article: Along with the Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy, he disproved the idea that dance music couldn't sell albums, and helped to establish modern DJ culture. Twenty years later, Fatboy remains the most successful pseudonym of songwriter Norman Cook - whose other projects include The Housemartins, Beats International and Freak Power. To celebrate two decades of dance, Cook opened up his photo album to the BBC. The fun of Fatboy Slim at the start was nobody knew who I was. I was never in the videos and I never had my photo on the cover. It suited me really well to be known as an underground dance producer. The fame I had in the Housemartins didn't sit right with me. So you can probably detect a slight reticence in that photo session. I'm saying, "the whole point of hiding behind pseudonyms was I'd never have to do this again!" And then I met Zoe [Ball - his wife] which just kicked the whole thing out of obscurity into the tabloids... Your t-shirt says "wild style lifestyle". How crazy did it get? It was very wild. About as wild as you can be and still retain your health and your sanity. Did you ever worry you had gone too far? There were worries on the health and sanity things over the years. But at that point, I was definitely pushing the boundaries of altered states of consciousness and behaviour. How did that affect the music? I think it helped it tremendously. When I was having my real purple period, I'd have a big weekend, then come Sunday evening, I couldn't operate heavy machinery or drive anywhere - so I'd just go into the studio. I would sit there with my little samples and, having taken a mental snapshot of the weekend - mental being the operative word - I would try and sum that up in music. I was unfettered by sanity at that point. Do you find it harder now? I do, yeah. The ways I was using in those days are not an option now. Sometimes I do think I'd be more creative if I could still unlock that subconscious part of my brain. But no-one can have a 30-year purple period. It can't be sustained. That's actually my studio wall at the time of [1998 album] You've Come A Long Way Baby. It was a kind of mood board, because I'd spend a huge chunk of my life in the studio. It was something to look at when I was bored. It's lovely because there's tons of old faces there. Ashley Slater [1], who was in Freak Power with me. Rec One [2], the graffiti artist in Beats International who did a lot of my original artwork. There's Lindy Layton (vocalist on Dub Be Good To Me) [3] at the top looking beautiful and waving. My ex-girlfriend, Bella [4] is there wearing the spotty hat. And then Ashley with a very young Davina McCall [5], hanging out with us in Cannes. We had a very funny night out with her. Arpy
summary: With hits like Praise You and The Rockerfeller Skank, Fatboy Slim popularised big beat in the 1990s.