10. Fatboy Slim Praise You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ULVQOneeZE This is the story of two boys who, in the words of the tune came a long way together. Norman Cook was a number one artist in the 80s as the bass player in The Housemartins and in the 90s reinvented himself as Fatboy Slim, a superstar DJ peddling his wares as a big beat master.His partner in crime in this wonderfully lunatic video was the soon to be very seriously famous film maker Spike Jonze. The video was perfect, using a comic book method and pioneering Jonzes innovative way with a video and a story. It was deliberately low budget, using guerrilla filming tactics, which he also successfully employed for Da Funk by Daft Punk. Setting up a dance troupe outside a cinema, and despite the attentions of an overzealous security guard, the troupe win the crowd over effortlessly, the most hilarious moment is the comment caught on camera by a passing punter, Who are these guys? Theyre pretty good though ha? And they put together some pretty great dance moves in the process. This is fun with a capital F; think Charlie Chaplin for the digital age and youre halfway there. But beyond the tale of the video is the importance of the impact of big beat, The Chemical Brothers were also a dab hand but seemed less comfortable with the fame side of things, preferring to create artier sounding records, but big beat was ultimately about collectivism, speaking and singing to the masses and the bliss of enjoyment that was the communal moment, and both the song and video for Praise you highlighted that moment to a tee. It was wonderful love song and party anthem at the same time, an accolade that not many a song can lay claim to.
Ed Nash
Contributor
What makes music fantastic? Star quality, amazing music, breathtaking lyrics and the ability to bring something new to the table, even if that means a new take on the classics. That's what I love to listen to and write about.
As well as writing for What Culture, I occasionally write a blog http://tedney.blogspot.co.uk and sometimes use Twitter, but sparingly @TedneyNash
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Ed