, drawing from reggae and soul influences (with covers of tracks by U-Roy and Augustus Pablo released as singles), to beat-box driven hip-hop rhythms, contemporary pop to Art of Noise-style scratch 'n' dub sound collages, often with snatches of sampled dialogue taken from classic Brit-flicks, sci-fi films and spaghetti westerns.^[3]

Career

Following their debut single "Breakdown" and "Tarantula" in late 1982 (and a reissue in mid-1983), a four-track mini-album simply titled Colourbox was released in November 1983, displaying the band's fledgling experimental sound. After a handful of singles, Colourbox's first full-length studio album - also self-titled - followed in August 1985, which further refined the band's diverse palette, mixing sample-splattered power-punk instrumentals with elegaic piano pieces ("Just Give 'em Whiskey" and "Sleepwalker" respectively), commercial pop ("The Moon Is Blue" and "Suspicion") and more reggae and soul covers (U-Roy's "Say You" and The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hanging On").^{[citation needed]} It was to remain the band's only proper album.

In 1986, the band issued two completely different singles simultaneously on the same day: one was an instrumental initially intended as a World Cup anthem ("The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme"); the other, a cover of Augustus Pablo's "Baby I Love You So," featured third member Lorita Grahame on vocals.

The band had an international hit in 1987 with "Pump Up the Volume," a collaboration with A.R. Kane under the name M/A/R/R/S. The song was notable for being constructed almost entirely from samples of other records, a novelty for a popular record at that time. The pressures of sudden success and the long-running litigation caused by the use of samples resulted in the band never to record as Colourbox again.

For a brief time following Colourbox's dissolution, Martyn Young served as a producer on records by acts as diverse as The Christians and fellow labelmates The Wolfgang Press, whilst former singer Lorita Grahame lent her vocals to a record released by short-lived One Little Indian act Hit the Roof (on a cover of Edwin Starr's "Contact"). Since then, little has been heard from any of the group members, save for a brief return to promotional duties for Martyn Young in 2001, to oversee the release of the Colourbox compilation Best of Colourbox 82/87.^[4]

Discography

All released on the 4AD label. Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie Chart.^[5]

Albums

• Colourbox (mini-album) (7 November 1983), #8
  • Vinyl (MAD315); CD (MAD315CD – released in 1986)
• Colourbox (album) (12 August 1985), #1
  • Vinyl LP (CAD508); CD (CAD508CD); cassette (CADC508)
• Colourbox (12 August 1985) – free mini-album included with first 10,000 copies of CAD508
  • Vinyl LP (MAD509)

Singles

• "Breakdown" / "Tarantula" (November 1982) – featuring Debian Curry
  • 7" (AD215); 12" (BAD215)
• "Breakdown" / "Tarantula" (second version) (May 1983)
  • 7" (AD304); 12" (BAD304)
• "Say You" / "Fast Dump" (March 1984), #7
  • 7" (AD403); 12" (BAD403)
• "Punch" / "Keep on Pushing" (June 1984), #15
  • 7" (AD406); 12" (BAD406)
• "The Moon Is Blue" / "You Keep Me Hanging On" (15 July 1985), #3
  • 7" (AD507); 12" (BAD507)
• "Baby I Love You So" / "Looks Like We're Shy One Horse" / "Shoot Out" (14 April 1986), #4
  • 7" (AD604); 12" (BAD604)
• "The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme" / "Philip Glass" (14 April 1986), #6
  • 7" (AD605); 12" (BAD605)

Compilations

• Lonely Is an Eyesore (15 June 1987)
  • Vinyl (CAD703); CD 9CAD703CD) - 4AD label sampler included the exclusive track "Hot Doggie"
• Best of Colourbox 82/87 (15 October 2001)
  • CD (GAD2107CD)

References

1. ^ This Mortal Coil - It'll End In Tears (LP) at Discogs
2. ^ This Mortal Coil - Filigree & Shadow (2xLP) at Discogs
3. ^ allmusic ((( Colourbox > Biography )))
4. ^ 4AD: Colourbox profile
5. ^ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1999. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-9517206-9-4. 

External links

• 4AD official discography and profile
• Full discography including compilations and some promos
• A fan site with discography
• MARRS FAQ