Beats International were a British dance music band and hip-hop collective,[1] formed in the late 1980s by Norman Cook (later in his career known as Fatboy Slim) based in Brighton, East Sussex, England, after his departure from the Housemartins.[2]
Beats International | |
|---|---|
 Beats International, 1990. From L to R: Lester Noel, Norman Cook, Lindy Layton, Andy Boucher | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Brighton, England |
| Genres | Electronic, hip hop[1] |
| Years active | 1989–1992 |
| Labels | Elektra Records Telstar Records Go! Beat |
| Members | Norman Cook Lindy Layton Lester Noel David John-Baptiste MC Wildski Andy Boucher |
A loose confederation of musicians, the line-up also included vocalist Lindy Layton, former North of Cornwallis vocalist Lester Noel, rappers DJ Baptiste (The Crazy MC), MC Wildski and keyboardist Andy Boucher.[2] Unusually, the band's live line-up also incorporated a graffiti artist, REQ, who painted designs on a backdrop while the musicians played.[3]
Biography edit
After having a few small hits under his own name such as "Blame It on the Bassline", a 1989 hip-house crossover single featuring MC Wildski,[4] and "For Spacious Lies"[5] with Lester Noel, Cook decided that further releases would be under the collective name "Beats International" - just one of the names he went on to use in the 1990s.
Beats International's debut studio album, Let Them Eat Bingo included these solo hits and the original version of "Won't Talk About It" which featured Billy Bragg singing in a soulful falsetto.[3] The album also spawned the UK number-one single "Dub Be Good to Me", a re-working of the SOS Band's chart-topper "Just Be Good to Me", based on a sample of the bassline from the Clash's "Guns of Brixton".[3] This song was the first to be credited under the Beats International name and featured sometime actor Layton on vocals.[6][2]
The collective followed their number-one single with a re-recorded version of "Won't Talk About It", which replaced Billy Bragg's vocal with that of Layton and Noel, and "Burundi Blues", a track which featured samples of Bessie Jones, the Thrashing Doves and, on the album version, Brian Cant's introduction from Camberwick Green.[7]
The second Beats International album was 1991's Excursion on the Version, which featured a greater use of dub and reggae sounds, but failed to repeat the success of its predecessor.[3] This was the final Beats International recording, with Cook next going on to form Freak Power.[2]
Discography edit
Albums edit
| Year | Album | UK [8][9] |
AUS [10] |
US [11] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Let Them Eat Bingo | 17
|
63
|
162
|
| 1991 | Excursion on the Version | -
|
-
|
-
|
Norman Cook singles edit
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK [12] |
NZ [13] | ||
| 1989 | "Won't Talk About It"/"Blame It on the Bassline"[II] | 29 | 36 |
| "For Spacious Lies" | 48 | - | |
Note: these singles are from "Let Them Eat Bingo" and would be re-credited to Beats International on this album.
Singles edit
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8] |
NED | BEL (FLA) |
FRA | GER [14] |
AUT | SWI | SWE | AUS [10][15][16] |
US [17] | |||||||
| 1990 | "Dub Be Good to Me" | 1 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 76 | Let Them Eat Bingo | ||||
| "Won't Talk About It" | 9 | 28 | — | — | 26 | 27 | 24 | — | 70 | 76 | ||||||
| "Burundi Blues" | 51 | 70 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "For Spacious Lies" (France only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1991 | "Echo Chamber" | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Excursion on the Version | ||||
| "The Sun Doesn't Shine" | 66 | — | — | — | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "In the Ghetto" | 44 | — | — | — | 89 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1992 | "Change Your Mind" (US only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||||||
Samples list edit
- "Burundi Dub"
- "Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa" by Sly & The Family Stone / bassline
- "Dub Be Good to Me"
- "Just Be Good to Me" by The SOS Band
- "The Guns of Brixton" by The Clash / bassline
- "Blame It on the Bassline"
- "Get into Something" by Isley Brothers / phrase "Come on now / give the drummer some"
- "Won't Talk About It"
- "Thank You Mr. DJ" by Silver Convention / intro
- "Levi Stubbs Tears" by Billy Bragg / guitar
- "Dance to the Drummer's Beat"
- "Dance to the Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly & Life
- "Tribute to King Tubby"
- "Unwind Yourself" by Marva Whitney / saxophone in beginning
- Excursion on the Version
- "Echo Chamber"
- "Could You Be Loved" by Bob Marley & The Wailers
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b "BBC One - Top of the Pops, The Story of 1990". BBC. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 37. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
- ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 30/1. ISBN 0-85112-579-4.
- ^ "A fresh-faced Fatboy Slim discuses the 'politics of sampling'… [1989]". 909originals.com. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ "Fatboy Slim | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ "Lindy Layton". IMDb.com. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ "Beats International's 'Burundi Blues (Album Version)' - Discover the Sample Source". Whosampled.com. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ a b "Official Charts > Beats International". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 50. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ a b Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > Beats International in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
- Top 100 peaks: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- "In the Ghetto": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 28 April 2017". Imgur.com. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ "Beats International Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ^ "Norman Cook". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ "Norman Cook". charts.nz. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ "Beats International – German Chart". Charts.de. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ "Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 6 May 1991". Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ "Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 16 December 1991". Bubbling Down Under. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
- ^ Beats International chart history Billboard.com
