The Rockafeller Skank

Last updated

"The Rockafeller Skank"
Fatboy Slim - The Rockafeller Skank single cover.png
Single by Fatboy Slim
from the album You've Come a Long Way, Baby
B-side
  • "Always Read the Label"
  • "Tweakers Delight"
Released8 June 1998 (1998-06-08)
Genre Big beat [1]
Length
  • 6:53 (album version)
  • 3:27 (radio edit)
  • 4:03 (short and video version)
Label Skint
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Fatboy Slim
Fatboy Slim singles chronology
"Going Out of My Head"
(1997)		"The Rockafeller Skank"
(1998)		"Gangster Tripping"
(1998)
Music video
"The Rockafeller Skank" on YouTube

"The Rockafeller Skank" is a song by English big beat musician and DJ Fatboy Slim. It was released as the lead single from his second studio album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby (1998), on 8 June 1998. The single peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart in June 1998 and topped the Icelandic Singles Chart for a week the same month. It was the second Fatboy Slim single (after "Praise You") to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 76. In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked "The Rockafeller Skank" at number 199 on their list of the "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". [2]

Contents

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Using self-consciously old-school DJ techniques (scratching and repetition of a spoken phrase, dramatic tempo changes), Fatboy Slim has created an organically simple masterpiece. With the accessibility of Beck, the danceability of ska, and the sunny quality of the Beach Boys, the track has a sparse, magnetic beginning that builds in depth and intensity (with the addition of jangly guitar riffs and more complex beats) to a meticulous, frenetic climax. And the wind-down is no less danceable." [3]

Will Hermes from Entertainment Weekly called it a "remarkable splice-rock roller coaster". He added, "Big, dynamic, spectacularly dumb, it grafts Duane Eddy guitar twang (via John Barry) onto Godzilla-goes-Motown beats, adds an MC non sequitur, and presses "frappe" on the digital blender. Result? The most potent DJ pop since "Firestarter". If this won't convert the techno-phobes, nothing will." [4]

A reviewer from Music & Media stated that the track "easily matches the extremely high quality one would expect from a chart veteran with such names as the Housemartins, Beats International, The Mighty Dubcats and Pizzaman on his CV." He explained further, "This time around, he's somehow managed to fuse big beat and dance with surf—seasoned with a slight pinch of punk—and has come up with what is probably the single most infectious sound around on the airwaves right now." [5]

Samples

The song features the repeated line "Right about now, the funk soul brother / Check it out now, the funk soul brother", which is a truncated vocal sample of rapper Lord Finesse on the track "Vinyl Dogs Vibe" by Vinyl Dogs. The original line, a spoken-word introduction to the instrumental track, was "Check it out right about now, it's no other than the funk soul brother, the Lord Finesse. And you're welcome to the world of the Vinyl Dogs right about now". [6]

Lord Finesse spoke about his "contribution" for the first time in 2019. He recalled receiving a fax about Fatboy Slim wanting to use his vocal sample for "The Rockafeller Skank", to which he agreed. However, he was shocked to learn the song was not what he had in mind, thinking it was going to be hip hop and not big beat. He called it a "big mistake" and expressed regret for not listening to the song first before sending his approval, and not having someone look at the contract before he signed it. Regardless, Lord Finesse remains proud of the success of "The Rockafeller Skank" but says it could have been his "retirement money". [7]

The song also features eight [8] other samples, including a sample of the song "Sliced Tomatoes" by the band Just Brothers (a popular Northern soul track); The Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought the Law" (featuring DeWayne Quirico's drum intro); "Join the Gang" by David Bowie; "Who You Wit II" by Jay-Z (pitched down vocals saying "Rockafeller"); and a sample of "Beat Girl" by John Barry and his Orchestra. Guitar lines were also sampled from "Twistin' 'N' Twangin'" by Duane Eddy [9] and "Why Can't You Love Me" by Brian Poole & The Tremeloes, [10] along with a shout from the song "Soup" by the J.J. All-Stars.

Fatboy Slim has stated that to clear the samples and release the song he had to release 100% of the track's royalties, 25% to each artist,[ clarification needed ] meaning he receives no royalties himself. [11]

On the album, the track is preceded by a short conversation between a radio DJ and caller named Brad requesting the song. A real conversation that took place on Boston station WBCN (now known as WWBX), the tape was played for Fatboy Slim who persuaded the station to allow him to use the audio on the album. [12]

Track listings

Charts

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [56] Platinum600,000‡
United States—141,000 [57]

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref.
United Kingdom8 June 1998
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Skint [58]
Japan17 June 1998CD [59]
United States28 September 1999 Contemporary hit radio [60]

Related Research Articles

<i>Youve Come a Long Way, Baby</i> 1998 studio album by Fatboy Slim

You've Come a Long Way, Baby is the second studio album by English electronic music producer Fatboy Slim. It was first released on 19 October 1998 in the United Kingdom by Skint Records and a day later in the United States by Astralwerks. You've Come a Long Way, Baby proved to be Cook's global breakthrough album, peaking at number one on the UK Albums Chart and number 34 on the US Billboard 200. Praised by critics for its sound and style, the album brought international attention to Cook, earning him a Brit Award in 1999, and was later certified four times platinum by the BPI and platinum by the RIAA. Four singles were released from the album: "The Rockafeller Skank", "Gangster Tripping", "Praise You", and "Right Here, Right Now", all of which peaked within the top ten on the UK Singles Chart. "Build It Up – Tear It Down" was also released as a promotional single.

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  2. ↑ Dolan, Jon; Lopez, Julyssa; Matos, Michaelangelo; Shaffer, Claire (22 July 2022). "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 30 October 2022.
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  4. ↑ Hermes, Will (17 July 1998). "This Week: Music". Entertainment Weekly . Issue 441.
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  11. ↑ Nick Lawrence (7 May 2007). "Fatboy Slim Interview (May 2006) « HigherFrequency". Higherfrequency.wordpress.com. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  12. ↑ @FatboySlim (1 January 2021). "i went on WBCN when i was promoting 'rockafella skank' and they played me this tape of a guy who had rung in the day before. i thought it was so goofy and persuaded them to let me have the tape and let me put it on the album.. i subsequently met Brad next time i was in Boston and" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2023– via Twitter.
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  14. ↑ The Rockafeller Skank (Australian CD single liner notes). Fatboy Slim. Dance Pool. 1998. 665968.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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