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 music|Electronic]], [[hip-hop]]<ref name="auto">{{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}}</ref> | 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 [[electronic music|dance music]] band and hip-hop collective,<ref name="auto"/> 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]].<ref name="Larkin90">{{cite book|title=[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|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}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Larkin90"/> Unusually, the band's live line-up also incorporated a [[graffiti]] artist, [[REQ]], who painted designs on a backdrop while the musicians played.<ref name="Larkinindie">{{cite book|title=[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-579-4|pages=30/1}}</ref>

==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,<ref>{{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}}</ref> and "For Spacious Lies"<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Larkinindie"/> The album also spawned the [[UK Single Chart|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 [[sampling (music)|sample]] of the bassline from [[the Clash]]'s "[[Guns of Brixton]]".<ref name="Larkinindie"/> This song was the first to be credited under the Beats International name and featured sometime actor Layton on vocals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0493620/|title=Lindy Layton|publisher=IMDb|access-date=17 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="Larkin90"/>

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 (American singer)|Bessie Jones]], the [[Thrashing Doves]] and, on the album version, [[Brian Cant|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 music|dub]] and [[reggae]] sounds, but failed to repeat the success of its predecessor.<ref name="Larkinindie"/> This was the final Beats International recording, with Cook next going on to form [[Freak Power]].<ref name="Larkin90"/>

==Discography== ===Albums=== {| class="wikitable" !Year !Album ![[UK Albums Chart|UK]] <ref name=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}}</ref><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{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}}</ref> ![[ARIA Charts|AUS]] <ref name=aus/> ![[Billboard 200|US]] <ref>{{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}}</ref> |- | 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 <ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/ | title = Norman Cook | publisher = [[Official Charts Company]] | access-date = 15 September 2011 }}</ref> !width="35"|NZ <ref>{{cite web | url = https://charts.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Norman+Cook | title = Norman Cook | work = charts.nz |access-date=15 September 2011}}</ref> |- !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 singles chart|UK]] <ref name=uk/> ! width="40"| [[MegaCharts|NED]] ! width="40"| [[Ultratop|BEL (FLA)]] ! width="40"| [[SNEP|FRA]] ! width="40"| [[GfK Entertainment charts|GER]] <ref>{{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}}</ref> ! width="40"| [[Ö3 Austria Top 40|AUT]] ! width="40"| [[Swiss Hitparade|SWI]] ! width="40"| [[Sverigetopplistan|SWE]] ! width="40"| [[ARIA Charts|AUS]] <ref name=aus>Australian ([[ARIA Charts|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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> ! width="40"| [[Billboard Hot 100|US]] <ref>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=beats international|chart=all}} Beats International chart history] Billboard.com</ref> |- | 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 ** "Won't Talk About It" 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'' *"Echo Chamber" **"Could You Be Loved" by [[Bob Marley and the Wailers]]

==See also== *[[List of Billboard number-one dance club songs|List of ''Billboard'' number-one dance club songs]] *[[List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart]]

==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}}

[[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]]