1.Prologue
This article is part two of an introduction to big beat, a subgenre of electronic dance music that emerged from the U.K. and broke through into the mainstream music scene in the late 90s. (Read part one here)
In MUSIC & PARTIES #029, I wrote about Norman Cook a.k.a. Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers—two acts whose members had firm background in DJing. Although Cook started his career playing in punk and new wave bands, he regularly DJed on the side, and in the 90s he became one of the world’s first superstar DJs. The two members of the Chemical Brothers also got their start in bands, but they began to click with their music as resident DJs at pubs in Manchester and London. What’s more, both Cook and the Chemical Brothers were extremely well versed in black music: funk, soul, and hip hop. Their music was built on sampling.
In this article I will give an introduction to two big beat acts that focused less on the use of samples and more on a band dynamic: Underworld and The Prodigy.
Both Underworld and The Prodigy had an important element that Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers lacked: a charismatic frontman. Underworld had Karl Hyde, who would let loose like a madman on stage and cast a spell on audiences with his cut-up stream-of-consciousness poetry. The Prodigy had the late Keith Flint, who was the living embodiment of both rave and punk. This would allow both Underworld and The Prodigy not only to inspire followers among ravers and clubbers, but also inspire converts among indie rock fans who had been skeptical of electronic dance music.
2.The Digital Soundscapes of Underworld
Underworld is comprised of vocalist/guitarist Karl Hyde and keyboardist Rick Smith. Hyde moved to Cardiff, the capital of Wales, in the late 70s to study at Cardiff College of Art. There, he met Smith, who was studying to get an electronic and electrical engineering degree. Smith ended up dropping out when he was asked to join Hyde’s band The Screen Gemz, which was inspired by the techno-pop of Kraftwerk and reggae. In the early 80s, Hyde and Smith would start a synth-pop/new wave band, which was signed to a major label and released two albums to moderate success.
The duo would form the first iteration of Underworld in 1988 as a guitar-based funk and electro-pop band. It released two albums, which were successful enough for the band to support the Eurhythmics on their 1989 U.S. tour as their opening act. After the tour, Hyde decided to stay in the U.S. for a while. He worked as a session musician at Prince’s Paisely Park Studios for a while, and later tried to get into the music industry in L.A., but he ultimately returned to the U.K.
In 1991, Hyde and Smith became founding members of the London-based design collective Tomato. Comprised of designers, artists, musicians, authors, and video artists from around the world, Tomato specializes in cross-platform multimedia art and design projects that are commercial, art, and research based. Tomato has designed the artwork for Underworld’s albums as well as the visuals that are played at their live shows. The collective also has clients in Japan, and has even held exhibitions at Shibuya Parco. Hyde has also held a number of art exhibitions in Japan.
Alongside their work with Tomato, Hyde and Smith also began working together with a teenaged DJ named Darren Emerson. The two would show Emerson the ins and outs of a recording studio, while Emerson would school them on techno and house music, and club culture. In 1993 the trio officially reformed as Underworld Mk2, launching the group’s most successful decade.
The addition of Emerson turned Underworld from a synth-pop band into a new type of group that fused rock, techno, and acid house. Hyde would write stream-of-consciousness lyrics that seemed to capture the light and dark of the digital age and urban life; on stage he would chant those lyrics while prancing around like a euphoric Mick Jagger. Behind him, Smith would keep his focus on the keyboards and synths and other gadgetry at his disposal. Emerson’s beats instilled the group with a key ingredient: groove. Thanks to Emerson, Underworld would be embraced by clubbers and ravers alike. Thanks to Hyde, the band would awaken many indie rock fans to the power of electronic dance music.
Underworld’s brand of electronic dance music was unlike anything people had seen before. Hyde’s spoken word vocals are a significant departure from the gospel-tinged soulful vocals usually found and sampled in house and techno, and the structure of Underworld’s music does not limit itself to the conventions of traditional dance music: the band is about live music, not DJ sets. It would release a string of highly-regarded albums through the 90s: Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1993), Second Toughest of the Infants (1996), and Beaucoup Fish (1999). These albums have pure dance tracks as well as tracks that incorporate elements of ambient and lounge music, trance, drum ‘n’ bass, reggae, and even acoustic guitar. The song “Pearl’s Girl", which features breakbeats, is a proper big beat track.
