Platinum-selling
rap music
It‘s still a moot point whether ‘ the first rap album to go
| - i - platinum in the [S was Run l)M("s Raising llell or the Beastie's l.ieen.ve(l Io Ill. But it's not the main point. What really matters is that the Beastie Boy s‘ debut album has sold 9m copies to date and features in most Best Albums of [he Xlls lists.
The link between Madonna and
DC Hardcore
Raised on a diet of Bad Brains. the Beasties started out as a hardcore punk outfit. ln I985. however. when they'd only just embraced hip hop and before they‘d released l.ieensed Io lll. they played support on Madonna's like (1 Virgin tour. Despite the fact that Madonna‘s fans hated them. hard— core populism became their speciality (our Madge claims to have ‘made out' with M('A at this time. although. weirdly. he denies it).
A return to
tabloid baiting
You‘d have to go back to the heady days of I977 and the Sex Pistols to lind a comparison for the l.u'en.ve Io Ill tour of liurope in I987. North ofthc border. The Sum/(iv .lluil went undercover at the Barrowlands to unearth the depravity of their stage show. (ligantic inllatable penises. beer sprayed from cans at the audience. and dancing girls in cages were duly discovered (the news story included photos). l)own south The Sun accused them of ‘sneering‘ at children in wheelchairs. As a result. Men of Principle and Radio I l)ls Bruno Brookes and Mike Smith refused to play them.
VW Polos - the cars with the hole
It started off. as most things Beastie tend to. as a hit of a lark. M(‘A nicked a VW badge and attached it to a chain in witty homage to the large medallions championed by the rappers of their native NY. A million kids across the UK followed suit and VW was forced to send out free badges to anyone who wanted them. Which so didn‘t work.
A lesson in how to get into something way over your head
The [K gigs sold out long before the press furore but by the time the Beasties arrived things had got well out of hand. After an aborted and riotous gig in Liverpool. Ad-Rock was arrested. He had apparently returned a can of beer with a baseball bat and it had hit a young girl in the face. "We tamed the Beasties.‘ chanted the Scousers. 'l have never experienced a crowd like that.~ admitted Ad- Rock in court. livery leftlield American band since then has greeted warily the promise of L'K success.
Sexism in hip hop Given that Ad-Rock has become a bastion of the campaign to get (‘hinese troops out of Tibet. it is hard to imagine that the Beastie Boys took to the stage in 1987 alongside a cage in which there was a
lass called. enigmatically. liloise. lt fitted in with the cheesey rock samples that producer and label hoss Rick Rllhilt had them soltl on. (H. course the Beasties didn't invent misogyny in rap rntrsic but they did get in there lirst.
You can only be ironically sexist for
a very short period of time
ii} the end of the 90s. .'\tl- Rock was being linked romantically with Kathleen llannah. former Bikini Kill member and a woman closely linked to the Riot (irrrl movement. NM orin that but Kim (iordon. bass play er with Sonic Youth. hitched her fashion designing truck. X-(iirl. to Mike l)'s bigger company X-l .arge. And they certainly wouldn't take any nonsense.
Novelty rap
'l'he Beasties bailed from their contract with the Deflam label at the end of the 80s, and as a result have only seen a tiny percentage of the money their debut made. The rest of the world realised that hip hop was personality-led and novelty rap would consequently be a piece of wee wee. The blame for Morris Minor and the Majors. (ioldie l.ookin (‘hain and Liverpool liootball (‘lub‘s Anlield Rap must be laid at their door.
Those rare things - classic hip hop albums As well as their debut. ('heek )our llerul. l’oul 'x Boutique
and Ill ('oniniunieulion are all
classics. Yup. they‘ve only managed six albums in l7 years. but damn. they are good. Not that we paid much attention. Alter the l.i('en.ve(l Io lll debacle. the [K rnusic press ignored the fact that the frat party swagger had quickly given way to a more complex. better-sourced sound. It wasn‘t until l/l ('onrniunu'ution that we rediscovered the wonder of the way they brought together a punk aesthetic. (very) old-school rhyming and Phil Spector-s‘ized walls of sound.
Beck
By I993. Mike I) had experienced the ridiculous success of l.i('en.ve(l to Ill followed by the lower sales but more personal control of its two successors. He gave his chum Beck several words of advice on how to deal with the success of loser": ignore it. They also recommended the Dust Brothers. who had produced Paul '5' Boutique to him. Beck used them for ()(leluv.
Spike Jonze
For anyone still wondering whether the Beastie Boys were. like. for real. the 'Sabotage' video cleared things up. Directed by Mr Sophia Coppola. Spike Jon/e. it took the form of a spoof trailer for a 70s cop show. Jonze went on to direct Being .lohn .llulkovieh and the Beasties got a reputation for supporting talented filmmakers. borne out by the Beastie Boys l)l’l) \irleo Anthology. At the I994 MTV Music Video Awards. a hairy man calling himself Nathaniel Hornblower stormed the stage to protest when ‘Niglitsw‘irnming' by Rlz'll won the Best Video Award over ‘Sabotage‘.
llornblow er. it has to be said. looked very much like M(‘A in a silly wig and glasses.
Ironic mullets
Back in the rnid-9tls. in the work of sporadic genius that was the maga/ine (inrnil Bowl. the Beastie Boy s w rote a huge feature on that most legendary of redneck coiffures. A detailed history and a pictorial guide to creating your own were included. A head of the game once again.
An empire (of sorts) \Ve'y e mentioned the fashion line and the maga/ine. Did we mention the label'.’ (innul
ly’ovol was to the licaslics
w hat Apple was to the Beatles; a glorious gesture and a drain down which to pour money. It kicked off when luscious .lackson were looking for someone to put out In Seoreh oHIunnv. They went on to sign Atari 'l‘eenage Riot. put otit various Beastie side projects and sell a million copies ofAt the Drive ln's lv’elulionshi/i ol (‘onnnonil Then they folded. due to 'mounting debts. decreasing assets and exceedingly harsh industry conditions‘.
Buddhism
It was during the making of ('hee/v )our ll('llll that M(‘A became interested in libel. By the time he attended a I995 speech by the l)alai |.ama at Harvard l'niyersity. his immersion in Buddhist religiousteaching was such that he contemplated becoming a monk. l‘ortunately for us. at the event he met a young lady called Wangdu. who was involved in a 'l‘ibet support group and was a fan of punk band Rancid. M('A retained his affinity with Buddhism but returned to hip hop. Later. he married \‘y'angdu and Rancid played at their wedding.
Crap white rappers
In the liner notes to the Def Jam llhh Anniversary Bot .S'el M(' Search of rap travesties 3rd Bass recalls how he courted l)ef.lam boss Rtlsscll Simmons alter the Beasties had left the label. "l‘he club was "the World" and l was the only white boy in the house. I wanted to rhyme for a living. Rtrssell was by the bar. Newport in one hand. mix drink in the other. I spout some street jargon and begin to James Brown across the floor into his locus. Rtrssell looked at me a little confused. and I said to him. “I‘m the next kid on l)ef.lam to get you paid."' When Deflam signed 3rd Bass. a message was sent out to the hip hop world that all you had to do was be white and dance like a fanny in front of a label boss and you'd get signed. As for Vanilla Ice — different boss. same principle.
Good rappers
(white, black or yellow) With '1}; the 5 Boroughs. the Beasties again proved that if you remain true to yourself and your roots. you‘ll eam the respect of anyone worth a damn.
The Beastie Boys are at the SECC, Sat 4 Dec. To the 5 Boroughs is out now on Capitol.
2—“, 3-2-6 223-1 THE LIST 17