Fatboy Slim has used AI to “clean up” his Rolling Stones mash-up Satisfaction Skank after getting the band’s approval.
The superstar DJ and producer explained that after two decades of knock‑backs and countless bootlegs, Sir Mick Jagger and co eventually caved and gave their blessing for his mix of his 1998 dance hit The Rockafeller Skank and the legendary rock band’s 1965 classic (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction to be officially reworked.
He told NME: “There was one point when they asked me to remix Sympathy For The Devil.
“I said, ‘While we’re chatting about this, maybe we could put that Satisfaction mash-up I did as the B-side?’ and they were like, ‘No’.
“After 20 years of ‘no’ we had given up, then suddenly they came to us. Part of me thought the ship had sailed a long time ago, but there still seems to be a demand for it. It’s been in and out of my DJ sets, but if you really want to nail it with one last tune then it’s a good way to end.
“The good thing is that because this version never officially came out, it became my secret weapon.
“For me, that’s what kept it fresh: I only heard it once a week when I played.”
On using AI to clean up the recording, he went on: “The original version was done really cheaply and the whole thing just came out of one hole in my sampler. Now, we got the original stems off The Stones so I could make everything a little bit cleaner and using AI we got better separation and clarity. I’ve tidied it up, but it’s still the same thing. It’s shooting fish in a barrel to take a record that’s been around for 25 years and another that’s still a classic from 50 years ago and ask, ‘I wonder: will people like this?’ Certain riffs, motifs and memes just never go out of fashion.”
As it stands there is no official release date for the mash-up, but Norman Cook’s people are in touch with the Stones.
He said: “Mick [Jagger] was always a fan of it. It was more of a business decision holding it back. I haven’t spoken to them in this round of negotiations; my manager does all that and I don’t get involved in the ins and outs. Although I seem to be meeting Mick and Keith [Richards] a lot in the AI world for the video – which is quite weird and I kind of feel like I know them now.”