The track that would launch Underworld into the stratosphere—and become a dance music classic—is “Born Slippy .NUXX", which was used to great effect in the final scene of Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting—a film that depicts the lives of young heroin addicts in Scotland. The track was originally the B-side on their 1995 single “Born Slippy", but it became so famous that it was re-released as its own single. Trainspotting’s title sequence, designed by Tomato, would put the collective at the forefront of graphic design. Side note, Tomato designed the TV Asahi logo, and until March 2008, the station’s sign-on sequence was soundtracked by a piano version of “Born Slippy .NUXX"; the sign-off was set to Underworld’s “Rez".
Underworld’s live performances are even more impressive than their original albums. Their legendary 1998-1999 tour is chronicled in the live album and DVD Everything, Everything, which is now hard to come by—although you can find it used on Amazon. If you get anything out of this article, it’s that you should seek it out.
Darren Emerson would leave Underworld after the tour to focus on his solo career. Underworld would continue as a duo, and while they’ve produced some great tracks in the time since, their music is noticeably lacking that signature Emerson groove.
Underworld also soundtracked the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games—its latest successful collaboration with director Danny Boyle.
●Recommended Underworld Picks
3.The Rave Scene and The Prodigy
Keyboardist, songwriter, and DJ Liam Howlett met dancer Keith Flint in 1989 at a rave. Flint asked Howlett to make a mixtape for him, and a few days later Howlett handed him a cassette with a mix on one side and his original productions on the other. Flint and his fellow dancer Leeroy Thornhill choreographed a dance to Howlett’s music, and approached him about starting a group. They were joined by MC and vocalist Maxim, and The Prodigy was born.
The Prodigy made their debut with their 1991 single “Charly”, a song that mixes breakbeats with an animated children’s PSA that had aired on the BBC. The song would spark a “kiddie rave” trend, to the chagrin of music critics, but it was a huge hit among the rave scene, and ended up being the band’s breakthrough in the U.K. The Prodigy’s 1992 debut album Experience is a seminal rave record.
The Prodigy subsequently tried to distance itself from the bubbly “kiddy rave" association by forging a heavier, edgier sound, incorporating big beat, electro, and industrial elements. When the British government passed the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994 to crack down on illegal raves, The Prodigy released the heavy metal influenced “Their Law".
The Prodigy’s second album, 1994’s Music for the Jilted Generation, was well-received by fans and critics alike, and garnered the group a Mercury Prize nomination. Despite the success, The Prodigy rarely ever made live appearances on U.K. television; meanwhile its videos received heavy airplay on MTV Europe, making the band an international name. The music video for the single “Voodoo People” was originally supposed to have scenes with real witch doctors, but they were cut because of TV censorship issues. The track has been remixed by many artists, including fellow big beat group Chemical Brothers and the drum ‘n’ bass group Pendulum.
The Prodigy broke into the U.S. market with its 1996 single “Firestarter”, which features Keith Flint on vocals for the first time. It would become a rave anthem and establish the band as a headlining act at rock festivals. It was followed by the seminal big beat album Fat of the Land, which catapulted The Prodigy to global fame.
The album caused controversy, however, for the song “Smack My Bitch Up”, which prominently features the lyrics, “Change my pitch up, Smack my bitch up”. Howlett has stated that the line was about “doing anything intensely”, and was meant to be encouraging, as in “switch gears and give it your all”, but the song was criticized for being misogynistic. The song was banned on BBC and only a lyric-free version was played on BBC Radio 1. The lyrics were not written by The Prodigy but come from a sample from an Ultramagnetic MCs hip hop song.
The song’s explicit music video also caused controversy for depicting scenes of drinking and driving, drug use, and sexual excess. MTV initially only showed the video late at night, and ultimately removed the video from rotation. Despite the controversy, the video won Best Dance Video and Breakthrough Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards.
Fat of the Land marked The Prodigy’s commercial peak. Following a hiatus between 1999—when big beat reached mainstream popularity—and 2002, it has continued to produce high-energy rave music and perform at music festivals around the world. Rave music and rock lost one of its most iconic figures when Flint took his own life in March 2019.
●The Prodigy Discography Picks
4.Japanese Artists Influenced by Big Beat
The U.K.’s big beat acts have always enjoyed considerable fame in Japan, and their influence has shaped the Japanese electronic dance music landscape from the 90s onwards.
