You've Come a Long Way, Baby | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 19 October 1998 | |||
Studio | The House of Love, Brighton | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 62:00 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Norman Cook | |||
Fatboy Slim chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Singles from You've Come a Long Way,Baby | ||||
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You've Come a Long Way,Baby is the second studio album by 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. Cook recorded and produced the album at his home studio in Brighton,known as the House of Love, [3] [4] using an Atari ST computer,Creator software,and floppy disks. [5] [6] The photo on the album cover was originally taken at the 1983 Fat Peoples Festival in Danville,Virginia;for the North American release,the album cover was changed to an image of shelves stacked with records.
You've Come a Long Way,Baby proved to be Cook's global breakthrough album, [3] peaking at number one on the UK Albums Chart and number 34 on the US Billboard 200. [7] Praised by critics for its sound and style,the album brought international attention to Cook,earning him a Brit Award in 1999, [8] 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. [9] "Build It Up –Tear It Down" was also released as a promotional single.[ citation needed ]
The title You've Come a Long Way,Baby was derived from a marketing slogan for Virginia Slims cigarettes. [10] The previously released "The Rockafeller Skank" single liner notes revealed that a once tentative title for the album had been Let's Hear It for the Little Guy.
Conceived by Red Design,the album's primary cover art features an obese young man dressed in a T-shirt bearing the words "I'm #1 so why try harder" while holding a cigarette in his left hand. [11] [12] The original photograph was taken at the 1983 Fat People's Festival in Danville,Virginia and provided by the Rex Features photo library. [13] Despite a series of inquiries,the man has not been identified. [14]
Additional photography for the You've Come a Long Way,Baby liner notes was provided by Simon Thornton. [11] The cover image was changed in North America to an image of shelves stacked with records.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [15] |
The Independent | [16] |
Muzik | [17] |
NME | 8/10 [18] |
Pitchfork | 8.2/10 [19] |
Q | [20] |
Rolling Stone | [21] |
Select | 5/5 [22] |
Spin | 8/10 [23] |
You've Come a Long Way,Baby received critical acclaim. [24] According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic,it "came damn close to being the definitive big beat album... a seamless record,filled with great imagination,unexpected twists and turns,huge hooks,and great beats." [1] In 2000,the album was ranked number 81 in Q magazine's readers' poll of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". [25] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [26]
In 1999,it was certified 3× platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI),3×Platinum by the Australian Record Industry Association [27] and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Right Here, Right Now" |
| Cook | 6:27 |
2. | "The Rockafeller Skank" |
| Cook | 6:53 |
3. | "Fucking in Heaven" (renamed "In Heaven" and "Illin in Heaven" on the North American version) | Cook | Cook | 3:55 |
4. | "Gangster Tripping" |
| Cook | 5:20 |
5. | "Build It Up – Tear It Down" |
| Cook | 5:05 |
6. | "Kalifornia" |
| Cook | 5:53 |
7. | "Soul Surfing" |
| Cook | 4:56 |
8. | "You're Not from Brighton" | Cook | Cook | 5:20 |
9. | "Praise You" |
| Cook | 5:23 |
10. | "Love Island" | Cook | Cook | 5:18 |
11. | "Acid 8000" | Cook | Cook | 7:28 |
Total length: | 1:02:00 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
12. | "How Could They Hear Us" | Cook | 5:08 |
Total length: | 1:07:08 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
12. | "The World Went Down" | Cook | 6:43 |
Total length: | 1:08:43 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Everybody Loves a Carnival" (radio edit) |
| 4:05 |
2. | "Michael Jackson" | Cook | 5:47 |
3. | "Next to Nothing" | Cook | 7:15 |
4. | "Es Paradis" | Cook | 5:43 |
Total length: | 22:50 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Cowboy" (featuring Eve) |
| 5:34 |
2. | "Radioactivity" (featuring Myriam Tisler) | 3:41 | |
3. | "Because We Can" | 3:29 | |
4. | "Always Read the Label" | Cook | 5:42 |
5. | "Tweakers Delight" | Cook | 3:08 |
6. | "The World Went Down" | Cook | 6:43 |
7. | "Jack It Up (DJ Delite)" | Cook | 4:05 |
8. | "Don't Forget Your Teeth" | Cook | 5:41 |
9. | "Praise You" (original version) |
| 6:41 |
10. | "Lounge Island" | Cook | 3:13 |
Total length: | 48:07 |
