Piss off. It's still Friday. Sorry it wasn't up in time for your morning dump, but here 'tis. No obscure act this week. We're going Beastie Boys.
That's right. I said it. The Beastie Boys. These nice Jewish boys from NYC started off as a hardcore punk outfit in 1979 - when I was 5 - with Adam Yauch (MCA) on the bass, Mike D on vocals, and Kate Schellenbach (later of Luscious Jackson) on the drums. They did pretty well on the NY punk club scene, opening for some big names. Anyway, Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) joined in 1983 and they signed on with mad-crazy but now legendary producer Rick Rubin. Rubin convinced them to go hip-hop, and the next thing you know they are on tour with Run DMC and LL Cool J with a top-ten hit on the pop charts.
In 1989, they released "Paul's Boutique," long considered an innovative masterpiece of hip-hop for its unprecedented creative use of sampling and layering of numerous sounds and musical references, and a legend was born. (Many a child of the '90s has heard some old '60s rock '70s funk tune for the first time and said, "Holy shit, that's the sound that plays for 10 seconds in that one Beasties track!") "Paul's Boutique" would be on my desert island top 10. Now, 30 years later, they are still getting it done. As MCA says on "Sure Shot": "I got more rhymes than I got gray hairs, and that's a lot because I got my share." A few years later, on "Check Your Head" and "Ill Communication," the Boys picked up the instruments again and starting kicking out their own jams from time to time, sometimes on rap tracks, sometimes straight punk.
I basically grew up and grew old with these dudes, first hearing "Fight for Your Right" in the 6th grade, seeing them live for the first time during college, seeing them a couple more times during law school, and seeing them a couple more times yet as an adult working stiff, most recently at the Pavilion at Northerly Island on Chicago's Lakeshore in 2007 at the ripe old age of 33. That's right. I'm 35 and they've been rocking it worldwide since I was in 6th grade, and were working at it for a decade before that. They are the Mick Jaggar of hip-hop.
I've added them to the growing but distinguished LMF pantheon, because I don't think they get enough credit for their live shows. Most hip hop shows suck a lot of ass, with 19 guys on stage with mics, hyping over one another, and when it's over, you're not even sure if Master P was there at all. Not the Boys. You get, as advertised, "Three MCs and One DJ." And, in fact, they be gettin' down with no delay. For many shows, they have the full band kit set up so they can wander over and rock the instruments, as they do in the "Sabotage" performance below. Plus, every show has some bizarre new schtick. When I saw them on the lakefront in Chicago a couple of years back, overlooking the marina, Mike D decided to take a nautical theme, wearing a captain's hat and a blue blazer, and constantly extolling the virtues of his newly adopted yachting lifestyle. Basically, they are cool by being completely uncool and not giving a shit. Even in their 40s, I recommend you check 'em out.
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3 comments:
I believe I was 10 years old when I first asked the question, "Who the hell are these guys.?" I can still remember the first video I watched and was completely taken aback. Whatcha Want, the video has this acid trippy effects and the dudes out in a forest wearing almost grunge attire. At 10 I didn't get it, but at the same time, I really liked the music. Then a few years later Ill Communication and the greatness that was the Spike Jonze directed Sabotage and Sureshot came out and I was hooked. They are one of my 5 favorite bands of all time, and were an important part of my formative years.
Love it.
Also, "Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!" is a great Beastie Boys concert documentary.
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