Beats International

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
OriginBrighton, England
GenresElectronica
Years active1989–1992
LabelsElektra Records
Telstar Records
Go! Beat
MembersNorman 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 would paint designs on a backdrop while the musicians played.

Biography

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,[3] and "For Spacious Lies"[4] with Lester Noel, Cook decided that further releases would be under the collective name "Beats International" - just one of the names he would go on to use in the 1990s.

Beats International's debut studio album, Let Them Eat Bingo would include these solo hits and the original version of "Won't Talk About It" which featured Billy Bragg singing in a soulful falsetto. 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". This song was the first to be credited under the Beats International name and featured sometime actor Layton on vocals.[5][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.[6]

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. This was the final Beats International recording, with Cook next going on to form Freak Power.[2]

Discography

Albums
Year Album UK
[7][8]		 AUS
[9]		 US
[10]
1990 Let Them Eat Bingo
17
63
162
1991 Excursion on the Version
-
-
-

Norman Cook singles
Year Title Peak chart positions
UK
[11]		 NZ
[12]
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
Year Single Peak positions Album
UK
[7]		 IRE NED BEL
(FLA)		 FRA GER
[13]		 AUT SWI SWE NOR AUS
[9]		 NZ US
[14]		 US Dance
1990 "Dub Be Good to Me" 1 4 2 5 19 4 2 6 10 10 12 6 76 1 Let Them Eat Bingo
"Won't Talk About It" 9 12 28 — — 26 27 24 — — 70 20 76 4
"Burundi Blues" 51 — 70 — — — — — — — — — — —
"For Spacious Lies" (France only) — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1991 "Echo Chamber" 60 — — — — — — — — — — 49 — — Excursion on the Version
"The Sun Doesn't Shine" 66 — — — — 87 — — — — — — — —
"In the Ghetto" 44 — — — — 89 — — — — 142 7 — —
1992 "Change Your Mind" (US only) — — — — — — — — — — — — — 28
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

Samples list
Let Them Eat Bingo
Excursion on the Version

See also

References
  1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000n18n
  2. Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 37. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
  3. https://909originals.com/2018/07/10/a-fresh-faced-fatboy-slim-discuses-the-politics-of-sampling-1989/
  4. https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/25526/fatboy-slim/
  5. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0493620/
  6. https://www.whosampled.com/sample/260999/Beats-International-Burundi-Blues-(Album-Version)-Brian-Cant-Freddie-Phillips-Music-Box/
  7. "Official Charts > Beats International". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  8. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 50. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  9. Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
  10. "Beats International Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  11. "Norman Cook". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  12. "Norman Cook". charts.nz. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  13. "Beats International – German Chart". Charts.de. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  14. Beats International chart history Billboard.com

Further reading
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