Pump Up the Volume

"Pump Up the Volume"
Single by M|A|R|R|S
B-side	"Anitina (The First Time I See She Dance)"
Released	August 3, 1987
Format	7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD single
Recorded	1987
Genre	House, Hip-hop
Length	4:08 (7" version) 6:28 (12" version)
Label	4AD (International) 4th & B'way/Island/PolyGram Records (United States)
Writer(s)	Steve Young, Martyn Young
Producer	John Fryer, Martyn Young
Audio sample file info · help

"Pump Up the Volume" is a song by British recording act M|A|R|R|S. Despite being the act's only single, it was a number-one hit in many countries and is generally regarded as a significant milestone in the development of British house music and music sampling.

The single was the product of an uneasy collaboration between Colourbox and A R Kane, two groups signed to the independent art-pop label 4AD. The link-up was suggested by label founder Ivo Watts-Russell after the two groups had independently sounded him out about the possibility of releasing a commercially oriented dance record, inspired by the American house music that was starting to make an impact on the British charts. When the M|A|R|R|S project was first released early in 1987, the popularity of the style of the song had already started to grow.

Just as important to M|A|R|R|S in the long run was the underground dance scene which was beginning to emerge in the UK, particularly records such as "Say Kids What Time Is It?" by Coldcut and "All You Need Is Love" by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. These sample-heavy dance records were critically acclaimed, but failed to achieve mainstream success.

Contents 1 The record 2 Influence 3 Samples used 4 Track listings 4.1 4AD 4.2 4th & Broadway 4.3 Bright Lights, Big City Soundtrack 5 Certifications 6 Charts 7 References

The record

The collaboration between the two groups did not go entirely to plan. Once in the studio, the groups' different working methods and personalities failed to gel. Producer John Fryer found himself in the middle and unable to resolve the conflict between the two groups. 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. Colourbox came up with "Pump Up the Volume", a percussion-led near-instrumental, featuring an Eric B. & Rakim sample which gave it its title, while A R Kane created the more deliberately arty "Anitina (The First Time I See She Dance)" in another studio. Colourbox then added a heavy drum-machine rhythm and effects to "Anitina" and A R Kane overdubbed some additional guitar to "Pump Up the Volume." The coup de grace, however, was the addition of scratch mix effects and samples by DJs Chris "C.J." Macintosh and Dave Dorrell.

The two tracks were released to United Kingdom dance clubs in July 1987, on an anonymous white label with no artist credit. "Pump Up the Volume" proved to be the more popular side and was the track more heavily promoted. 4AD released the 12" single (as, officially, a double A-side) on 24 August of that year. It entered the UK Singles Chart the following week at number 35, a strong initial showing for an unknown act, especially on 12" sales. However, what gave "Pump Up the Volume" its commercial edge was the remix released a week later. This remix became the best-known version of the track, transforming it by the addition of numerous samples which provided the record with additional hooks besides its oft-repeated title chant, such as samples of tracks by Public Enemy, Criminal Element Orchestra and the Bar-Kays being used. It was this remix, rather than the original, that was edited down to create the 7-inch version of the track, which began picking up radio play.

As the record climbed the charts, the single ran into legal difficulties. With "Pump Up the Volume" standing at number two, an injunction was obtained against it by pop music producers Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), who objected to the use of a sample from their hit single "Roadblock". Distribution was held up for several days while negotiations took place, which resulted in an undertaking that overseas releases would not include the "Roadblock" sample. Dave Dorrell later stated that he believed SAW would never have noticed the highly distorted sample had he not rashly boasted about it in a radio interview. The offending article consisted of 7 seconds of an anonymous background voice moaning the single word "hey", involved no musical or melodic information, and could never be considered plagiarism in the literary sense. SAW member Pete Waterman wrote an open letter to the music press calling such things "wholesale theft". Some publications were quick to point out that Waterman was currently using the bassline from the Colonel Abrams song "Trapped" in his production of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," which was competing in close proximity to "Pump Up the Volume" in the pop charts. Many observers suggested that SAW's motives had just as much to do with extending the run of "Never Gonna Give You Up" at the top of the chart. SAW had access to almost limitless legal resources and M|A|R|R|S stood little if any chance of a successful defence. Despite all this, "Pump Up the Volume" went on to spend two weeks at number one in October 1987 and was a chart hit in many other countries, receiving considerable airplay on American, Australian and European airwaves. While it was stripped from the official American release, the version containing the offending "Roadblock" sample was the version that the Australian charts credited.

Influence

As the first big British-made house hit, "Pump Up the Volume" marked a turning-point in the popularity of the genre. Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full", which entered the top twenty in November, sold on the strength of a Coldcut remix which unashamedly recycled elements from the M|A|R|R|S single. This was a very rapid response indeed, since "Pump Up the Volume" seemed to catch the record industry off-guard. It was not until February 1988, four months after "Pump Up the Volume" reached the top ten, that the floodgates truly opened. Like "Pump Up the Volume", many of the first major wave of British house hits were on independent labels. Not all of them displayed an obvious influence from M|A|R|R|S, though many did.

