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 English electronic music producer Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook). 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, [3] peaking at number one on the UK Albums Chart and number 34 on the US Billboard 200. [4] Praised by critics for its sound and style,the album brought international attention to Cook,earning him a Brit Award in 1999, [5] 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. [6] "Build It Up –Tear It Down" was also released as a promotional single.[ citation needed ]
Cook had a habit of buying obscure vinyl records and sampling elements that he liked. Throughout the 1990’s he built up a library of these samples on floppy discs to create collages. [7] He loaded these into an Atari ST S90 sampler and a computer with C-Lab Creator software to record and manipulate the samples. For most of the songs he added the bassline and sampled the other elements in a Big Beat style. [7] In early 1998 Cook had success with several remixes while trying out some of the obscure records during his DJ sets. [7] Through the use of a time-stretch method and collaborating with his mixer/engineer Simon Thornton,Cook compiled the songs at his home studio in Brighton,known as the House of Love. [3] [7] [8]
The title You've Come a Long Way,Baby was derived from a marketing slogan for Virginia Slims cigarettes. [9] 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. [10] [11] The original photograph was taken at the 1983 Fat People's Festival in Danville,Virginia,and provided by the Rex Features photo library. [12] Despite a series of inquiries,the man has not been identified. [13]
Additional photography for the You've Come a Long Way,Baby liner notes was provided by Simon Thornton. [10] 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+ [14] |
The Independent | [15] |
Muzik | [16] |
NME | 8/10 [17] |
Pitchfork | 8.2/10 (1998) [18] 8.5/10 (2024) [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) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Right Here, Right Now" |
| 6:27 |
2. | "The Rockafeller Skank" |
| 6:53 |
3. | "Fucking in Heaven" (renamed "In Heaven" and "Illin in Heaven" on the North American version) | Cook | 3:55 |
4. | "Gangster Tripping" |
| 5:20 |
5. | "Build It Up – Tear It Down" |
| 5:05 |
6. | "Kalifornia" |
| 5:53 |
7. | "Soul Surfing" |
| 4:56 |
8. | "You're Not from Brighton" | Cook | 5:20 |
9. | "Praise You" |
| 5:23 |
10. | "Love Island" | Cook | 5:18 |
11. | "Acid 8000" | Cook | 7:28 |
Total length: | 62:00 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
12. | "How Could They Hear Us" | Cook | 5:08 |
Total length: | 67:08 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
12. | "The World Went Down" | Cook | 6:43 |
Total length: | 68:43 |
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 |
Sample credits [10]
Credits for You've Come a Long Way, Baby adapted from liner notes. [10]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [60] | 3× Platinum | 210,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [61] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
France (SNEP) [62] | Platinum | 300,000* |
Japan (RIAJ) [63] | Gold | 100,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI) [64] | Gold | 50,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [65] | 4× Platinum | 60,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [66] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [67] | 4× Platinum | 1,200,000* |
United States (RIAA) [68] | Platinum | 1,400,000 [69] |
Summaries | ||
Europe (IFPI) [70] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000* |
Worldwide | — | 5,000,000 [71] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog no. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 19 October 1998 | Skint Records | CD [72] | BRASSIC 11CD |
LP [73] [74] | BRASSIC 11LP | |||
United States | 20 October 1998 | Astralwerks | ASW 66247-1 | |
Cassette [75] | ASW 66247 | |||
CD [76] | ASW 66247-2 | |||
United Kingdom | 4 December 1998 | Skint Records | MiniDisc [77] | BRASSIC 11MD |
Japan | 6 April 1999 | CD [78] | SKI 491973 | |
13 July 1999 | Sony Music Entertainment | CD (limited edition) [79] | ESCA 491973 | |
United Kingdom | 22 September 2009 | Skint Records | CD (deluxe edition) [80] | BRASSIC 56CD |
Norman Quentin Cook, better known as 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.
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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!