The best-produced album of all time, according to Fatboy Slim
Norman Cook, the ordinary Brighton resident who comes to life behind the decks as Fatboy Slim, began his wild and varied career as the bassist of The Housemartins. The Hull-based band, fronted by Paul Heaton, was about as far from electronic dance music as you could get in the realm of 1980s pop music. While Depeche Mode and The Human League popularised synth pop, The Housemartins joined The Smiths in the guitar-driven jangle-pop wave.
When The Housemartins broke up in 1988, Heaton and Dave Hemingway formed The Beautiful South to continue their work in indie rock. Meanwhile, Cook began re-establishing himself as a DJ and electronic music producer. In an unlikely turn of events, the former bassist adopted the alias Fatboy Slim in 1996 and released his debut album, Better Living Through Chemistry.
Fatboy Slim’s first album was an essential step forward in the so-called big beat sub-genre and turned a few heads in the US with its single ‘Going Out of My Head’. In 1998, Cook finally broke through to unprecedented global success with his masterpiece album, You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby. The iconic LP, decorated with the image of a corpulent man walking with an “I’m #1 so why try harder” T-shirt, featured four of his most popular hits: ‘The Rockafeller Skank’, ‘Gangster Tripping’, ‘Praise You’ and ‘Right Here, Right Now’.
Fatboy Slim soon became one of the biggest names in the UK’s rave scene and became famous for his huge open-air performances on Brighton Beach. Cook’s unbound passion for music of all different styles is palpable during these landmark sets. As a DJ, he skillfully introduces samples and remixes of music that has had a profound impact on his life.
Speaking to the Music Republic Magazine for an interview in 2022, Cook explained how music is important in every aspect of his life. “Music is the soundtrack to our lives,” he said. “It’s interwoven into the fabric of our experiences and loves and life; and everything that goes on, it’s the soundtrack to it. In the same way, the soundtrack is integral to a film, music is integral to everything that I do, and every friend I’ve had, I’ve got a tune that reminds me of them.”
In the interview, Cook revealed his taste for all sorts of musical artists, from The Carpenters and Marvin Gaye to The Rolling Stones and Suzi Quatro. Describing himself as a “musical magpie,” Cook said he has “based a lot of [his] career on that magpie thing of taking bits from different genres.” When asked what record he would want to receive as a gift, he explained that, with 8,000 records in his collection, he’s “got every record that I know about that I want.” The ordinary collector might be deemed a hoarder with a collection this large, but since he’s a DJ, we’ll let him off.
If he had to pick just one of those 8,000 records as the very best, he would choose Abbey Road, the 1969 classic by The Beatles. Cook said that not only does the album have some of the “best songs” of all time, but it is also the “best-produced record.” He explained that the record had a deeply personal resonance as one of his early musical fascinations. The Beatles and The Carpenters were just about the only good bands Cook’s parents would listen to.
Produced by George Martin, Abbey Road featured some of The Beatles’ most enduring songs, from George Harrison’s ‘Here Comes the Sun’ to John Lennon’s thrilling opener, ‘Come Together’. Martin’s production mastery is evident throughout the LP but is particularly impressive during the famous 16-minute medley of songs on Side Two between ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ and ‘Her Majesty’.
