The Rolling Stones finally clear Fatboy Slim’s ‘Satisfaction’ sample after 25 years
The Rolling Stones have finally approved of a sample on a Fatboy Slim bootleg, ‘Satisfaction Skank’, after 25 long years.
As of December 11th, fans can now hear the much-contested track, which has been officially released on Southern Fried Records. The Brighton-based artist spliced The Rolling Stones’ iconic tune ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ into his 1998 hit ‘The Rockafeller Skank’.
Despite Fatboy Slim’s magic behind the decks, The Rolling Stones repeatedly rejected all sample-clearance requests that came their way.
However, in recent years, the rock band’s stance on sampling has softened. For example, this update follows their 2019 decision to return rights to Richard Ashcroft over The Verve’s ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’, which used an orchestral version of ‘The Last Time’.
Speaking to the BBC on the new victory, Fatboy Slim, whose real name is Norman Cook, shared, “It was my secret weapon. I had this tune that nobody else had, and it was a really good encore.” In the early 2000s, it made its way around nightclubs on bootleg vinyl pressings.
In the face of the refusal, Cook bought bootleg copies of the song, including a version which had been taped off his live sets on BBC Radio 1 and pressed to vinyl.
Reminiscing, Cook added, “I got a call from Mick Jagger and he said he’d heard it and he liked the mix. But his management was just like, ‘No, not even negotiable’.”
He continued, “We’ve had a pretty flat ‘no’ for 20 years. I think we asked four times, and I wouldn’t have dared to ask them again.”
Eventually, The Rolling Stones reached out. They even gave Cook their master tapes, so he was able to create a higher-quality version of the original mix.
Recently, Fatboy Slim was announced as one of the headliners for Tramlines 2026, set to take place from July 24th to 26th, 2026, in Hillsborough Park.
At the end of 2024, the DJ admitted he had lost the “passion” for making new music. However, when it came to playing live, Cook insisted that he was as committed as ever: “I feel like that about DJing and about putting on things like this, but I’ve kind of lost my passion for making music.”
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