Following the 1988 breakup of the acclaimed British pop outfit the Housemartins, Brighton-born bassist Norman Cook went back to his earliest passion, DJing, and quickly ranked among the English music scene’s most in-demand remixers. He started a solo recording career in 1989 with the single “Won’t Talk About It,” which spotlighted falsetto vocals from Billy Bragg; the track turned into a major dance hit. After issuing the follow-up “For Spacious Lies,” Cook assembled Beats International, an informal collective of studio players that featured vocalists Linda Layton and Lester Noel, rapper MC Wildski, and keyboardist Andy Boucher.
Beats International’s first single in 1990, “Dub Be Good to Me”—a reinterpretation of the SOS Band’s “Just Be Good to Me” that wove in the bass line from the Clash’s “The Guns of Brixton”—reached the top of the UK charts and became a worldwide club favorite. Another success followed with the soul/jazz/worldbeat blend “Burundi Blues,” after which the group released its sample-laden debut album Let Them Eat Bingo, which entered the Top 20 of the British charts. Although Cook’s services as a remixer grew even more sought-after, with credits spanning Aztec Camera to the Jungle Brothers, he regrouped Beats International in 1991 to record Excursion on the Version, an album devoted to dub and reggae rhythms. When that release did not match the commercial performance of its predecessor, Cook dissolved the band and turned his attention to his new project, Freak Power.
