fatboy slim

811. ‘Praise You’, by Fatboy Slim

/ UK #1s blog / 5 Comments

A 4th chart-topping guise for Norman Cook, then. After some indie a cappella with the Housemartins, some dub-dance with Beats International, and a funky remix of Cornershop’s ‘Brimful of Asha’, he finally makes number one under his own steam…

Praise You, by Fatboy Slim (his 1st and only solo #1)

1 week, from 10th – 17th January 1999

The piano line is captivating, as are the smokily soulful opening vocals. We’ve come a long, long way together, Through the hard times and the good… I like the way the final note of these lines is dragged out, and out, and out… and out, as the percussion builds in anticipation of a monumental drop… That never comes. Just more of the same groove, and more of the same vocals.

As on ‘Brimful of Asha’, Fatboy Slim’s mixing style is crowd-pleasing and accessible. Nothing too fancy, nothing too hardcore; just big beats that make you want to dance. But the intro is definitely the best part, oozing a promise that isn’t quite delivered. It’s appealing and catchy, but there are only so many ways that you can chop and twist the two vocal lines that make up this entire song. The album version drags on for a much too long five and a half minutes, though a more palatable radio-edit was used for the single.

‘Praise You’ is a wild smorgasbord of samples, prime among them ‘Take Yo’ Praise’ by Camille Yarborough. Thus twenty-five years later I belatedly realise that it is a woman’s voice singing on this track… I genuinely had no idea. Buried deeper we have a piano line from the Steve Miller Band, drums from John Fogerty, the theme to a cartoon called ‘Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids’, and a guitar lick from Disney anthem ‘It’s a Small World’. From Mickey Mouse, to CCR, to Bill Cosby; ‘eclectic’ doesn’t even begin to cover it!

The video was also a big selling point, secretly filmed in front of Fox Bruin Theatre in LA. It’s a flashmob, at least ten years before that concept went viral, featuring some apeshit breakdancing from director Spike Jonze. It wasn’t staged at all, apparently, including the moment when a theatre employee storms out and turns off their stereo.

Norman Cook finally scores a solo number one, then, and it acts as a swansong to one of the more leftfield chart-topping careers. There can’t be many, if any, other acts to have four different #1s under four different guises. He still had plenty more hits to come, though, and the other singles from his ‘You’ve Come a Long Way Baby’ album, like ‘Rockafeller Skank’ and ‘Gangster Trippin’, really are the sound of the late nineties for me. He also remained an active remixer, and I would point you in the direction of his great work on Missy Elliott’s ‘Gossip Folks’, and the Beastie Boys’ ‘Body Movin’.

785. ‘Brimful of Asha’, by Cornershop

/ UK #1s blog / 8 Comments

Up next, a quirky little number one. An indie-pop tune about classic Indian movies, by a band who had never previously been higher than #60 in the charts…

Brimful of Asha, by Cornershop (their 1st and only #1)

1 week, from 22nd February – 1st March 1998

‘Brimful of Asha’ had originally been released in 1997, in a more pedestrian, lo-fi version. It’s nice – a different angle on British rock in the late-Britpop years – but it needed a sprinkling of stardust to turn it into a hit. Enter Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim. This is already Cook’s third chart-topping persona, following a spot as a member of the Housemartins in 1986, and with Beats International in 1990.

Compared to some of the other big dance acts of the time – think Prodigy or the Chemical Brothers – Cook’s work as Fatboy Slim has a much poppier, more accessible style. The production on this record – the chunky drum fills, the loops – is very late nineties. But it probably sounds ‘very late nineties’ because Fatboy Slim was one of the defining sounds of that era. ‘Brimful of Asha’ was the launchpad for him to enjoy several years of hits.

