(THIS) POLL REVERE(S) — ILM Artist Poll #19 — Beastie Boys RESULTS

i didn't necessarily mean contrarian in a 'oh it's bad/hated' but just in a hey i remember that song, what the hell i will vote for it even though it's not on spotify and i can confirm at the moment whether i actually like it all that much

Without Spotify there is no music.

Lol @ "Rock Hard" not "even being close to obscure"

Besides, like, rap radio in 1985, where would anyone even hear "Rock Hard"

it didn't even have a video!

Without Spotify there is no music.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, May 14, 2012 1:56 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

well, not at my desk at work, no. i wasn't making the point that "She's On It" is obscure because it's not on Spotify or anything, to be clear (although i was surprised that it's not even collected on any of their compilations).

I only know "Rock Hard" cuz of a CD-R of Beastie rarities burned for me about eight years ago.

Yeah, Rock Hard has never been preserved in the cd age, I don't believe. If you want to hear it, you've got to track down the original Def Jam single.

Sampling AC/DC means it never will be properly collected.

ah i see

But it's been widely and easily available on the net for fifteen years.

"Rock Hard" is great, and fuck AC/DC for not letting them release it. They obviously had no qualms about BDP sampling the same riff for "Dope Beat."

Whiney OTM that She's On It at least had a video/was in Krush Groove and I actually saw copies of the 12" in record shops. "Rock Hard" didn't get anywhere near that kind of push, and was a huge collector's item pre-internet.

Just one more point, as it doesn't really matter. Christgau had "Rock Hard" in his top 10 singles for '85 (#7); I own the 12-inch (got it and Cookie Puss at some weird warehouse sale in the late '80s). If it's not on CD, that's a good point--didn't realize that. I guess what I'm saying is it's far from obscure for me--i.e., a subjective call.

"Rock Hard" is mindblowing though.

^^That's the key point.

I love that EZ Snappin's definition of "not obscure" is "it's on the internet"

we're all famous!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NOakdZolYQ

43. "POSSE IN EFFECT" (1986) [136 points, 4 votes, 1 first place vote]

^ that's #42 btw

I bet all of License to Ill made the top 60.

ga-ron-teed

Just about the post the same thing re: every LTI track. Surprised to not see any Paul's Boutique yet.

"posse in effect" is so great

#2 on my ballot

your crew's all soft and I'm disgusted

Super sick track. That's my #1. Everything I love about the Beasties condensed to under three minutes. Hits every topic: girls, beer, records, New York, kicking your ass, and humor.

Glad "Bodhisattva Vow" made it. (More actually psychedelic than anything on PB, imo.)

I see "bodhisattva vow" as part of a song cycle of psychedelic MCA solo jams, with "year and a day" and "flowin prose"

"posse in effect" also great cause it's one of the licensed to ill tracks that never sounds dated, it will always be some electroshock future vision of teen hooliganism

xpost

Yup. But "Bodhisattava" has some kick to it, too. Not just floaty flowery.

I love that EZ Snappin's definition of "not obscure" is "it's on the internet"

― thommys got bendz (Whiney G. Weingarten)

If there are almost 18 million results for it and a youtube of it is the first google option then yes, it's not obscure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFP79Dlc928

41. "3 MINUTE RULE" (1989) [138 points, 6 votes]

(plz to pardon the stupid youtube...it's not the proper instrumental, just somehow has the vocals way buried in the mix.)

I'm so rope they call me mr roper

ddddoo wah diddy and bust em with the pre-roll

(only Johnny Ryall on youtube was a demo, and this thread already has enough embeds anyway)

40. "JOHNNY RYALL" (1989) [143 points, 9 votes]

If there are almost 18 million results for it and a youtube of it is the first google option then yes, it's not obscure.

that's silly. to search for it, you have to know of it. and the way most people are gonna get to know most beastie boys songs is through the albums. or by reading about their general history and discography somewhere. or in this day and age, via a youtube link, which, sure, might be "rock hard" as easily as anything else.

still, i doubt that most casual beastie boys fans even know that "rock hard" exists, whereas they all surely know of their albums. that's why i think the phrase "a bit more obscure" makes some sense, and that's where this all started.

here's johnny ryall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pKNmLMs7ugw#t=288s

Cool, I didn't realize that whole album thing had it broken down by track.

can we just say the word "relatively" is usually IMPLIED in front of the word "obscure" and that context is everything and move the fuck on?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XflfiylNNXY

39. "THREE MC'S AND ONE DJ" (1998) [145 points, 8 votes]

I cut this last. I thought I loved it but it turns out I don't.

Johnny Ryall, a real person who made records or not?

no.

I thought mike d said yes? and then there's this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuhGGth0_M4

Love the video for "Three MCs" as much as the song. Which is a fair amount in both cases.

I'm going by the 33 1/3 book on Paul's Boutique:

Johnny Ryall was a vagrant who frequently turned up on the stoop of Diamond's New York apartment building after the Licensed to Ill tour. No one recalls his real name, but he was rechristened by Diamond's roommate at the time, Sean Carasov, who also invented a history for the amiable beggar. "I had this brain fart that he used to be a rockabilly star. He had that look," says Carasov "Actually, he kinda looked like the fifty-miles-of-bad-road version of Chet Baker."

I do love the video.

this version has a shot of the 45, you can see the name johnny ryall under some sharpie scribbles, perhaps the fictional backstory became so detailed it began to intrude upon reality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBInorRr9p4

If there are almost 18 million results for it and a youtube of it is the first google option then yes, it's not obscure.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, May 14, 2012 2:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oooh, a whole 69,306 views on YouTube. I'm sorry, my glasses are a little fogged up there, dad, is that Justin Bieber?

huh, i always figured they were actually saying "johnny royale" and just called it "johnny ryall" as a joke