Line #53 Music/FatboySlim


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatboy-slim_1143.png]]
2
3	->''Right about now\
4	The funk soul brother\
5	Check it out now\
6	The funk soul brother''
7	-->-- "'''The Rockafeller Skank'''"
8
9	Quentin Leo Cook, better known as Norman Cook, and even better known as Fatboy Slim (born July 31, 1963) is considered one of the most familiar faces in the British {{electronic music}} scene.
10
11	He originally gained fame in The80s 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".
12
13	Despite being a DJ since the late [[The70s 1970s]], it took until the late '80s 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 Music/TheClash's "Guns of Brixton", which eventually led to him being sued, and later befriending the Clash.
14
15	During the 1990s, 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 its use on a Levi's advert.
16
17	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'' (1996) and ''You've Come A Long Way, Baby'' (1998), spun off numerous worldwide hits, such as "Going Out of My Head", "The Rockafeller Skank" and "Praise You". If you have watched many a commercial, you are bound to have heard his music.
18
19	He was married to TV presenter Creator/ZoeBall for nearly eighteen years and has said that he believes the quality of his music actually went up during their separation and divorce, as he used his creativity as a means of escapism from a traumatic reality.
20	----
21	!!Discography:
22	* ''Better Living Through Chemistry'' (1996)
23	* ''You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' (1998)
24	* ''Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars'' (2000)
25	* ''Palookaville'' (2004)
26	----
27	!! I have to trope you like I should:
28	* AdvancedTech2000: "Acid 8000".
29	* AmenBreak: The song "Michael Jackson". This is an interesting case, as the song doesn't sample directly from the Amen Break, but rather samples Music/{{NWA}}'s sampling of the break in [[Music/StraightOuttaCompton "Straight Outta Compton"]].
30	* AlbumTitleDrop: From "Weapon of Choice":
31	-->''Yeah, so move on, baby, check out\
32	Halfway between the gutter and the stars\
33	Halfway between the gutter and the stars''
34	* BrokenRecord: '''Oh God, does he love them.'''
35	* {{Bowdlerise}}: The fat man in the ''You've Come A Long Way Baby'' and ''Why Try Harder'' was omitted from the American versions - replaced with Norman's LP collection in the former and a still from "Weapon of Choice" in the latter.
36	** "Fucking in Heaven" was released in the American version as "In Heaven", and further radio-edited as "Illin in Heaven", with the main sample recut.
37	* CelebritySong: "Music/MichaelJackson", which samples a Negativland song of the same name.
38	* CoverDrop: The video for "Right Here Right Now" culminates in the fat guy from the ''You've Come A Long Way Baby'' cover.
39	* CoverVersion: "The Joker" by the Music/SteveMillerBand.
40	** Also "Radioactivity" by Music/{{Kraftwerk}}.
41	* ClusterFBomb: 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.
42	* CuteKitten: The music video for "The Joker" shows kittens doing cute things.
43	* DreadfulMusician: Before he was a famous DJ he was the bass player in the Housemartins and, on his own account, a terrible bass player. The recorded evidence suggests that he was fine, but no virtuoso. This trope is averted with his [=DJing=], obviously.
44	* EpicRocking: "Song For Shelter", "Santa Cruz", and "Next to Nothing".
45	* TheFaceless: Originally this was the case, because Norman went on as Fatboy Slim because of conflicting record contracts.
46	* GratuitousPanning: Many of his songs have certain instruments/samples/vocals panned either hard left or hard right. Examples include some of the vocal samples in "Gangster Trippin'", the 303 synth line in "Praise You", the drum track on "Ya Mama", and the end of the album version of "Weapon of Choice".
47	* GreatestHitsAlbum: ''Why Try Harder'' (which in turn got the DVD companion ''Why Make Videos'').
48	* HypocriticalHumour: Makes a song called "You're Not From Brighton" despite not being from Brighton. (He was actually born in Bromley and raised in Reigate, Surrey, but moved to Brighton when he began his career as an electronic musician.)
49	* IHaveManyNames: Here are some of the names Cook used to work under: 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. This is in addition to his membership in the bands The Housemartins and Beats International.
50	** At one point, he released a compilation album called ''Southern Fried House'' that consisted entirely of Norman Cook tracks. He used four different aliases for the tracks.
51	* LastNoteNightmare:
52	** "Song For Lindy" has some dissonant synth chords playing over the drumbeat that continue for a bit after the drumbeat stops.
53	** "You're Not From Brighton" has the track's pitch gradually lower so that it resembles a vinyl record slowing down... except the song's actual tempo doesn't change.
54	** "Weapon of Choice" combines this with GratuitousPanning; a sample of a record being scratched is played forwards and backwards repeatedly in one ear, and some radio static plays in the other.
55	** "Tripping on Sunshine" is a fun slice of latin house with an irresistible bass hook... which ends with the titular sample repeating and slowing down to demonic levels.
56	* LoopedLyrics: And how!
57	* MondegreenGag: "You're Not From Brighton" is named after a mondegreen of the main vocal sample from Minimal Funk's "The Groovy Thang". The actual vocal is "get up and party", but the combination of the original vocal being vocoded and its pitch being dropped to fit the song's tempo result in it sounding like "you're not from Brighton!".
58	* MushroomSamba: The guy in "Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat" talks about one that happened to him.
59	* NewSoundAlbum: 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.
60	** Palookaville did undergo a shift in style, however, with more chill beats and less dancy-type songs. He pretty much makes house music now though.
61	* PrefersGoingBarefoot: Prefers to play DJ sets barefoot, for whatever reason.
62	%%* RecordProducer
63	* RecurringRiff: There is a particular riff in the middle of "Song For Lindy" that makes another appearance in "Love Island".
64	* {{Sampling}}: His usual sample philosophy is to take obscure records and make them into hits...and it works!
65	** It helps that he has a pretty huge record collection. He even got a catchy vocal sample from Music/{{Negativland}} of all places.
66	* ShoutOut: "Weapon of Choice" contains two:
67	** The second verse references ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', of all things:
68	--->''If you walk without rhythm,\
69	You won't attract the worm.''
70	** The chorus is a reference to the chorus of an old rap song called "The Choice Is Yours" by Black Sheep.
71	* SingerNamedrop: "Fucking In Heaven", [[BrokenRecord ad infinitum]].
72	-->''Fatboy Slim is fucking in heaven.''
73	* SpecialGuest: Often - for instance, "The Joker" is sung by Bootsy Collins.
74	* SpeedyTechnoRemake: One example would be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY402YdBhBo "Jin Go Lo Ba"]], which takes its vocals from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZYhFyF8dvU4 an old Nigerian song of the same name.]]
75	* StopAndGo: "The Pimp" does this before the final chorus.
76	* TakeAThirdOption: Weapon of Choice.
77	-->''You can go with this, or you can go with that\
78	You can go with this, or you can go with that\
79	Or you can go with us.''
80	* VoiceClipSong: His entire career is basically made out of mixing speeches with music. "Right Here, Right Now" takes the titular vocals from ''Film/StrangeDays''. His remix of Mike and Charlie's "I Get Live" is one of a [[Music/WuTangClan Method Man]] interview. "Drop the Hate" remixes an old pastor's sermon.

Context Music / FatboySlim