A 1986 UK Christmas number one by a Hull indie band in which he played bass, an a cappella cover of an Isley Jasper Isley song (1986)
"Caravan of Love" by The Housemartins.
Popular music · Electronic
Fatboy Slim
born 1963 · English
Big beat — Brighton and the Skint label
Fatboy Slim is Norman Cook, who began as the bassist of the Hull indie band The Housemartins and reinvented himself in Brighton as the most successful British dance producer of the 1990s. His big beat records are collages of borrowed breaks and slogans, and like Soft Cell's biggest hit they lean heavily on obscure American soul: the riff that carries "The Rockafeller Skank" is lifted from a 1972 northern soul instrumental by the Just Brothers. A run of Spike Jonze videos made him a pop star as well as a DJ.
How to spot them
- ▸Big beat: fat breakbeats, filtered bass, a single shouted slogan repeated
- ▸Many aliases — Beats International, Freak Power, Pizzaman, The Mighty Dub Katz
- ▸Brighton, the Skint label, the smiley face, the Hawaiian shirt
- ▸Videos directed by Spike Jonze that are better remembered than the records
Songs & albums
A 1990 UK number one under another alias, grafting an S.O.S. Band vocal onto a Clash bassline (1990)
"Dub Be Good to Me" by Beats International, using "The Guns of Brixton".
A 1998 album whose UK sleeve shows a man in a T-shirt boasting about how many records he owns (1998)
You've Come a Long Way, Baby.
A 1998 big beat single built on a twanging 1972 northern soul instrumental by the Just Brothers (1998)
"The Rockafeller Skank", sampling "Sliced Tomatoes".
A 1999 UK number one whose Spike Jonze video shows a shambolic dance troupe performing outside a Californian cinema (1999)
"Praise You" — the video was made for almost nothing and won Best Video at the MTV awards.
A 2001 video in which Christopher Walken dances alone through a hotel lobby and takes flight (2001)
"Weapon of Choice", again directed by Spike Jonze.
A 1999 single whose video compresses evolution from single cell to modern human in three minutes (1999)
"Right Here, Right Now".
A 2002 free party on an English seafront that drew an estimated quarter of a million people and overwhelmed the town (2002)
Big Beach Boutique II, on Brighton beach.
Quick-fire facts
- •Born Quentin Leo Cook on 31 July 1963 in Bromley; he adopted the name Norman at school
- •He played bass with The Housemartins from 1985 to 1988, alongside Paul Heaton
- •He has recorded under many names, including Beats International, Freak Power, Pizzaman and The Mighty Dub Katz
- •His Fatboy Slim records appeared on Skint, the Brighton label
- •"The Rockafeller Skank" is built on "Sliced Tomatoes" by the Just Brothers, a 1972 instrumental that became a northern soul staple
- •Spike Jonze directed both "Praise You", in which Cook appears as the leader of the Torrance Community Dance Group, and "Weapon of Choice"
- •"Weapon of Choice" swept the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Direction for Jonze
- •Big Beach Boutique II in July 2002 drew a crowd far larger than planned and led to a review of Brighton's event policy
- •He was married to the broadcaster Zoe Ball from 1999 until their divorce in 2016
Drill it — 7 cards
1 / 7new card
Sources
- Official Charts Company — Praise You — full Official Chart history
- Official Charts Company — Dub Be Good to Me — full Official Chart history