I have been away from this blog over the past few days, so I have not really had the chance to convey just how sad I am over the death of Adam Yauch, aka MCA, of The Beastie Boys. I have been a fan of the Beasties since the tender old age of 7. Yeah, I said it. SEVEN. I was in second grade at P.S. 207 elementary school in Howard Beach, NY when 'License to Ill' was released back in 1986. Even though I may have been a bit young for the crazy sentiments contained on the album, but I had an older sister, Oona, who was in the 6th grade. Her and her friends embraced 'License To Ill' with a furor that only teenagers could do, and the album was EVERYWHERE. It was so popular it was trickling down to the kids in school who were still in single digits. Man was that album epic....
Click after the jump for more words from Mike D...
One of my youngest musical memories has to be memorizing the lyrics to every song on that album. Girls, No Sleep To Brooklyn, Fight For Your Right, Brass Monkey, Hold It Now Hit... the list goes on and on. But one song resonated more than any of the others. One song remained more popular than all the others. PAUL REVERE. Why? I have no idea... but when that track was on EVERYONE knew the words. EVERYONE. 7 year old girls were "doing it like this, doing it like that, doing it with a wiffle ball bat" . Wow, that is hysterical. 7 year old chicks singing about sodomizing a girl with a plastic bat (or his penis, either way its a great line)? Pure AWESOMENESS!! I even performed this song in the annual 207 talent show that year with two of my boys. What part did I sing? Of course the part of Mike D (lol)!!! But MCA had the best lines in the song, and he made that album the best.
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| The Beasties Back In the Day |
Yauch was super important to the Beastie's on multiple levels. Sure his lyrics and musical contributions were 33% of one of the greatest musical groups in history. But he was also the driving force behind most of their videos, he was their most outspoken leader on social issues, and was just an all around picture of someone who loved his job. The guy was simply one of the good ones. I am super saddened to see him go, and I know that EVERYONE has put up a tribute to him... so here at CCD we are gonna keep it short and sweet. Here is the video for "Hold It Now, Hit", which shows the Beasties having a lot of fun back in the early days of Def Jams tours. This is how we should remember MCA. Smilin' & Whylin'. Enjoy the video. R.I.P. Adam...
I've gotta jump in here and add my sentiments to your own, because we have a very similar experience with how, and where, we were first introduced to the Beastie Boys.
ReplyDeleteI was also 7. Being Joey N. Armao, Super Genius, I was in 3rd grade despite being born in 1979, and I was first made aware of License to Ill by Lisa Kowalski, my (first!) girlfriend, who heard about it from her older sisters. It was the first album I ever owned on cassette. Hell, it was the first cassette I ever owned that didn't come with a read-along book where R2-D2 beeped to let you know to turn the page (ooh I should blog abot those... write that down).
Anyway, I remember studying the album art when I first got it. That 747 crashing into the side of the mountain was nothing short of iconic. And the album contained inside that cover art was just as iconic. So much so that I never stopped listening to it in the twenty-six years since its relase. It remains in heavy rotation in my playlist up to today. From the first drumbeats of Rhymin' and Stealin' (sampled from Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks") all the way to the last guitar strains at the end of "Time To Get Ill" (sampled from Credence Clearwater Revival's "Down On The Corner"), the album is an absolute classic. So much so that I can only listen to it straight through. If one of the songs comes on my playlist randomly, I turn the shuffle off and let the album play out. I've listened to it so many times it just doesn't sound right if the next song on the track list doesn't follow.
With all that said, MCA's lyrics were always my favorites. "Rhymes like Abe Vigoda" still kills me. I quoted all my favorites on Facebook the day he passed, I won't do it again here, but just let me add that Hip-Hop lost an innovator, a pioneer and an icon last week, and we should all do a shot of Brass Monkey to his memory next time we're out.
Also, I remember that talent show!