Forgotten Music #21: Colourbox - Looks Like We're Shy One Horse (1986)

With the recent passing of Steven Young this past week, it seemed fitting to talk about his band, Colourbox, for our Forgotten Music segment this month,

Colourbox were a British band, active in the mid 80s. Like several electronic bands in the UK in the 80s, they seemed strangely prescient in their music, often predicting where electronic music would go in the 90s. Also like a lot of 80s bands from the UK, they weren't well known in North America outside of college radio. UK electronic music tended to drawn influences from a huge amount of diverse genres, and Colourbox were no exception to that. They were also one of the first bands to really use sampling as the basis for their music, and less as a novelty. Modern bands like Girl Talk and the Avalanches owe Colourbox a huge debt of gratitude for this style of music.

Coloubox were formed as a quartet in 1982, made up of a core of brothers Martyn and Steven Young. They were signed to the highly influential and often forward thinking British label 4AD Records, and cross-collaborated with with many of the 4AD roster, including The Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil. Their sound drew heavily from the dub style of reggae, adding in elements of rock, classic R&B and soul. They were pioneers in bringing in hip-hop style breaks to electronic music, a style that's still heard in modern UK grime artists like Dizzee Rascal.

The band is best known, ironically, not for their work in Colourbox, but with their collaboration with A.R. Kane called M/A/R/R/S, who were famous for their sample and bass-heavy 12" single, "Pump Up the Volume" in 1987. That song took dance floors by storm and could arguably be called the original of the house style of electronica.

After their break up in 1987, most of the members slipped into obscurity. Martyn Young was the most active and visible member of the band. He worked as a producer for bands like the Wolfgang Press and the Christians and worked as a session musician for other UK bands.

"Looks Like We're Shy One Horse" is from a 12" single released in 1986. You can pick it up on the band's best of compilation. Colourbox 82/87.