Pump Up The Volume

Like the previous post about a great album from the past, Mr. Peacock and I have decided to talk about great songs from the past as well.

I was doing some reading on Eric B. and Rakim (the two men responsible for me falling in love with hip hop), and I was reading about how their song "I Know You Got Soul." In the song, you might remember how Rakim says, "Pump up the volume/Pump up the volume." This line was used for a classic house track called "Pump Up The Volume." This song was a number one hit in the UK when it came out. What made the song very unique was the large amount of samples in the song. It was the first time a song largely made up of samples was a number one hit. The song itself still remains a great house crossover track. It is insanely grooving and filled with a great collage of samples. It is too bad M/A/R/R/S (the artists of the track) didn't go on to make more songs. There was conflict in the studio. Yet, in the end, they created a great dance track that was a step forward in sample- based music and just music. Here it is for all you people.