Years active 1987 Active until 1987 | Associated acts A.R. Kane
Colourbox | |
 | ||
Labels 4AD
4th & B'way
Island
PolyGram Origin London, United Kingdom (1987) Members Steven Young, Martyn Young, Alex Ayuli, Rudy Tambala Genres Dance music, Acid house, Alternative hip hop Awards Juno Award for International Single of the Year, NME Award for Best Dance Record Similar Colourbox, AR Kane, S'Express, Bomb the Bass, Technotronic | ||
MARRS (stylised M|A|R|R|S) was a 1987 recording collective formed by the groups A.R. Kane and Colourbox, which only released one commercial disc. It became "a one-hit wonder of rare influence" because of their international hit "Pump Up the Volume".
Contents
History
MARRS started in 1987 as a collaboration between the groups A.R. Kane and Colourbox, with additional input from DJs Chris "C.J." Mackintosh, Dave Dorrell . The result was that instead of working together, the two groups ended up recording a track each, then turning it over to the other for additional input.
Of the two pieces completed, one, "Anitina," was an A.R. Kane track with drum programming by Colourbox's Steve Young. The other, "Pump Up the Volume", was a propulsive Martyn Young track constructed largely of samples, including one of A.R. Kane's guitars.
The record was released under the alias MARRS, an acronym derived from the forenames of the five 4AD artists involved in the project: Martyn Young (from Colourbox), Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala (from A.R. Kane), Russell Smith (an associate A.R. Kane member and founder of Terminal Cheesecake), and Steve Young (from Colourbox).
The ostensibly double A-sided single "Pump Up the Volume" / "Anitina", released on 4AD in the UK, was to be the sole MARRS release. Only "Pump Up the Volume" gained significant attention and airplay and went on to be a #1 hit in the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand, as well as a top-ten hit in several other countries. ("Anitina" was listed on the UK charts after several weeks, but a note on the actual chart explained that "Anitina" was listed at the record company's request, "without significant evidence of consumer interest" in the track.)
"Pump Up the Volume" was released on 4th &B’way/Island Records in the US. Because of legal issues, some of the samples used in the original UK release of the song were removed and replaced in the US release. These disputes relate amongst other things, together with the creative participation at this time (speech samples, beats) of M-Sha-L.
It was nominated for the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, but lost out to "Close-Up" by David Sanborn. In September 1987, MARRS announced that it would not issue a follow up release.
Group member Steven Young died on July 13, 2016.
Singles
Songs
Pump up the VolumeAmerican Psycho: Music from the Controversial Motion Picture · 2000
Anitina1987
ArielThe Emerald EP · 2011