The dance music duo Denki Groove mixes techno beats with firmly tongue-in-cheek lyrics and stage antics. Denki Groove is comprised of Ishino Takkyu, who was greatly influenced by acid house and hip hop, and Pierre Taki, a self-proclaimed “musician who can’t play any instruments". They debuted in the early 90s with hip hop-influenced tunes and comical raps, but after Ishino experienced the acid house scene on a trip to the U.K., Denki Groove shifted to techno. Over the ensuing decades it has continued to be an out-of-the-box presence in the J-pop scene. It’s biggest hit is “Shangri-La", which was featured in a car commercial for the Nissan Terrano. Ishino is also renowned for starting one of Japan’s largest raves, Wire, in 1999. In March 2019, Pierre Taki was arrested in a drug bust, and admitted to using cocaine.
Electro, house, and techno DJ/producer Osawa Shinichi is another figure at the center of the Japanese EDM scene. Osawa arrived on the scene as the leader for Kyoto-based band Mondo Grosso (Italian for “big world"), an eclectic group that blended acid jazz, hip hop, bossa nova, and breakbeats. Osawa also produced a number of popular female singer-songwriters in the 90s, including UA, Chara, and Bird. In 2006, he put Mondo Grosso on hold to focus on his solo career. He produced a solo album that was released in the U.K. through Fatboy Slim’s label Southern Fried, and in the U.S. through Steve Aoki’s label Dim Mak. Osawa also toured North America with Fatboy Slim in 2009.
Tanaka Tomoyuki, better known as Fantastic Plastic Machine, has been referred to as the “Fatboy Slim of Japan" for his genre-hopping DJing style. FPM made his record debut at the end of the 90s, and started garnering international attention after releasing a successful sophomore effort. In 1998, he was the supporting DJ for Fatboy Slim’s Japan tour. In 2000, he signed with Avex, and has produced remixes for J-pop acts like Puffy, Hamasaki Ayumi, Dragon Ash, Ketsumeishi, M-flo, Unicorn, and more.
The British weekly music magazine Melody Maker lauded the digital rock band Boom Boom Satellites as “the combination of The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy”. The duo made their record debut in 1995, and was soon performing at rock festivals in Europe and touring the U.S. with Moby. Starting around 2000, its music has been featured in anime (Appleseed, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn), movies (The Dark Knight), and commercials (Dodge). In 2009, it collaborated with American rapper Flo Rida and singer Tahj Mowry to create a new version of their track “Kick it Out”. In 2010, it held its first North American tour. In 2012, vocalist/guitarist Kawashima Michiyuki announced that he had been troubled by brain tumor problems for years, and following a series of relapses, he passed away in 2016.
●Japanese Dance Music Picks
5.Epilogue
The English artists behind the big beat sound had grown up listening to the Beatles and the Stones, experienced punk rock and new wave, and been mesmerized by acid house and hip hop. To them, big beat was about the freedom to mix any genre that they wanted, unimpeded by labels like “black music" and “white music"; truly, the only real shared element between Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, and The Prodigy is a “big beat".
When the pioneers of big beat broke through to achieve international success in the second half of the 90s, big beat quickly became a global mainstream phenomenon. Fatboy Slim became a superstar DJ; Underworld had hands up around the world with “Born Slippy .NUXX"; music from both The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy began appearing on movie and video game soundtracks. Just as they had reached a level of fame where rock and hip hop artists alike were asking them for remixes, major brands started to approach them about licensing their music for commercials.
This commercialization is perhaps best embodied by “Days Go By", a song by the U.K. dance music group Dirty Vegas. “Days Go By" became a hit after it was used in a commercial for the 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse. Second generation artists like Dirty Vegas would take the sound in a more formulaic direction. Meanwhile, first generation big beat artists would gradually incorporate more house and techno influences. That being said, most electronic dance music is based on having a “big beat", so perhaps, in a way, the genre never really died at all.
House music was born out the Warehouse in Chicago. Garage house was born out of the Paradise Garage in New York. Techno was born in Detroit. Big beat came out of the Big Beat Boutique, a club where Fatboy Slim was resident DJ. The fact that big beat was much less defined than those other genres meant that it would never have staying power, but there’s no doubt that it broke down the walls between rock and electronic music, facilitated the spread of rave culture around the world, and set the stage for the EDM invasion further down the line in the 2010s.
