He outed Norman Cook as Fatboy Slim, imported turntablism and made BPM a staple of dance journalism. Pete Tong and Paul Oakenfold remember a pivotal figureNorman Cook can remember the first time he met James Hamilton very clearly. “He was enormous,” he laughs. “Enormous and very well-spoken, called everyone ‘dear boy’, quite camp. He looked so unlikely. Not a party animal, not into anything apart from dance music and the vibe and the culture of it all. Not interested in being cool, he was like, ‘it’s OK to be nerdy as long as you really know your music’, but I think he really enjoyed the fact that every club he went to, everyone would know who he was and they were all going to tell him some gossip or give him a record.”Moreover, Cook remembers their meeting because James Hamilton had caused him a whole world of trouble. It was the 80s, a decade before Cook became Fatboy Slim, superstar DJ and multi-platinum producer of countless dancefloor hits: he was still the bass player in indie...
James Hamilton, an "eccentric aristo," was a pivotal figure in British club culture, known for his imposing stature and deep knowledge of dance music. He wrote a column in Record Mirror reviewing dance records, creating the first UK dance chart and promoting the concept of mixing records by BPM, which he measured with a clicker and stopwatch. He also introduced British DJs to the Paradise Garage and Larry Levan. Despite his influence, he remains largely forgotten.