Colourbox – The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme [1986]

king_of_the_slums

Some of the crowd are on the dancefloor..

Colourbox: 'The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme' 21st April 1986 [4AD]

Formed in 1982 by brothers Martyn and Steven Young, Colourbox drew on influences as varied as blues, soul, rock, reggae/dub and funk, they combined elements from each with movie dialogues and weird and wonderful samples. Colourbox's idiosyncratic approach to music left journalists struggling to pin down their identity; they deliberately stayed out of the spotlight, shunning interviews and focused on refining their sound.

The track "The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme" was originally intended as a football theme, and almost lived up to its name when it was up for consideration as the theme for BBC's World Cup Grandstand during the broadcast of the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. That honour, however, went to the song "Aztec Lightning" by Heads. It would later be used as highlight segment music for Italia 90, and rightly so!

It was in 1987 that the Young brothers broke out of the indie charts as M|A|R|R|S, with the genre-defining track, 'Pump Up The Volume'. A collaboration with A.R. Kane, Chris CJ Mackintosh and Dave Dorrell, the single went from underground club anthem to UK National No.1. However, the success of the track and subsequent litigation surrounding the samples led to the end of the band.

KOTS:

I group this one into a rare segment of music, stuff that I hear and just get jolted by how good it sounds, never get tired of hearing it and even right now I've replayed it like six times whilst typing.

This was a nailed-on song of my youth and especially trying to get past Bernard and crew on the door at the Warehouse.

I started working in Next on Lands Lane, as a Sat 'dee lad, from '86 and this meant I tended to hang with a slightly older crowd, 30-year-old shop girls, then Pudsey's finest, Macca (RIP). Add in the Dawn Stretton crew. Always some random lass called Chloe with a severe French bob haircut, apprenticing at Vidal Sassoon. Really called Sharon and from Rotherham. Nick from Stretton's used to call them the Vidal Baboons, which always made me laugh when we'd skive off in the Miss Selfridge cafe, pretending I was picking up suit alterations. Which Strettons would do for us.

Around the same time, I met Placid, another shop lad around town. He was mooching around the defunct fountain on Lands Lane, pretending to read a book in his leather bomber jacket that the Pasadenas would have been proud of. Perhaps looking to snag his own Chloe on her way to Pasta Romagne for lunch. We'd later share a year at college in the following year.

Anyway, going to the Warehouse with this older retail crowd really helped me immensely. Especially going with older shop lasses, as soon I'd be getting into the Warehouse with no trouble at all as a 16-year, soon to be 17-year-old. Hanging ten whilst surfing in the wake of a gaggle of confident and flirty lasses. Bouncers didn't stand a chance with that kind of set up, if they knocked me back they'd look a tit!

Friday at the Warehouse, colloquially known as "student night," and this track would be one of the staple songs. Along with Uncertain Smile, Blue Monday, Road to Nowhere and Whole of the Moon, Gil Scott Heron - Bottle and Lonnie Liston - Expansion. This was my Friday night for a couple of years. Same tunes, same joy of being grown up.

It's the soundtrack for me getting out of a beige LS twenty bollocks satellite village, closer to Cas than Leeds, for a venture into the adult world of serious (not Jimmy's, never Jimmy's) night-clubbing and being a Townie.

Yeah, right, who am I kidding? I'm not even shaving properly at this point and drinking cocktails with hairdressers, come on mate!

I am sure we all know this track, so I won't look to dissect it, beyond the fact that I can safely say, I love this bloody tune and still do.

Memories of windmilling on the dancefloor, giddy as fuck on 4 cans of Red Stripe after drinking Harvey Wall Bangers in The Conservatory with lasses old enough to be my Mum. Far too much Cacharel pour Homme dabbed on my neck. Wearing something I could barely afford from Strand or similar.

I have a bottle of Cacharel with me here in Tokyo, so I'm off to give it a sniff for old time's sake..

Pump up the volume!!

Mega_Armageddon_Chickens

Great track, great write up and a great year

90Piesanhour

Much better write up than song. It’s okay, but not a ‘banger’ for me. At least it’s not Hoddle and Waddle!

YoungParisian_inExile

Gréât write up Matt, made me smile a lot . Haven’t seen Dawn in years .
The track … on loads of my playlists.
11/10 ❤️

oneallanclarke

‘drinking Harvey Wall Bangers in The Conservatory with lasses old enough to be my Mum’
That brings back a memory of 1985 or 86, so just before I went to Uni when I was still working for the Council and copped off there with, and started seeing, this woman 6 years older than me, a proper Conservatory, Bank (if that was still going then) type. Ritzy or Digby’s for later. We had nothing at all in common, but spent a couple of months shagging like rattlesnakes. She was Council too, worked at the Civic Hall annexe, secretary to someone fairly important. I was at Merrion House,and one thing we used to do was take extended lunch breaks, drive off somewhere in her Mini Metro or VW Golf or whatever and shag.
She was actually from near KOTS’ way and her on-off boyfriend was a Cas miner (possibly ex-miner) and said to be psychotically jealous. 2 months was definitely enough
This is nothing at all to do with the Colourbox song, which I bought the week it came out and have always rated. But that mention of older women and the Conservatory…

CBIT

oneallanclarke I was at Merrion House

Snap, i was working for the careers office on the 6th floor at the same time - i used to put the job cards out on the boards.

