Volume is the latest offering from electronic music artist Caribou. The new track heavily samples M|A|A|R|S 1987 mega hit Pump Up the Volume.
In 1987 British group M|A|A|R|S released there one and only single Pump Up the Volume and it was a massive hit around the globe.
The project was a collaboration between electronic band Colourbox and dream pop outfit A.R.Kane. Both bands were on record label 4AD. The a-side of the collaboration was largely made by Colourbox, and the flipside track Anitina was led by A.R. Kane.
The two bands did not get along in the studio and the project was the last time Colourbox recorded for the record label. When the tack did come out it became a huge club hit and when it was remixed, with a whole bunch of additional samples thrown in, it quickly climbed the charts.
The song faced a hurdle though when hit producers Stock Aitken and Waterman, the team who created hits for Kylie Minogue, Bananarama and Jason Donovan, complained about the remix using a section of their track Roadblock.
Pete Waterman wrote an open letter to the music industry describing sampling as “wholesale theft”. But critics were quick to point out his team were on the top of the charts with Rick Astley’s mega-hit Never Gonna Give You Up which borrowed a bassline from Colonel Abram’s song Trapped.
An agreement was reached which saw the sample removed from the version released in many overseas territories.
The track opened the doors to a whole bunch of sample driven tunes including Bomb the Bass with Beat Dis, Coldcut and Yazz with Doctorin’ the House and S’Express with Theme from S’Express.
Close to 30 tracks are sampled in the original version of the tune including music from Fred Wesley and the JBs, Trouble Funk, Run DMC, Public Enemy, Kool and the Gang, Graham Central Station, Jimmy Castor Bunch, James Brown, The Bar-Kays, Criminal Element Orchestra, and Erik B and Rakim.
What do you think does Caribou’s homage to close to the magic of the original tune?