Credits for You've Come a Long Way, Baby adapted from liner notes. [11]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [59] | 3× Platinum | 210,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [60] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
France (SNEP) [61] | Platinum | 300,000* |
Japan (RIAJ) [62] | Gold | 100,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI) [63] | Gold | 50,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [64] | 4× Platinum | 60,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [65] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [66] | 4× Platinum | 1,200,000* |
United States (RIAA) [67] | Platinum | 1,400,000 [68] |
Summaries | ||
Europe (IFPI) [69] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000* |
Worldwide | — | 5,000,000 [70] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog no. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 19 October 1998 | Skint Records | CD [71] | BRASSIC 11CD |
LP [72] [73] | BRASSIC 11LP | |||
United States | 20 October 1998 | Astralwerks | ASW 66247-1 | |
Cassette [74] | ASW 66247 | |||
CD [75] | ASW 66247-2 | |||
United Kingdom | 4 December 1998 | Skint Records | MiniDisc [76] | BRASSIC 11MD |
Japan | 6 April 1999 | CD [77] | SKI 491973 | |
13 July 1999 | Sony Music Entertainment | CD (limited edition) [78] | ESCA 491973 | |
United Kingdom | 22 September 2009 | Skint Records | CD (deluxe edition) [79] | BRASSIC 56CD |
Norman Quentin Cook, also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist for the Hull-based indie rock band the Housemartins, who achieved a UK number-one single with their a cappella cover of "Caravan of Love". After the Housemartins split up, Cook formed the electronic band Beats International in Brighton, who produced the number-one single "Dub Be Good to Me". He then played in Freak Power, Pizzaman, and the Mighty Dub Katz with moderate success.
Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music that is now owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featured prominent British acts like The Future Sound of London, Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers. In recent years, its roster has expanded to include acts like Halsey, Marshmello, Porter Robinson, Illenium, Zhu and numerous others. In 2018, Astralwerks' headquarters were moved from its original home of New York City to Los Angeles.
Skint Records is a Brighton and Hove based dance music record label owned by JC Reid, Tim Jeffery and Damian Harris. It was created as a sublabel of Loaded Records, also founded by Reid and Jeffery. Along with Wall of Sound, the label was a leader in the big beat music scene of the mid to late 1990s.
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Lord Finesse is an American rapper and hip-hop record producer from The Bronx, New York best known as the leader of the D.I.T.C. crew. About.com ranked him number 29 on its list of the Top-50 Hip-Hop Producers.
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"The Rockafeller Skank", often referred to as "Funk Soul Brother" by fans, 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 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".
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"Gangster Tripping" is a song by British big beat musician Fatboy Slim. It was released on 5 October 1998 as the second single from his second studio album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby (1998).
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Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as The Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, Propellerheads, Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada.
The discography of Fatboy Slim, an alias of Norman Cook, an English DJ, big beat musician, and record producer, consists of four studio albums, three live albums, one soundtrack album, two compilation albums, three remix albums, six mix albums, three video albums, five extended plays, 28 singles and 31 music videos.
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"Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat" is a song by Fatboy Slim, Riva Starr and Beardyman. It features vocals from Beardyman who improvised all of the lyrics and vocals in one take. It was released on 20 June 2013. Aided by a remix by Calvin Harris, the song reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Fatboy Slim's first top ten hit since "Star 69" / "Weapon of Choice" in 2001. A remix by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Ummet Ozcan was released on 23 December 2013.
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: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)We still haven't ever found the fat kid from the cover of You've Come a Long Way, Baby. He's still never identified himself, despite me putting out appeals. I would actually like to give him some money!