Placid

@king_of_the_slums

😂😂 Still havent finished that book. Loved those days, felt arty and interesting hanging with the shop crowd in Conservatory. The vidal/stretton brigade. I hung round with Ginger Jo from Armley amd Tina from Dewsbury and some short gay guy called Francis. Always in Warehouse etc.

The few lads our age were Kenny Harrison RIP, me, you, Nick Wallace from Morley. Im sure there were more but remember those characters and you of course. You were always in front of the crowd, ahead of the curve👏. Me? Still faking it with that book.

Thanks for making me smile🙏

king_of_the_slums

Placid I have revised it, it was Nick at Stretton's, not Jim.

You and Ziggy from Drig, Tris as well to a certain extent.

Kenny, bless him, his Dad owned the Fairway pub in Gipton. He was at Next same time as me. Spent a few nights in the Fairway with him. Got me into trouble with the lass I was seeing, introduced her to him in the Warehouse and he says, Matt you said she was ugly. Twat, but lovely lad. Went on to Occi with Tony H. Sorted me out more times than I can remember. I was sad to hear he'd died. Then big blonde Elvis, Shane from Donny, spent about 3 months at Next then went on and became the manager at Aspecto later on. Thing is about Pudsey Macca and I hope I don't speak out of turn here. But at Next he was well posh, very well spoken, top salesman, worked on the suits section. Slicked back hair, smart salesman. Next time I see him is at Tottenham away, fighting with the police, Stone Islanded up to the eyeballs.

Djpekingman

Colourbox. An enigma. I have their album from '85 which is ace (the Moon is Blue, Say You, an U-Roy cover, and uncharacteristically a rather weak version of You Keep me Hanging on), this came out a year later on it's jack. Sure I leapt about like a loon in Warehouse to this, but must be about 10 years older than you lot and don't remeber any of you yoofs. Its was 40 years ago so.....

I had my leaving do from Vallances Head Office in Bramley in the Warehouse - after tanking everyone up in the Fox and Newt, dragged the Bradford warehouse girls and the whistles into a mass of flailing Sisters limbs. Never saw any of them again apart from one wee lass from Clayton who grabbed my attention for a few weeks.

Not my favourite Colourbox track but kudos for picking something that was pretty leftfield at the time.

Placid

king_of_the_slums I became good mates in post rave 90’s with Ziggy aka Neil Holdsworth.

Tris as you know is one of my best mates, speak to him every week. He’s a plumber.

@Travis_Bickle Not sure but sounds like him. Always tanned. Fast talking and fast living. Died young (40’s).

Travis_Bickle

Did Kenny drive a Maserati at one point years later? Pal of Occi? Think I met a few times.

Flaneur

Great write up, took me right back.

There was a Bradford version of that going out, @Raposa will have been a couple of years ahead of me there, and then we all realised how easy it was to get across to Leeds.

The original Next stores hold an affection for me, all that cool wood fit out. I was studying business at Bradford College and the main module was retail distribution (stock-turn etc). That book by George Davis, and the stories of how they created and grew the brand (Next/Nxt) was more relatable to me that anything Dylan Jones was writing about in Arena.

Pink Marc O' Polo sweatshirt, brown Next needle cords and a pair of red Adidas jeans - I think I've never felt smarter than that particular Saturday. And the merchandise changed far more quickly than any other store.

Thanks again for the write up 👍

CBIT

Flaneur He was a right visionary - i remember working with him when he set up the GDP (George Davis Partnership) to sell clothes via ASDA - hence why Asda clothing is sold under the George brand - which was unheard of at the time - now every supermarket has their own brand clothing line.

Jon

Prefer Pump Up The Volume. Never knew there was a connection. Don’t remember it as a Warehouse staple, or Blue Monday for that matter. Subculture for sure.

Like most groups of lads we used to have a hard time getting in the Bank, never really bothered me, after we’d done the alleyway pubs I just wanted to get to Cullen’s anyway but we always tried, more for a laugh that anything else, I suppose.
Thanks for mentioning The Conservatory. I’d forgotten about that place. Not my type of pub to be fair but Biz loved it. Remember him trying to engage with a clearly disinterested, extremely hip and good looking young lady on Friday night. She kept fucking him off, he knew he was on a hiding to nothing but soldiered on anyway, that daft smile on his face that told me the killer blow wasn’t far away. She’s getting louder, people are drawn in, he’s insisting he knows her from somewhere, she’s insisting he doesn’t. The crowd of onlookers grows. There’s a gap in the music. “That’s it! Don’t you work checkout at Nettos?”
On to Cullen’s home of the scruffy bastards.

Travis_Bickle

Placid sounds like the bloke. He knew Spencer R.

Placid

Travis_Bickle sounds like the bloke. He knew Spencer R.

Yep that would be him, Spence was always around Occi. He lives at end of my street bizarrely, as does Kenny's ex and son.

otis

A brilliant song . And nice write up @king_of_the_slums .

Which next was it. The one near mode en pelle?

king_of_the_slums

otis this one, and Macca was in the other one on Commercial Street

YoungParisian_inExile

The one round the corner was the real mid 80s shop no ?

king_of_the_slums

YoungParisian_inExile yeah 84, then this one opened 86. I interview at the old one and went into this when it opened.

CBIT

YoungParisian_inExile wasn’t that the place that was Hepworths which then transitioned into Next?

Anchor

I remember colourbox and had a 12" of theirs. I'm unsure. Which. Wasn't this. It was OK. Doubt it would make a playlist I was compiling.

Nice write up and memories. 👍