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Beats International

{{Short description|British dance music band}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Beats International

| image = Beats International.jpg

| caption = Beats International, 1990. From L to R: Lester Noel, Norman Cook, Lindy Layton, Andy Boucher

| alias =

| origin = Brighton, England

| instrument =

| genre = Electronic, hip-hop{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000n18n|title=BBC One – Top of the Pops, The Story of 1990|publisher=BBC|access-date=17 June 2021}}

| years_active = 1989–1992

| label = Elektra Records
Telstar Records
Go! Beat

| website =

| current_members = Norman Cook
Lindy Layton
Lester Noel
David John-Baptiste
MC Wildski
Andy Boucher

| past_members =

}}

Beats International were a British dance music band and hip-hop collective, formed in the late 1980s by Norman Cook (later in his career known as Fatboy Slim) based in Brighton, East Sussex, England, after his departure from the Housemartins.{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=2000|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0427-8|page=37}}

A loose confederation of musicians, the line-up also included vocalist Lindy Layton, former North of Cornwallis vocalist Lester Noel, rappers DJ Baptiste (The Crazy MC), MC Wildski and keyboardist Andy Boucher. Unusually, the band's live line-up also incorporated a graffiti artist, REQ, who painted designs on a backdrop while the musicians played.{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-579-4|pages=30/1}}

Biography

After having a few small hits under his own name such as "Blame It on the Bassline", a 1989 hip-house crossover single featuring MC Wildski,{{Cite web|url=https://909originals.com/2018/07/10/a-fresh-faced-fatboy-slim-discuses-the-politics-of-sampling-1989/|title=A fresh-faced Fatboy Slim discuses the 'politics of sampling'… [1989]|date=10 July 2018|website=909originals.com|access-date=17 June 2021}} and "For Spacious Lies"{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/25526/fatboy-slim/|title=Fatboy Slim | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=17 June 2021}} with Lester Noel, Cook decided that further releases would be under the collective name "Beats International" – just one of the names he went on to use in the 1990s.

Beats International's debut studio album, Let Them Eat Bingo included these solo hits and the original version of "Won't Talk About It" which featured Billy Bragg singing in a soulful falsetto. The album also spawned the UK number-one single "Dub Be Good to Me", a re-working of the SOS Band's chart-topper "Just Be Good to Me", based on a sample of the bassline from the Clash's "Guns of Brixton". This song was the first to be credited under the Beats International name and featured sometime actor Layton on vocals.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0493620/|title=Lindy Layton|publisher=IMDb|access-date=17 June 2021}}

The collective followed their number-one single with a re-recorded version of "Won't Talk About It", which replaced Billy Bragg's vocal with that of Layton and Noel, and "Burundi Blues", a track which featured samples of Bessie Jones, the Thrashing Doves and, on the album version, Brian Cant's introduction from Camberwick Green.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

The second Beats International album was 1991's Excursion on the Version, which featured a greater use of dub and reggae sounds, but failed to repeat the success of its predecessor. This was the final Beats International recording, with Cook next going on to form Freak Power.

Discography

=Albums=

class="wikitable"

!Year

!Album

!UK
{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/26166/beats-international/|title=Official Charts > Beats International|publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date= 2017-04-28}}{{cite book

| first= David

| last= Roberts

| year= 2006

| title= British Hit Singles & Albums

| edition= 19th

| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited

| location= London

| isbn= 1-904994-10-5

| page= 50}}

!AUS

!US
{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/beats-international|title=Beats International Chart History|magazine=Billboard|access-date=20 December 2018|archive-date=21 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221025813/https://www.billboard.com/music/beats-international|url-status=dead}}

rowspan="1"|1990

| Let Them Eat Bingo

| {{center|17}}

| {{center|63}}

| {{center|162}}

rowspan="1"|1991

| Excursion on the Version

| {{center

}}

| {{center

}}

| {{center

}}

=Norman Cook singles=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
rowspan="2"|Year

!rowspan="2"|Title

!colspan="2"|Peak chart positions

style="line-height:1.2"

!width="35"|UK
{{cite web | url = https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/ | title = Norman Cook | publisher = Official Charts Company | access-date = 15 September 2011 }}

!width="35"|NZ
{{cite web | url = https://charts.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Norman+Cook | title = Norman Cook | work = charts.nz |access-date=15 September 2011}}

rowspan="2"| 1989

| "Won't Talk About It"/"Blame It on the Bassline"{{Ref|DoubleA|[II]}}

| style="text-align:center;"|29

| style="text-align:center;"|36

"For Spacious Lies"

| style="text-align:center;"|48

| style="text-align:center;"

Note: these singles are from "Let Them Eat Bingo" and would be re-credited to Beats International on this album.

