The Beastie Boys odyssey began in 1981 when Mike Diamond and Adam Yauch
decided to start a band, for the principal reason that all their friends had bands, so why
shouldn't they? Together with Kate Schellenback and John Berry, they started gigging
at all the major clubs, including the now infamous CBGB's and Max's Kansas City,
playing their own brand of hardcore punk rock to a small but faithful audience. "They
were just the same as they are now," recalled Schellenbach, the group's original
drummer, "loud, obnoxious and ugly, and a lot of fun ratber than a serious hardcore
band. Whereas other bands, just as awful as the Beastie Boys, would actually believe
they were good, for Mike and Adam the whole point was to be temble and to admit it."
Later that year the group released their first record, the appropriately titled 7" EP,
"Poly Wog Stew." Although the hardcore punk the band played bore little relation to the
rap that would later make them famous, their attitude and approach was very much the
same. And it was with typical good humor that group decided to celebrate their first
release by breaking up.
When the group reformed in early 1983, it was with Adam Horovitz on guitar, and the
new line-up went into tbe studio to record a followup to the EP. They emerged with
Cookie Puss," a song inspired by the creation of New York soft ice cream mogul Tom
Carvel. Essentiaily a joke hip-hop record, the single was an important turning point for
the group: The record was embraced not onry by the downtown club crowd, but also
attracted the attention of the rap community. The flip-side, "Beastie Revolution," was
equally as important, if not so much for artistic reasons. British Airways seemed to like
the track so much, they used parts of it as the soundtrack to one of their commercials.
Unfortunately for them, they did not ask permission, and the band was awarded a
$40,000 settlement as a result. This allowed Yauch and Diamond to get an apartment
in Chanatown. sandwiched between two sweatshops. Short on some of the basic
comforts of home, it did provide the opportunitv for the Beastie Boys to play as loud as
they liked. as late as they wanted, as inebriated as they were, whenever they felt like it.
With the success of "Cookie Puss," the Beastie Boys began to devote more of their
live show to rap, and needed a DJ to round out the line-up. The band chose Rick
Rubin, a hefty NYU student who shared their appreciation for rap, as well as their
hardcore background and they hired him.
Meanwhile, Rubin had caught the attention of Russell Simmons, one of the most
successful managers of rap acts at the time, and he brought Simmons down to see
them. Although the Beastie Boys act was fairly rough, the manager could see they had
great potential and he took them on.
In 1984, Def Jam Records was formed, and thc Beastie Boys was one of their first
signings. Now a threesome, Mike D (Mike Diamond), King Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz)
and MCA (Adam Yauch), went into the studio and produced "Rock Hard," one of the
first teamimgs of rap and heavy metal on record. Simmons then sent them out to play
thc black rap clubs figuring if they could get over there, they could make it anywhere. In
this sink or swim situation, the Beastie Boys learned quickly, and their show benefited
as a result. But nothing could have prepared them for what was to happen next.
Madonna, about to embark on her aptly-named "Like A Virgin" Tour, picked the
Beastie Boys to open her shows from coast to coast. Admittedly, the majority of
Madonna's pubescent screeching fans found the Beastie Boys show somewhat hard
to swallow, but the band never gave up, and as the tour progressed, the group began
to thrive on the abuse that was hurled upon them rightly by the underage mobs.
The band received a warmer reception on the Raising Hell Tour in the summer of
1985. Playing in large arenas to a predominantly black audience with Run-DMC and
LL Cool J. Both these tours were very important to the growth of the band: They
presented the group to vast audiences who had never heard of them, and in so doing,
put the Beastic Boys in the position of having to win the crowd over every night. By the
time the group was ready to record its first album, they had been almost everywhere,
seen almost everything, and lived to tell about it. Which they did.
Liscensed To Ill (Def Jam/CBS) was unleashed on an unsuspecting world in the winter
of 1986/87. Their debut album was met by unprecedented acclaim -- the headline for
the Village Voice's lead review read "Three Jerks Make a Masterpiece," and virtually
everyone else agreed. But, if the crtics liked it, the commercial response was
staggering: Licensed To Ill spent seven weeks at #1 on the pop chart, and reached #2
on the black charts. It was the fastest selling record in CBS Records' history, and it has
sold over five million copies worldwide to date.
The band then embarked on their first headlining tour, selling out across the USA. The
show included live go-go dancers in a cage, a huge six-pack of Budweiser tall-boys (in
addition to the large amount being imbibed on stage), and the now infamous 2-foot
hydraulic penis that caused the PMRC such grief. They made headlines everywhere
they went ("Beasties Rock As Vice Squad Watches"), and even inspired some laws to
be passed in their wake. The tour reached its pinnacle for the band in Jacksonville,
Florida, when they were presented with the coveted Blacksheer award. It was, to say
the least, a success.
Next, they went to Europe with Run-DMC, where they were met with some of the most
incredible charges ever levied against a band. In England, they were accused of being
a threat to the nation's security/moral fiber, and the band was the subject of great
discussion on the Parliament floor as to whether they should even be allowed into the
country. Once there, each show degenerated into bedlam soon after its start, and once
culmenated in Adam Horovitz's arrest for (supposedly) inciting a riot. The Beastie
Boys barely made it back to The States alive.
But there was no respite in sight. No sooner were they back than they were out on the
road again with Run-DMC, on the "Together Forever" Tour. Needless to say, the
constant touring was really wearing the band down, so when the tour finally ended,
everyone went their separate ways. But no one suspected the treachery to come: Def
Jam refused to pay the Beastie Boys their royalties, mistaking the hiatus for a band
break-up, and a legal suit followed, which continues to this day.
Paul's Boutique (Capitol) is the long awaited follow-up to the mega-platinum Licensed
To Ill. The new disc finds the band working with a new team of producers, known
collectively as the Dust Brothers (Mike Simpson, John King, and Matt Dike). It is a
different record than the last one, and its depth is a testimony to the time and effort that
has been put into it. But, the attitude remains the same...c/o http://www.southern.com
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