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Now here's a potentially clever bit of sequencing: M|A|R|R|S were a collaboration between members of Colourbox and AR Kane [although in practice 'Pump Up The Volume' is almost entirely the work of Colourbox] and the surname of the brothers who made this record was of course Kane. I never did work out which one was meant to be Hue and which one was Cry though...
I suppose this one has something in common with the Communards record, although one big difference is that I remember liking this at the time. Not that I knew what it was about, or even knew what the words were, but it was sort of catchy. It's part of the trend for vaguely political, post-new-wave blue-eyed soul in the mid-to-late eighties, and now sounds very much of its time - you certainly wouldn't expect to hear the phrase "withdraw my labour" in the chorus of a Top 20 hit nowadays. And that's even before you see the video, with a load of white paint being thrown at the band and their backing musicians.
Listening to it as an adult, I did wonder whether it was intended as some sort of comment on the direction of the Labour Party in 1987. Wikipedia suggests that it was instead aimed at Margaret Thatcher, from the perspective of a disillusioned working-class voter - and that's certainly a plausible reading, if we assume that addressing Thatcher as "baby" is just part of the metaphor. A solid record, I'd say, if no classic.
Also appearing on: Now 13, 14, 15, 24 [a remix of this track]
Available on: The Collection
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