How Norman Cook Became Fatboy Slim (And Threw The Wildest Beach Party Ever)

Comments · 762

• BJ

  @Bjarkoy · 6 months ago (edited)

  I was at Beach Boutique II. I was among a group of lifeboat crew rescuing party goers from the water between the piers and taking them back to awaiting ambulances in Brighton Marina.<br>Later that night I was booked on a flight to Seattle and had to get a taxi to LHR as all the coaches were full. I was going for a paramedic job in Seattle and it was my final interview. They asked me if I had ever been involved in a major incident and if so when. So I said “yes, yesterday. Fat Boy Slim concert.” Explained that 260,000 people were on the beach with a rising tide and we were the only resource to get sick and injured to the ambulances at the marina.<br>I was offered the job in Seattle on the back of this concert - thank you.

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• JI

  @JimPatience · 6 months ago

  I was there at the first one. The second one a lot of people who live in Brighton avoided. They knew it was going to be a massive show, but nobody could have predicted the scale of the event. Also as a fun fact, I used to work for a company that sold music gear. I repaired FBS&apos; Tascam DA-20 DAT recorder, sold him a Roland Soundcanvas SC-88 AND the desk that he produced &quot;You&apos;ve Come A Long Way Baby&quot; on. It&apos;s a Soundcraft Ghost 32LE and he added the level meters in to the bundle as well. A hefty desk that took 4 of us to lift in to his car!<br>Years later at the Big Beach Boutique that was in the Amex stadium I bumped in to him in the VIP area. Asked him how his desk was going. He looked at me and said &quot;You sold it to me, didn&apos;t you?&quot; so he knew who I was sort of, which was nice.

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• AC

  @AceClown · 6 months ago

  I was at the second one, I still remember vividly a few days before it sitting 300 miles away with my mates in the pub talking about the weekend plans, someone said &quot;you see that Fatboy Slim thing going on in Brighton? we should do that&quot; and we just did, no hotel, no plan other than drive down and party like animals. It was PHENOMENAL, I&apos;ve been married twice, had many good moments in my life and nothing to this day has ever come close to topping that weekend.

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• RA

  @RavingKats · 6 months ago

  There will never be another time as big and globally united as the EDM scene 1997-2005 I really don&apos;t think anything can match it, it was like digital hippies there was so much hope and love and unity until a 20 year war kinda cracked down on everything and drained everyone. But man what a time it was, miss those days of solid community.

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• BA

  @BawlzOfuzz · 5 months ago

  I was there with a beautiful woman on my arm. RIP Ceri. I miss the best times.

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• GJ

  @gjaxx · 6 months ago

  &quot;Riiight... I get it now&quot;. So did I, at roughly the same time. Changed my life forever. <br><br>As a Brighton resident at the time, and well into the club scene, I was at both BBBs... and even though I lived in Burlington St, directly up from where the stage was for the revival event in 06, would have been at thst as well. Couldn&apos;t get a ticket due to crowd size restrictions 😢<br><br>EDM arrived very late in my life, but even now in my 70s, I have a wee dance in my rocking chair watching YT vids on a big screen. It warms my ancient heart to see the ❤ continue to grow

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• 50

  @50_Pence · 6 months ago

  He dropped Groove Armada&apos;s Super Stylin&apos; and that whole crowd went mental. And a Sunny day in England! What a party.

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• DI

  @Divided-We-Fall4444 · 6 months ago

  2 deaths during an event of this magnitude, is actually a really fantastic testament to the amount of peaceful people that were there.

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• AS

  @assortedeffects · 6 months ago (edited)

  I saw him open up for The Chemical Brothers at red rocks in Denver Colorado 1999 all vinyl set was maybe 30 feet away from him was absolutely magical. <br>Also bumped into him at a mall there earlier that day, I saw him on an escalator and yelled &quot;Norman!&quot; and followed him into a store, I grabbed a postcard and had him sign it was a super friendly dude and an incredible show

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• CO

  @covboy70 · 6 months ago

  I was there at II. I lived in Coventry and my housemate&apos;s sister lived in Brighton. He asked if I fancy a trip down. So 4 &nbsp;of us got in the car at lunchtime and drove to his Sister&apos;s. We were about 50m or so from the stage. <br>At one point I pushed through the crowd to the little arches bar and bought a cardboard tray of about 24 beers, as going back was pointless. I could have sold the whole tray 3x over on the way back. <br>After it closed down, we found our way into a club and the DJ was having the best night of his life. 😂<br>We were lucky, as had somewhere to stay. The beach was definitely carnage the next morning. <br>One of the best nights of my life, and my ultimate clubbing &apos;i was there moment!&apos; 😍

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• NE

  @Netsuko · 6 months ago

  Dude, what an amazingly produced video!

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• IS

  @isaacu · 6 months ago

  When I first heard Funk Soul Brother in the US it was like nothing I had ever heard before.

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