Beastie Boys: Classic or Dud?

xps

I would say from the outset the primary appeal of the Beastie Boys was that they fought for their right to party

I think you were too cool for Nirvana shakes

I think the primary appeal of the Beastie Boys was their music just like Nirvana

a few years ago I downloaded some fan-made comp of everything the Beasties sampled, organized by album. its a ton of music but definitely worth checking out. since I've heard Hello Nasty like a hundred times it was a trip going through all this. just to name a random example here's an awesome track that was briefly sampled on "Putting Shame in Your Game"

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

I think you were too cool for Nirvana shakes

idk if its worth it to run down my personal Nirvana history but at the time I was a serious die-hard fan. For ex. I was extremely pissed when I couldn't convince any of my high school friends to drive into LA to see Nirvana at the Palladium in 1990 because they all wanted to go to some stupid Senior class party thing instead. I didn't have a car, so I missed it.

I'm not really sure what Nirvana's tastemaker status is. Sure, they got people to get into the Meat Puppets. But Bowie didn't need the assist, and actually ripping off a song didn't draw much attention to Killing Joke (nor did Grohl playing on an album). Nirvana talked about the Pixies a bunch, but again, not sure they needed the assist.

Beastie Boys ... what did they hip people on to? Cibo Matto? Atari Teenage Riot? Mountain?

Vaselines
Slits

Daniel Johnston

(Nirvana)

Oh, re: Nirvana? Good calls.

The Wipers?

Raincoats

Killing Joke

I get a vibe from Cobain’s promotion of obscure artists that it was more of a reaction to success, the feeling that he did not deserve this level of fame and had an obligation to offload some of that attention and acclaim onto the musicians he loved.

Cobain’s liner notes for the Raincoats reissue are so sweet and charming.

uh other hip hop
xp

this is from same song:
I’m like "Sweetie Pie" by the Stone Alliance
Everybody know I'm known for dropping science
‘Cause I'm electric like Dick Hyman

Well, I'm not coming out goofy like the fruit of the loom guys
Just strutting like The Meters with the “Look-ka Py Py"

Jimmy Smith is my man, I want to give him a pound

It's like Harlem World Battles on the Zulu Beat Show
It's Kool Moe Dee vs. Busy Bee

Bob Marley was a prophet for the freedom fight
"If dancin' prays to the lord then I will feel alright"

Beastie Boys ... what did they hip people on to?

off the top of my head for me personally:
Eddie Harris
Jimmy Smith
the Car Wash soundtrack
Kool Moe Dee vs. Busy Bee
Slayer
Lee "Scratch" Perry
Lee Dorsey
Chuck Chillout
Boogie Down Productions
Groove Merchant
The Turtles
Idris Muhammad

lots more

xps

They were real enthusiastic about Kid Rock before he was famous, so thanks?

kiss!

https://html1-f.scribdassets.com/zry8qhcow37avdj/images/1-b88438ca88.jpg

They were real enthusiastic about Kid Rock before he was famous, so thanks?

agree that this was their most unfortunate endorsement

Too Short is to blame for Kid Rock

I think I still have the Grand Royal issues with Miami Bass and the Moog synth on the covers

one of the first music websites I went to a bunch was someone's breakdown of all the samples on Paul's Boutique. lots of gems!

i have a copy on a high shelf somewhere i think -- but my labyrinthitis makes me dizzy if i look upwards so i can't check sad lol

one of my prized possessions is a framed, unfolded poster from GR with all kinds of different turntable models

I hung that same poster in many apartments until one day it got destroyed. I wish I had the foresight to save it / preserve it for later in life than just thowing it up on the wall in the shitholes I rented.

Leaving aside writers, as a gateway into pop culture minutiae probably only MST3K did more for me than Beastie Boys.

I get a vibe from Cobain’s promotion of obscure artists that it was more of a reaction to success

this is otm. Cobain gave off a strong sense of "ive got to make the most of my time as a celebrity to direct attention to my favorite obscure stuff" almost as a means of apology or penance. Beasties seemed like exploring & discovering different music and introducing it to people was one of their animating reasons for doing the band in the first place. Nirvana did not strike me as 'enthusiasts' in the same way, it almost felt transactional, like "while you're picking up our album make sure to buy a Vaselines or Half Japanese record to balance out the sin of us being on a major."

Are we talking about fleeting samples and references as gateways? I mean, I guess.

Though I suppose people who bother to seek out sources of those dozens or hundreds of samples might be more prone to finding music on their own anyway.

pre-internet hunting down sample sources was a very time-consuming and hit-and-miss endeavor

but yeah I noticed when the Beastie Boys namedropped, and then if I happened to be able to find a record by one of those guys, I would buy it

what more did you want them to do? personally take you record shopping?

xp

"my two sealed copies of "Expansions"" for example (what Expansions was he referring to? McCoy Tyner? Lonnie Liston Smith? sometimes I discovered things by mistake!)

xps

create a magazine or something that promoted things aligned with their tastes???

Ad Rock sent me a care package full of Meters records and Godzilla toys when I moved into the dorms freshman year 🙂

Mike D once knocked on my front door and when I answered, all he said was "make sure you listen to some records by Curtis Mayfield!" before spinning around and walking away

Ad-Rock randomly appears on a few Japanese hip-hop records I have which is pretty amusing since I have no clue how their paths would cross. as far as I know they just called him up and asked him to do it

xpost Good advice, tbh.

I'm guessing Miho Hatori is the link there

They were real enthusiastic about Kid Rock before he was famous, so thanks?

― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Friday, January 31, 2020 4:06 AM (four hours ago)

agree that this was their most unfortunate endorsement

― Οὖτις, Friday, January 31, 2020 4:08 AM (four hours ago)

Some people who were Beastie Boys at some point:

Mike Diamond
Adam Yauch
Kate Schellenbach
John Berry
Adrock
DJ Double R
The Hurra
Money Mark
Bobo
AWOL
Fredo
Mario C, m/l

Some people who were never Beastie Boys:

icr

(iirc Mike in particular was "you sure about this?" to Ian about running the piece)

ian criese-romaine?

a single dad who went from dorm-room DIY to music biz millionaire, Kid Rock obviously an unalloyed good influence

no idea who icr is

the dude that wrote the Kid Rock article in Grand Royal, in the face of the Beastie Boys complete absence of enthusiasm for Mr Ritchie's music

https://www.beastiemania.com/whois/rogers_ian_c/

my memory is that Mike D was the only Beastie that paid much (if any) attention to the magazine

He's had a few jobs since that fansite bio was written

Just noticed that the e-version of the Beastie Boys Book is $1.99 on Amazon/Apple/etc.