Project 1001: You've Come A Long Way, Baby by Fatboy Slim
This just isn’t my kind of thing. I found some stuff interesting, but, sadly, I was mostly bored. I have no doubt that in the late 90s I was grooving to some of these tunes while tuned up at various watering holes and clubs. But listening to it now? Meh. Could be good for a workout. “Rockafella Stank” and “Praise You” are classic but their brilliance does not elevate “In Heaven”, possibly the dumbest fucking song I’ve ever heard. I know it’s a gimmick and supposed to be funny or something, but…fail. Recognizing Fatboy Slim’s (Norman Cook) obvious talent and that he did an amazing job on this record, but it isn’t my cup of tea my rating:
The BBC called You’ve Come a Long Way Baby “an immediate delight that set the quintessential tone for Fatboy’s future.”1
DJMag.com:
A masterclass in sampling, Fatboy Slim's second album remains the best example of Norman Cook’s unmistakable sound: a tightly-knit yet light-wearing blend of rock & roll instrumentation and energy with the hedonistic spirit of late ‘90s British dance music.
Through its weaving of rock instrumentation into an electronic palette, it deftly smuggled dance music into the hearts and minds of guitar fans on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the 25 years since its release, it’s been a soundtrack to nights out, nights in, film, TV, sports, video games and more, its inherent weirdness hidden amongst gleaming pop hooks and familiar song structures. It broke the US right open as part of a late ‘90s trend for electronic music, which had also boosted the popularity of acts like Daft Punk, The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers.2
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Daryl Easlea wrote:
Norman Cook was not the first bedroom DJ; nor was he the most competent. But his judicious selection of melodies, married with the juiciest of beats, made him the outrider for the resurgent club movement as the twenty-first century approached.
You’ve Come a Long Way Baby is a breezy blast.
With his samples at once both humorous and poignant, Fatboy Slim had become an inarticulate poet laureate in a sense, bridging both booze and Ecstasy culture.3
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime Playlist: 200. You've Come A Long Way Baby by Fatboy Slim
If you’re new here, welcome! Please consider subscribing and sharing with friends.
For details about this project, read this: Project 1001 Albums
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: #344
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: “The Rockafeller Skank”, #76; “Praise You”, #365
• RIAA certification: Platinum | September 13, 19996
Released on October 19, 1998. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “One Week” by Barenaked Ladies7
• Number one album: Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life by Jay-Z8
• Number one movie: Practical Magic by Griffin Dunne9
• Most watched TV programs: ER, Friends, Frasier, NFL Monday Night Football, Veronica’s Closet, Jesse, 60 Minutes, Touched By an Angel, CBS Sunday Movie, 20/20, Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond, NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Drew Carey Show10
• NYT bestseller, fiction: Bag of Bones by Stephen King11
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom12
Some other albums released that day
• Reunion by Black Sabbath
• Honey to the B by Billie
• Hope Is Important by Idlewild
• VH1 Storytellers by Ringo Starr
• Gran Turismo by The Cardigans13
Sport
• Oct 13 MLB American League Championship: New York Yankees beat Cleveland Indians, 4 games to 2.
• Oct 14 MLB National League Championship: San Diego Padres beat Atlanta Braves, 4 games to 2.
• Oct 21 World Series: New York Yankees beat San Diego, 3-0 in Game 4 at Qualcomm Stadium to sweep Padres and win 2nd title in 3 years; MVP: Yankees 3rd baseman Scott Brosius.14
Notable Births
• Oct 17 Erin Kellyman, British actress (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), born in Staffordshire, England.
• Oct 22 Roddy Rich, American rapper and singer-songwriter (Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial; "The Box"), born in Compton, California.
• Oct 23 Amandla Stenberg, American actress (Hunger Games), born in Los Angeles, California.15
Historical Events
• Oct 8 US House of Representatives votes to begin impeachment hearings against President Bill Clinton on charges of lying about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
• Oct 16 Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet is arrested in London on a Spanish warrant requesting his extradition on murder charges.
• Oct 20 Comedian Richard Pryor is awarded the 1st ever Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.16
Notable Deaths
• Oct 2 Gene Autry, American cowboy singer, songwriter, actor, musician, ("Back In The Saddle Again";"Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer") and business tycoon (owner MLB Angels team, 1961-97), dies of lymphoma at 91.
• Oct 3 Roddy McDowall, British actor (Planet of Apes, Cleopatra, Lord Love a Duck), dies at 70.
• Oct 16 Jon Postel, American computer scientist known as "the god of the internet", dies form heart surgery complications at 55.17
Easlea, Daryl, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Fifth printing, ed. by Robert Dimmery p. 824.
Ibid.
Ibid.
I LOVE Fatboy Slim and everything he does.
It's garbage. This is no reflection on you (don't shoot the messenger, right?), but of all your album reviews I've read, this is the absolute worst album ever made. I admire your fairness to musical diversity, but Fatboy is a talentless waste of flesh. It's fitting that Geoff worships him like a god.