DAVE DORRELL on his role and the Impact of M/A/R/R/S hit - Pump Up The Volume!

**DAVE DORRELL — THE MTV STORY BEHIND “PUMP UP THE VOLUME”**

How did the music created for the launch of MTV Europe help inspire one of the most influential dance records of the 1980s?

In this conversation with former MTV Europe presenter Steve Blame, DJ, music journalist, producer and manager Dave Dorrell reveals the extraordinary chain of events that led to M/A/R/R/S and the 1987 number-one hit “Pump Up the Volume.”

It began in London's club scene, when Dave was approached to create musical identities for the new MTV Europe channel. Working with Colorbox's Martyn Young, he developed a sample-based approach that would soon help shape a record that opened the doors for a new generation of British dance music.

But Dave's story began long before that.

He recalls growing up in London, discovering punk through his sisters and schoolfriend Gary Crowley, and interviewing the Sex Pistols for a teenage fanzine. A dispute over photographs of Bananarama led him into the offices of the NME and launched his career as a music journalist.

He takes us inside the extraordinary club cultures of London, New York and Frankfurt, from the Blitz and early warehouse parties to the art of Keith Haring and the DJing of Grandmaster Flash.

Dave also discusses his friendship with Luca Anzilotti of SNAP!, the rise of acid house, the legal complications surrounding “Pump Up the Volume,” and why M/A/R/R/S never made another major record.

His career subsequently took him into artist management, working with Bush, Dirty Vegas and the Pet Shop Boys, as well as contemporary art, Patrick Mason and an ambitious regenerative farming project outside Berlin.

**IN THIS INTERVIEW**

00:00 Dave Dorrell: Childhood and Musical Influences
05:30 Discovering His Biological Father
08:35 Gary Crowley, Punk and the Sex Pistols
13:30 Schoolfriend Luca Anzilotti of SNAP!
15:40 Frankfurt's Legendary Nightclubs
22:10 London's Warehouse Party Revolution
27:25 Bananarama and the NME
34:15 New York, Keith Haring and Grandmaster Flash
38:15 How MTV Europe Led to M/A/R/R/S
40:00 Making Pump Up the Volume
42:15 Sampling, Lawsuits and a Number-One Hit
46:05 How Dance Music Changed Britain
48:30 Acid House, Shoom and London's Underground
53:40 Why M/A/R/R/S Didn't Continue
55:45 Managing Bush and Dirty Vegas
59:45 Working with the Pet Shop Boys
65:10 Art, Poetry and John Giorno
69:50 Patrick Mason and Berlin
71:40 Regenerative Farming and a New Cultural Future

A conversation about the people, places and accidents that shape popular culture — and what happens when someone keeps looking for the next creative revolution.

**POP THE HISTORY MAKERS**

Steve Blame, former MTV Europe News presenter and editor, talks to the artists, musicians and cultural figures who helped shape the world we live in.

https://www.popthehistorymakers.com

Watch: https://youtu.be/zNpCl7ltgpI

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