Fatboy Slim

Fatboy Slim is Norman Cook, from Reigate. He was in The Housemartins (bass, 1986–88) before working through a series of production aliases and eventually landing on Fatboy Slim in 1996 as the vehicle for his brand of breakbeat-driven big beat house. "Praise You," "Right Here Right Now," "Rockafeller Skank," "Weapon of Choice" — the late-1990s records are as hard to avoid now as they were then, which is either a criticism or a compliment depending on your position. The Big Beach Boutique events in Brighton are the other document: free outdoor shows on Brighton beach that drew 250,000 people in 2002, organised on roughly three weeks’ notice, breaking the record for the largest ticketless concert in UK history. He’s been a Pacha Ibiza resident, played Glastonbury more times than most bands, and has DJ’d consistently for 35 years without the output feeling like it’s coasting. The 1996 Essential Mix is one of the foundational episodes of the BBC Radio 1 show — the place to start.