And while it does sound rooted in the late-90s, ‘Brimful of Asha’ also has nods back to the sixties in the guitar line, and the fact that Cook added a sample from ‘Mary, Mary’, by the Monkees. The ‘Asha’ in the title refers to Asha Bosle, a famous soundtrack singer and one of the most influential names in Bollywood. And of course there’s the famous hook: Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow, Everybody needs a bosom… It all comes together to create an intoxicatingly catchy song.

Cornershop were from Wolverhampton, and had been ploughing an alt-indie furrow since 1991. Their references to Indian cinema came from founders and brothers Tjinder and Avtar Singh (though Avtar had left in 1995), and the band’s name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the stereotypical line of work that Indian immigrants tended to take up in the UK. It’s actually quite a big cultural moment, this: British Indians topping the charts with a song celebrating their ancestral country. It’s also a surprisingly early nostalgic tribute to vinyl records (Brimful of Asha on the ’45…) just after the format had been largely killed off, and before hipsters rediscovered it.

Sadly, Cornershop would struggle for hits when Norman Cook wasn’t involved. The follow-up, ‘Sleep on the Left Side’, made #23, and their last Top 100 appearance came in 2004. They remain active, though, both recording and touring. Norman Cook, meanwhile, went from strength to strength after this. In the months following ‘Brimful of Asha’s success, he had his first hit as Fatboy Slim with ‘The Rockafeller Skank’, setting him up for several years of solo success. I have a feeling that his poppy, Big Beat style might have been looked down upon in more fashionable dance circles, but he was always undeniably catchy. And he’ll be back along with his own solo #1 very soon!

The 1997 original:

The Norman Cook Remix:

581. ‘Caravan of Love’, by The Housemartins

/ UK #1s blog / 17 Comments

Reintroducing that most niche of chart-topping genres: the festive a cappella #1…

Caravan of Love, by The Housemartins (their 1st and only #1)

1 week, from 14th – 21st December 1986

Following on from the Flying Pickets’ ‘Only You’ from three years before, The Housemartins give us more warm and fuzzy feelings for Christmas, using only their voices (and some finger clicks). Hand in hand we’ll take a caravan, To the marvel land… One by one we’re gonna stand up with pride, One that can’t be denied…

The lyrics are uplifting – everyone being free, the young and the old, love flowing – vaguely religious, but not preachy. The harmonising is beautiful, led by a spectacular lead vocal from Paul Heaton (imagine an angelic Morrissey…) My judgement may be clouded by the fact that I’m literally listening to his honeyed tones as I type these words, but is this the 1980’s best chart-topping vocal performance? The he’s my brother… line is the pick, up there with the finest fifties doo-wop.

Every woman, every man, Join the caravan of love… Stand up, stand up… It’s a clarion call, but is it for a revolution, or for God? The song had been written by one half of the Isley Brothers (Isley-Jasper-Isley) the year before, with religion in mind. The video for the Housemartins’ version makes the religious intent very clear: Heaton plays a preacher in a pulpit, and the band have crucifixes shaved into their heads… I’m normally one for the separation of church and pop; but this I can just about stomach, because it’s about love rather than sanctimony.

Speaking of Morrissey, this single-week number #1 represents one of the very few moments that ‘80s indie made the highest reaches of the charts (much like Europe flying the flag for hair metal last time out…) The Housemartins had made #3 earlier in the year with the jangly ‘Happy Hour’, and their albums had pithy titles like ‘London 0 Hull 4’ and ‘That’s What I Call Quite Good’. They were clearly going for the Christmas #1 here, ticking all the feel-good boxes, gaining support from both indie kids and their grandmas, but were foiled at the last by an even more unexpected hit… More on that next time.

They split in 1988, but this is just the start for two of The Housemartins… Heaton went on to form ‘The Beautiful South’, before going solo. In a fun coincidence, he is literally on top of the UK albums chart as we speak… Meanwhile bassist Norman Cook became a DJ and producer with Beats International and then as Fatboy Slim. And I can think of at least three ‘90s chart-toppers that he’ll account for…

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