Formed in 1982 by brothers Martyn and Steven Young, Colourbox drew on influences as varied as blues, soul, rock, dub and funk, they combined elements from each with movie dialogue and weird and wonderful samples.

Vocalist Debbion Currie was recruited to sing on their 1982 4AD debut "Breakdown"; Currie was replaced by Lorita Grahame in 1983.

After releasing the EP Coulorbox in 1983, they released a couple of singles and begun to work on their first full album, 'Colourbox', which garnered great reviews and topped the UK independent chart in 1985.
Colourbox's idiosyncratic approach to music left journalists struggling to pin down their identity; they deliberately stayed out of the spotlight and focused on refining their sound. Two singles followed in 1986; 'The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme' and a reworking of the Augustus Pablo track, 'Baby I Love You 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. 'Pump Up The Volume' marked the beginning of the sampling era.