Fatboy Slim

Quentin Leo Cook, better known as Norman Cook, and even better known as Fatboy Slim was born on July 31st 1963, and is considered one of the most familiar faces in the British electronic music scene. He originally gained fame in the 1980's as the bass player for indie rock band The Housemartins, a band known for their Christian-Marxist beliefs and the singles "Happy Hour" and "Caravan of Love".

Despite being a DJ since the late 1970's, it took till the late 1980's for Cook to finally be noticed as a DJ with his successful project "Beats International", which scored the 1990 #1 single "Dub Be Good To Me", which was a cover of the SOS Band's "Just Be Good To Me" with the bass line of The Clash's "Guns Of Brixton", which eventually led to him being sued, and later befriending the Clash.

During the 1990's he recorded music under many different names including Pizzaman, Mighty Dub Katz, Fried Funk Food, Cheeky Boy and many more, with also having a Jazz-Funk/Acid Jazz outfit called Freakpower, which spawned the hit "Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out" thanks to it's use on a Levis advert.

His most successful work has been his Big Beat alias of Fatboy Slim, which he continues to use to this day, which has awarded him critical acclaim. The first two Fatboy Slim albums, Better Living Through Chemistry (1997) and You've Come A Long Way, Baby (1998), spun off numerous worldwide hits, such as "Going Out of My Head", "The Rockefeller Skank" and "Praise You". If you have watched many a commercial, you are bound to have heard his music.

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Fatboy Slim provides examples of:

• Amen Break: The song "Michael Jackson"
• Album Title Drop: Weapon Of Choice from the album "Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars".
• Breakup Breakout: Although The Housemartins had a strong cult following and did have a UK #1 hit with a cover of "Caravan of Love", Fatboy Slim is still far more internationally known than his former band.
  • The rest of the Housemartins also broke out as The Beautiful South.
• Cover Version: The Joker by the Steve Miller Band.
• Cluster F-Bomb: The two-some that is "Fucking In Heaven" from his second album You've Come A Long Way Baby and "Star 69" from his third album Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars. Also, the rare B-side "The River Card" has quite a few.
• Epic Song: Song For Shelter
  • Also, "Right Here, Right Now".
• The Faceless: Originally this was the case, because Norman went on as Fatboy Slim because of conflicting record contracts.
• I Have Many Names: Here are some of the names Cook used to work under: Beats International, Rockaway 3, Chemistry, DJ Delite Used in DJ Tools, Freak Power, Pizzaman, Sensataria, Cheeky Boy, Son of a Cheeky Boy, Son of Wilmot, Sunny Side Up, The Feelgood Factor, Yum Yum Head Food, Fried Funk Food, Mighty Dub Katz AND Slimboy Fat. His current name is Brighton Port Authority.
• Looped Lyrics: And how!
• New Sound Album: Not his own material, but his DJ Sets have shifted from playing the Big Beat genre (plus others) to being a Mostly House DJ since 2000/1.
  • Palookaville did undergo a shift in style, however, towards a much more relaxed/chilled out sound, with less reliance on the active, high energy tracks that defined his older albums. While he is not working on a album at the moment, he does plan on making a new one eventually, so we'll have to see what style he goes with on that one....
• Notable Music Videos: Most notably "Praise You", featuring a fictional community dance troupe (the leader of which might be a disguised Spike Jonze, the video's director) at a mall, and "Weapon Of Choice" featuring Christopher Walken dancing in a hotel lobby.
• One-Hit Wonder: In the United States, his only Top 40 entry is "Praise You". Most of his other worldwide hits managed to break the Modern Rock Tracks chart, however.
• Record Producer
• Sampling: His usual sample philosophy is to take obscure records and make them into hits...and it works!
• Shout-Out: Believe it or not, to Dune

if you walk without rhythm/you won't attract the worm

• Speedy Techno Remake
• Stupid Statement Dance Mix: Right Here, Right Now takes the titular vocals from Strange Days. His remix of Mike and Charlie's "I Get Live" is one of a Method Man interview. Drop the Hate remixes an old pastor's sermon. We could go on all night.
  • His entire career is basically made out of making these.
• Take a Third Option: Weapon of Choice.

You can go with this, or you can go with that, or you can go with this, or you can go with that... Or you can go with us.