History Music / FatboySlim

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.

He originally gained fame in the 1980s 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 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.

!!Fatboy Slim provides examples of:

-->''Yeah, so move on, baby, check out''
-->''Halfway between the gutter and the stars''
-->''Halfway between the gutter and the stars''

-->''Halfway between the gutter and the stars'''''

* AlbumTitleDrop: "Weapon of Choice" has the line "We're ''halfway between the gutter and the stars''".

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Prefers to play DJ sets barefoot, for whatever reason.

* RecordProducer

%% StupidStatementDanceMix: His entire career is basically made out of making these. 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. We could go on all night.

* StupidStatementDanceMix: His entire career is basically made out of making these. 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. We could go on all night.
** Played with in "Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat." Although the main chorus is a TitleOnlyChorus, the rest of the song is a giant stream of conscious rant about a MushroomSamba.

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.

Despite being a DJ since the late 1970s, it took till 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.

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.

* RefrainFromAssuming: Several of his songs have popular incorrect titles taken from their most prominent samples; "The Rockafeller Skank" is routinely mislabeled as "Funk Soul Brother", "Ya Mama" as "Push the Tempo", "Star 69" as "What the Fuck", etc.

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 Rockefeller Skank" and "Praise You". If you have watched many a commercial, you are bound to have heard his music.

* RefrainFromAssuming: Several of his songs have popular incorrect titles taken from their most prominent samples; "The Rockefeller Skank" is routinely mislabeled as "Funk Soul Brother", "Ya Mama" as "Push the Tempo", "Star 69" as "What the Fuck", etc.

* {{Mondegreen}}: "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!".

* {{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.

* NotableMusicVideos: Most notably the ParodyOfEvolution in "Right Here Right Now", the fictional community dance troupe of "Praise You" (the leader of which is a disguised [[CreatorCameo Spike Jonze, the video's director]]) at a mall, and "Weapon of Choice" featuring Creator/ChristopherWalken dancing in a hotel lobby.

** Also "Radioactivity" by Music/Kraftwerk.

* IHaveManyNames: 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.

* {{Trope 2000}}: "Acid 8000".

** "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.

* SingerNamedrop: "Fucking In Heaven".

->''"Ri-ri-ri-ri-ri-ri-ri-ri-ght about now, the funk soul brother,\\
Check it out now,the funk soul brother."''
-->"The Rockafeller Skank"

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 Music/TheClash'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 its 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'' (1996) 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.

* AlbumTitleDrop: "Weapon Of Choice" has the line "We're ''Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars''".

* NotableMusicVideos: Most notably the ParodyOfEvolution "Right Here Right Now", the fictional community dance troupe of "Praise You" (the leader of which is a disguised [[CreatorCameo Spike Jonze, the video's director]]) at a mall, and "Weapon Of Choice" featuring Creator/ChristopherWalken dancing in a hotel lobby.

* ShoutOut: Believe it or not, to ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''
-->''if you walk without rhythm/you won't attract the worm''
** The chorus in "Weapon of Choice" is a reference to the chorus of an old rap song called "The Choice Is Yours" by Black Sheep.