Norman Cook - The Finest Ingredients (1997)

It's always amazed me that the seemingly quiet and inoffensive bassist with The Housemartins could reinvent himself to become the 90's dance phenomenon that was Fatboy Slim, but this is exactly what Norman Cook did after he left the Hull popsters and looked for a new direction to pursue in his musical career. It wasn't a sudden change, as he'd been DJing for quite a time while he was still a member of the band, generally taking his record box to parties and taking charge of the decks, but it was when he started to make his own mixes that he began to be taken seriously by the dance scene. His first effort was released in 1986 under the name of DJ Mega-Mix Vol. 1, and I loved it before I even know he was involved, including it on my own compilation of dance tracks taped from the John Peel show, which I called 'House Breaking', and which I've already posted. This was followed by a remix of Eric B & Rakim's 'I Know You Got Soul' with Danny D under the name of Double Trouble, which was the start a long career of releasing records under a bewildering array of pseudonyms. After the success of the Double Trouble remix, Cook released another remix, this time of Frankie Z's 'It Began In Africa', and by 1990 he was part of the loose collective which operated under the name of Beats International, including friends M.C. Wildski and vocalist Lindy Layton, and they hit the charts with their 'Dub Be Good To Me' single. After a couple of albums with the band, he formed Freak Power with horn player Ashley Slater, and charted again with their 'Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out' single, and this was followed by a number of records which were released under a variety of names, such as Pizzaman, The Mighty Dub Katz, Sunny Side Up, Yum Yum Head Food, and The Cheeky Boy. For the Sunny Side up release, Cook took his production of the b-side of 'Passion' by The Pleased Wimmin and retitled it 'Manna' for inclusion on the compilation album from his Southern Fried Records label, which is also where you can find the Yum Yum Head Food track. The one-off Cheeky Boy single samples 'Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)' by the Jacksons with an acapella refrain of 'Hope...cause I've learned to cope', and which I first heard as 'Hope...cause I'm wearing a coat'. (you'll never un-hear that now!). This track was also released as 'Hope Part 3' under yet another pseudonym of Chemistry, as the b-side of the single 'Let Love Rule'. The Fonk Train single contains samples of 'Get On The Funktrain' by Giorgio Moroder, 'Save Me' by Aretha Franklin, and 'Instant Groove' by King Curtis, and was produced by Pizzaman, but by now I think we all know that both artist and producer are in fact Cook. Rather than just upload these tracks as an album, I couldn't resist making my own mega-mix of them, so here is one 77-minute dance spectacular from the erstwhile bass-player of The Housemartins. 

 

Track listing

01 The Finest Ingredients 

includes The Finest Ingredients (as Norman Cook 1986) / I Know You Got Soul (as Double Trouble 1988) / Blame It On The Bassline (with M. C. Wildski 1990) / It Began In Africa (as The Urban Allstars 1988) / Dub Be Good To Me (with Beats International 1990) / Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out (with Freak Power 1993) / Trippin' On Sunshine (as Pizzaman 1993) / Manna (as Sunny Side Up 1995) / It's Just A Groove (as The Mighty Dub Katz 1995) / Bird Of Prey (as Yum Yum Head Food 1995) / Hope Your Body (as Cheeky Boy 1995) / The Fonk Train (as The Feelgood Factor 1996) / Comma (as Son Of Cheeky Boy 1997)