While Two Men, a Drum Machine and a Trumpet's "Tired of Getting Pushed Around", one of the first such hits, was principally just a dance groove with minimal use of samples, it was the sampling angle that made most impact on the public consciousness in the short term. Among the hits clearly following in M|A|R|R|S' footsteps were "Beat Dis" by Bomb the Bass, "Theme from S'Express" by S'Express, and "Doctorin' the House" by Coldcut featuring Yazz and the Plastic Population. These in turn spawned imitators from across Europe and the U.S. The sample montage craze would soon burn itself out, since many of the later records relied heavily on recycling the same samples already heard on the hits mentioned above. Litigation would also play its part and the adage "Where there's a hit—theres a writ" was coined as both house and hip hop artists underwent a period of being sued for using unlicenced samples in their recordings. The sampling style was also being parodied, notably by Star Turn on 45 Pints, with their UK hit "Pump Up the Bitter", and by Harry Enfield's "Loadsamoney" single (incidentally produced by a young William Orbit). Les Adams also released "Check This Out" under the LA Mix moniker—a record that replayed "Pump Up the Volume" and "This is a journey into sound" soundbites before a male voice yells, "Oh not again! Get off!" Tastes started to change and acid house started to dominate the charts.

M|A|R|R|S themselves never came close to recording again. A R Kane gave interviews to the music press in which they explained that while they were proud to have been part of M|A|R|R|S, it was not an experience they were keen to repeat. They were particularly unhappy at having their contribution to "Pump Up the Volume" all but removed from the track. Colourbox attempted to carry on using the name M|A|R|R|S, but were not willing to pay the £100,000 that A R Kane wanted for full rights to the name, and the project remained a one-off.

Disco Mix Club Records, a British DJ pool and remix service, sought permission to remix "Pump Up the Volume" for several years. After continual setbacks resulting from the uneasy M|A|R|R|S collaboration, the organization gave up and released its own version in 1995 under "Greed featuring Ricardo da Force."

Samples used

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The table below is a select list of samples used in "Pump Up the Volume"; also listed is which versions of "Pump Up the Volume" the sample appears in. Due to the song's legal history, samples used in the different U.S. and UK versions vary.^[1]

Sampled track	Sampled portion[1]	UK version	U.S. version/12" remix[A]	UK 7" radio edit	U.S. CD maxi radio edit	Bonus Beats version	Original release
Afrika Bambaataa and James Brown, "Unity (Part Three - Nuclear Wildstyle)"	Repeated vocal sample ("Ah...")	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Unity, 1984 (12")
Bar-Kays, "Holy Ghost"	Drums	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Holy Ghost, 1978 (12")
Beeside, "Change le Beat"	Beep effect and distorted vocal sample ("Ah")	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Street Music Material, 1984 (LP)
James Brown, "Super Bad (Part One)"	Vocal sample ("Watch me")	Y	N	Y	N	N	Super Bad, 1970 (12")
Tom Browne, "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)"	Trumpet	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Love Approach, 1980 (LP)
Bobby Byrd, "Hot Pants - I'm Coming, I'm Coming, I'm Coming"[2]	Drums	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Hot Pants - I'm Coming, I'm Coming, I'm Coming, 1972 (7")
Choice M.C.'s and Fresh Gordon, "Gordy's Groove"	Vocal sample ("Oh yeah")	N	Y	N	N	Y	Beat of the Street, 1985 (12")
Criminal Element Orchestra, "Put the Needle to the Record"	Vocal sample ("Put the needle on the record when the drum beats go like this")	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Put the Needle to the Record, 1987 (12")
Eric B. & Rakim, "I Know You Got Soul (acapella version)"	Vocal sample ("Pump up the volume, dance")	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	I Know You Got Soul, 1987 (12")
Graham Central Station, "The Jam"	Drums and repeated vocal samples ("Hu, ha")	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Ain't No 'Bout-a'Doubt It, 1975 (LP)
Jimmy Castor Bunch, "It's Just Begun"	Vocal sample ("It's just begun")	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	It's Just Begun, 1972 (LP)
Kool & the Gang, "Jungle Jazz"	Drums	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Spirit of the Boogie, 1975 (LP)
George Kranz, "Din Daa Daa (Trommeltanz)"	Vocal sample ("Din daa daa...")	N	Y	N	N	N	Din Daa Daa, 1983 (12")
The Last Poets, "Mean Machine (Chant)"[B]	Chanting	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	This Is Madness, 1972 (LP)
Lovebug Starski and The Harlem World Crew, "Positive Life"	Vocal sample ("That's right, dude, this gotta be the greatest record of the year/Check it out")	Y	N	Y	N	N	Positive Life, 1981 (12")
Trailer to the 1968 film Mars Needs Women	Vocal sample ("Mars needs women")	N	Y	N	N	Y
Montana Sextet, "Who Needs Enemies (With a Friend Like You)"	Vocals	Y	N	N	N	N	Who Needs Enemies (With a Friend Like You), 1983 (LP)
Nuance, "Loveride"	Vocal sample ("Oh")	N	Y	N	Y	N	Stop, Dance, Rap, Romance, 1985 (LP)
Original Concept, "Pump That Bass"[3]	Vocal sample ("Pump that bass")	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Bite'n My Stylee, 1986 (12")
Pleasure, "Celebrate the Good Things"	Horn samples	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Get to the Feeling, 1978 (LP)
Pressure Drop, "Rock the House (You'll Never Be)"	Vocal sample ("Rock the house")	Y	Y	N	N	N	Rock the House (You'll Never Be), 1983 (12")
Public Enemy, "You're Gonna Get Yours (My 98 Oldsmobile)"	Vocal sample ("You're gonna get yours")	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Yo! Bum Rush the Show, 1987 (LP)
Run-D.M.C., "Here We Go (Live at the Funhouse)"	Vocal sample ("Aw, yeah")	Y	Y	N	N	N	Here We Go, 1985 (12")
The Soul Children, "I Don't Know What This World Is Coming To"	Vocal sample ("Brothers and sisters")	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Wattstax: The Living Word, 1972 (LP)
Stock Aitken Waterman, "Roadblock (7" version)"	Vocal sample ("Hey")	Y	N	N	N	N	Roadblock, 1986 (12")
Trouble Funk, "Pump Me Up"	Vocal sample ("Pump-pump me up")	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Drop the Bomb, 1982 (LP)
Fred Wesley and The J.B.'s, "Introduction to the J.B.'s"	Vocal sample ("Without no doubt")	Y	N	Y	N	N	Doing It to Death, 1973 (LP)
Fred Wesley and The J.B.'s, "More Peas"	Vocal sample ("Yeah, yeah")	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Doing It to Death, 1973 (LP)
Whistle, "(Nothing Serious) Just Buggin'"	Whistle sample	Y	N	N	N	N	Whistle, 1986 (LP)
Dunya Yunis, "Abu Zeluf"[4]	Vocals	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Music in the World of Islam, 1: The Human Voice, 1976 (LP)

