Fatboy Slim’s Better Living Through Chemistry is celebrating its 30th birthday, and we’re getting the presents.
The much-loved debut from Norman Cook’s house music alter ego will be reissued digitally on Sept. 25 via BMG, with special-edition LP and CD editions following on Oct. 2.
Released in 1996, Chemistry was the launch pad for Fatboy Slim, a spearhead for a golden era for British electronic music which included The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin and Underworld in its ranks.
The collection housed the singles “Everybody Needs a 303,” “Punk to Funk” (both released in 1996) and “Going Out of My Head” (1997). Although it only peaked at No. 69 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, the collection paved the way for Cook’s future commercial successes, and high-profile festival and headline spots around the globe.
Next up, Fatboy Slim’s You’ve Come A Long Way Baby dropped in 1998 and spent four weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom.
“Better Living Through Chemistry was basically me figuring out what I was doing,” comments Cook in a statement. “I was making music for the dancefloor, the bedroom, the afterparty and anyone who’d listen. Looking back, it’s got all the mistakes, experiments and madness of that time in it, but that’s probably what I love about it most.”
The project was inspired by Cook’s Big Beat Boutique club nights at Brighton’s Concorde, and its floppy disc-inspired cover art was both a nod to New Order’s “Blue Monday” 12-inch sleeve, and to technology’s evolution and its connection to the hip of electronic music.
Cook is a man of many music hats. By the time he introduced Fatboy Slim to the music world, he was established through his work with The Housemartins and Beats International, along with Freak Power, Pizzaman and Mighty Dub Katz.
“It was the beginning of the Fatboy Slim adventure, and I’m amazed that, all these years later, people are still discovering it, dancing to it and asking me about it,” Cook comments. “It feels pretty bloody good to give it another lease of life.”
Pre-save Better Living Through Chemistry here.
