MC Wildski", the song followed the basic template of what would become Beats International's style. All of Cook's records since have involved both of them to varying degrees (Thornton is credited in 2004 as "Executive Producer", for example).Ĭook achieved his first solo hit in 1989, "Blame It on the Bassline", featuring future Beats International member MC Wildski. He started working with young studio engineer Simon Thornton, with whom he continues to make records. Heaton and the band's drummer Dave Hemingway went on to form The Beautiful South, while Cook moved back to Brighton to pursue his interest in the style of music he preferred. They also reached number one just before Christmas 1986 with a version of " Caravan of Love", originally a hit the year before for Isley-Jasper-Isley. The band soon had a hit single, " Happy Hour", and their two albums, London 0 Hull 4 and The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death, peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart. Their bassist left on the eve of their first national tour, so Cook agreed to move to Hull to join them. In 1985, Heaton formed a guitar band called the Housemartins. He had begun DJing some years before, but it was at this time that he began to develop his skills in the thriving Brighton club scene, regularly appearing at the Brighton Belle and the students' favourite The Basement, where, known as DJ Quentox, he began laying the base for Brighton's hip-hop scene.ġ985–1995: The Housemartins to The Mighty Dub Katz in English, politics, and sociology, where he achieved a 2:1 in British Studies. At The Railway Tavern in Reigate, Cook met Paul Heaton, with whom he formed the Stomping Pondfrogs.Īt 18, Cook went to Brighton Polytechnic to read a B.A.
When frontman Charlie Alcock was told by his parents that he had to give up the band to concentrate on his O levels, Cook took over as lead vocalist.
He played drums in Disque Attack, a British new wave-influenced rock band. When he was 14, his brother brought home the first album from the punk band The Damned, which turned him onto that genre he started attending gigs at the Greyhound pub in Croydon and playing in punk bands. He was raised in Reigate, Surrey, and educated at Reigate Grammar School, where he took violin lessons alongside future Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. As a solo act, he has won nine MTV Video Music Awards and two Brit Awards.īadge created by Cook (circa 1979) for his band Disque Attack in which he played drums and for whom he was later lead vocalistĬook was born in Bromley, Kent. Cook holds the Guinness World Record for most top-40 hits under different names. He has been responsible for successful remixes for Cornershop, the Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, Groove Armada, and Wildchild.ĭespite not releasing a new studio album since 2004, Cook has been musically active with touring and made a concept album Here Lies Love with Byrne in 2010. In 2008, Cook formed the Brighton Port Authority, a collaborative effort with a number of other established artists including David Byrne. Follow-up albums You've Come a Long Way, Baby, Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, and Palookaville, as well as singles such as " The Rockafeller Skank", " Praise You", " Right Here, Right Now", " Weapon of Choice", and " Wonderful Night", achieved commercial and critical success.
In 1996, Cook adopted the name Fatboy Slim and released Better Living Through Chemistry to critical acclaim. He then played in Freak Power, Pizzaman, and the Mighty Dub Katz with moderate success. After the Housemartins split, Cook formed the electronic band Beats International in Brighton, who produced the number-one single " Dub Be Good to Me".
In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist for the Hull-based indie rock band the Housemartins, who achieved a UK number-one single with their a cappella cover of " Caravan of Love". Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s.