Pizzaman

Pizzaman is a London-based house group active from 1994 to 1997. The line-up includes Norman Cook, Jon Martin and JC Reid, and the act is associated with house music and the wider electronic dance scene.

Background

The project forms part of Norman Cook’s work before and alongside his later use of the Fatboy Slim name. Cook, also known as Quentin Leo Cook, has a background in dance music and develops a style linked with big beat, which draws on hip hop, breakbeat, rock, trance, house and rhythm and blues.

Release history and notable tracks

In 1995, Cook brings in producer friends Tim Jeffery and JC Reid to make a solo house album under the Pizzaman name. The album includes “Happiness”, a track that is later used by Del Monte Foods in a UK fruit juice advertisement. Cook also works on other side projects, including The Mighty Dub Kats, which achieve underground success with “Magic Carpet Ride”.

Later development

By 1996, Cook adopts the Fatboy Slim alias and begins playing regularly at The Big Beat Boutique in Brighton. While DJing there, he meets The Chemical Brothers, who encourage him to focus on making his own material rather than only DJ sets.