Fatboy Slim
Although only recently has Norman Cook aka Fatboy slim made it big, his run up to fame started in the mid eighties.  As a member of the indie band The Housemartins, Norman achieved his first No 1 with the song 'Caravan of Love'.  When the band split, Norman formed 'Beats International' which again had a number 1 hit with 'Dub be good to me' in 1990.  This band was soon to disappear but Norman reappeared in 'Freakpower', an acid funk band who had a top ten hit with 'Turn in Tune in Drop out'.
In 1995, Norman released a single under the name 'Fatboy Slim' but didn't admit that he was behind the single.  He produced the single as a laugh but could not have anticipated the reaction to the single.  'Santa Cruz' was playing in clubs all over London at the same time when Freakpower's 2nd album was released.  The album was ignored whilst Santa Cruz, a mixture of house, hip hop, rock and soul was receiving rave reviews.
Norman then began to DJ in popular clubs but still failed to see himself as a pop star until he remixed Cornershop's Brimful of Asha and it reached the number one slot, the original version hadn't even reached the top 40.
This was the turning point in Norman's career and his subsequent release of 'Rockerfeller Skank' was to shoot him to stardom.  Although the song, described by Norman as 'Hawaii 5-0 on acid' didn't get to number one, it achieved fame in the popular club circuit.  The release of the album' You've come a long way baby' ensured Norman fame, fortune and a Brit Award for the Best Dance Act.  Two singles from the album reached No1 in the charts, (Praise You in Jan 99 and Right Here, Right Now in April 99) and the album has now sold over 3 million copies, 1 million in the UK alone.
 Not bad for a bit of a laugh !
Click here for connection to the Skint web site which features Fatboy Slim and other artists on the Skint record label.