Beats International

Beats International were a British dance music band and hip-hop collective,<ref name="auto"/> 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.<ref name="Larkin90">Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref name="Larkin90"/> Unusually, the band's live line-up also incorporated a graffiti artist, REQ, who painted designs on a backdrop while the musicians played.<ref name="Larkinindie">Template:Cite book</ref>

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,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and "For Spacious Lies"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Larkinindie"/> 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".<ref name="Larkinindie"/> This song was the first to be credited under the Beats International name and featured sometime actor Layton on vocals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Larkin90"/>

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.Template:Citation needed

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.<ref name="Larkinindie"/> This was the final Beats International recording, with Cook next going on to form Freak Power.<ref name="Larkin90"/>

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	UK <ref name=uk>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref>	AUS <ref name=aus/>	US <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
1990	Let Them Eat Bingo	check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}	check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}	check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
1991	Excursion on the Version	check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}	check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}	check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Norman Cook singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions
		UK <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	NZ <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1989	[II]|[1]}}	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 <ref name=uk/>	NED	BEL (FLA)	FRA	GER <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	AUT	SWI	SWE	AUS <ref name=aus>Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks: Top 50 peaks: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }} Top 100 peaks: Template:Cite book "In the Ghetto": {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	US <ref>[[[:Template:BillboardURLbyName]] Beats International chart history] Billboard.com</ref>
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	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	169	—	Excursion on the Version
	"The Sun Doesn't Shine"	66	—	—	—	87	—	—	—	165	—
	"In the Ghetto"	44	—	—	—	89	—	—	—	142	—
1992	"Change Your Mind" (US only)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

Samples list

Let Them Eat Bingo

• "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 and the Wailers

See also

• List of Billboard number-one dance club songs
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart

Further reading

• Template:Cite magazine