Track listings

4AD

12" single (BAD 707)

1. "Pump Up the Volume" - 6:30
2. "Anitina (The First Time I See She Dance)" - 6:39

Remix 12" single (BAD 707R)

1. "Pump Up the Volume (Remix)" - 7:10
2. "Anitina (The First Time I See She Dance)" - 6:39

7" single (AD 707)

1. "Pump Up the Volume (Radio edit)" - 4:07
2. "Anitina (The First Time I See She Dance) (7" version)" - 5:02

CD single (AD 707 CD)

1. "Pump Up the Volume (Radio edit)" - 4:07
2. "Pump Up the Volume (Remix)" - 7:10
3. "Anitina (The First Time I See She Dance)" - 6:39
4. "Pump Up the Volume (Bonus Beats)" - 4:47
5. "Pump Up the Volume (Instrumental)" - 5:07

4th & Broadway

U.S. 12" single

1. "Pump Up the Volume (Remix)" - 7:10
2. "Pump Up the Volume (Bonus Beats)" - 4:47
3. "Pump Up the Volume (Instrumental)" - 5:07
4. "Anitina (The First Time I See She Dance)" - 6:39

U.S. CD maxi single

1. "Pump Up the Volume (Extended version)" - 7:12
2. "Pump Up the Volume (Bonus Beats)" - 4:47
3. "Pump Up the Volume (Instrumental)" - 5:07
4. "Pump Up the Volume (Radio edit)" - 4:10
5. "Anitina (The First Time I See She Dance)" - 4:22

Bright Lights, Big City Soundtrack

1. "Pump Up the Volume (U.S. Radio Edit)" - 4:08*

• This version of the song was a one-time edit for the movie Bright Lights, Big City. It features vocals on the intro by a female emcee saying "Yo all you homeboys out in Bronx, this one's for you"^[5]

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified
Canada[6]	Platinum	March 18, 1988	100,000
UK[7]	Silver	October 1, 1987	200,000
U.S.[8]	Gold	April 8, 1988	500,000

Charts

Chart (1987)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart[9]	4
Dutch Top 40 Singles Chart[10]	1
French SNEP Singles Chart[9]	9
German Singles Chart[11]	2
Irish Singles Chart[12]	5
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart[9]	14
Swiss Singles Chart[9]	3
UK Singles Chart[13]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[14]	13
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[14]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks[14]	8

Preceded by "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley	UK number-one single October 3, 1987 - October 10, 1987	Succeeded by "You Win Again" by The Bee Gees
Preceded by "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley	Dutch Top 40 number-one single November 7, 1987	Succeeded by "Faith" by George Michael
Preceded by "System of Survival" by Earth, Wind & Fire	Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single December 12, 1987 - December 19, 1987	Succeeded by "So Emotional" by Whitney Houston
Preceded by "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley	New Zealand RIANZ number-one single February 12, 1988 - February 19, 1988	Succeeded by "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" by Belinda Carlisle

References

• Gibson, Robin (September 19, 1987). "Ain't Nothing But a Hip-House Party". Sounds, p.20-1.