| MARRS | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Electrofunk |
| Years active | 1987 |
| Labels | 4AD (UK) 4th & B'way Records/Island Records (U.S.) |
| Associated acts | A.R. Kane, Colourbox |
| Members | |
| Alex Ayuli Rudy Tambala Steven Young Martyn Young Chris "C.J." Mackintosh Dave Dorrell |
|
MARRS (stylised M|A|R|R|S on logo) was a 1987 one-off recording act formed by the groups A.R. Kane and Colourbox which only released one commercial disc. It became "a one-hit wonder of rare influence"[1] because of their international hit "Pump Up the Volume", considered the first UK number one to contain samples from other songs, and nominated for a Grammy Award in 1989.
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MARRS started in 1987 as a collaboration between the groups A.R. Kane and Colourbox, with additional input from DJs Chris "C.J." Mackintosh and Dave Dorrell.[1] However, the collaboration did not go entirely according 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 camps. 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).
MARRS's sole release was the double A-sided single "Pump Up the Volume" / "Anitina", released on 4AD in the UK. 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. It was released on 4th & B'way Records/Island Records in the US[1] 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.
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 they would not issue a follow up release.[2]