=Singles=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2" style="width:20em;"| Single

! colspan="10"| Peak positions

! rowspan="2"| Album

style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="40"| UK

! width="40"| NED

! width="40"| BEL
(FLA)

! width="40"| FRA

! width="40"| GER
{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.de/suche.asp?search=beats+international&x=0&y=0&country=de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217121937/http://www.officialcharts.de/suche.asp?search=beats+international&x=0&y=0&country=de |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 December 2014 |title=Beats International – German Chart |website=Charts.de |access-date=2014-04-03}}

! width="40"| AUT

! width="40"| SWI

! width="40"| SWE

! width="40"| AUS
Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:

  • Top 50 peaks: {{cite web|url=http://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Beats+International|title=australian-charts.com > Beats International in Australian Charts|publisher=Hung Medien|access-date=2015-09-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202084015/http://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Beats+International|archive-date=2015-12-02}}
  • Top 100 peaks: {{cite book|last=Ryan|first=Gavin|title=Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010|year=2011|publisher=Moonlight Publishing|location=Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia}}
  • "In the Ghetto": {{cite web|url=http://i.imgur.com/IbUbeT7.gif|title=Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 28 April 2017|via=Imgur|access-date=2017-04-28}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bubblingdownunder.com/2022/05/week-commencing-6-may-1991.html | title=Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 6 May 1991|access-date=21 June 2022}}{{cite web|url= https://www.bubblingdownunder.com/2022/12/week-commencing-16-december-1991.html |title=Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 16 December 1991|website=Bubbling Down Under|access-date=17 December 2022}}

! width="40"| US
[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=beats international|chart=all}} Beats International chart history] Billboard.com

rowspan="4"|1990

! scope="row"| "Dub Be Good to Me"

| 1

| 2

| 5

| 19

| 4

| 2

| 6

| 10

| 12

| 76

| rowspan="4"|Let Them Eat Bingo

scope="row"| "Won't Talk About It"

| 9

| 28

| —

| —

| 26

| 27

| 24

| —

| 70

| 76

scope="row"| "Burundi Blues"

| 51

| 70

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

scope="row"| "For Spacious Lies" (France only)

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

rowspan="3"|1991

! scope="row"| "Echo Chamber"

| 60

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| 169

| —

| rowspan="4"|Excursion on the Version

scope="row"| "The Sun Doesn't Shine"

| 66

| —

| —

| —

| 87

| —

| —

| —

| 165

| —

scope="row"| "In the Ghetto"

| 44

| —

| —

| —

| 89

| —

| —

| —

| 142

| —

rowspan="1"|1992

! scope="row"| "Change Your Mind" (US only)

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

align="center" colspan="17" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

Samples list

;Let Them Eat Bingo

  • "Burundi Dub"
  • "Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa" by Sly & The Family Stone / bassline
  • "Dub Be Good to Me"
  • "Just Be Good to Me" by The SOS Band
  • "The Guns of Brixton" by The Clash / bassline
  • "Blame It on the Bassline"
  • "Get into Something" by Isley Brothers / phrase "Come on now / give the drummer some"
  • "Won't Talk About It"
  • "Thank You Mr. DJ" by Silver Convention / intro
  • "Levi Stubbs Tears" by Billy Bragg / guitar
  • "Dance to the Drummer's Beat"
  • "Dance to the Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly & Life
  • "Tribute to King Tubby"
  • "Unwind Yourself" by Marva Whitney / saxophone in beginning

;Excursion on the Version

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{cite magazine|title=Beats International|page=40|magazine=Music Technology|date=May 1990|volume=4|issue=6|issn=0957-6606|oclc=24835173}}

{{Fatboy Slim}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Musical groups established in 1989

Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1992

Category:1989 establishments in England

Category:1992 disestablishments in England

Category:British remixers

Category:English dance music groups

Category:English electronic music groups

Category:Musical groups from Brighton and Hove

Category:Elektra Records artists

Category:Telstar Records artists

Category:Go! Beat artists

Category:British dub musical groups