The Beastie Boys “Hello Brooklyn (Demo)”
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The Beastie Boys “Hey Ladies (Count Bass D Remix)”
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The Beastie Boys “Pass the Mic (Green Mix)”
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The Beastie Boys “Shadrach (Peanut Butter Wolf Remix)”
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Reuben Wilson “So Watcha Want”
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I found out about Adam Yauch’s death through an email a friend of mine sent me. It was a group email in fact, sent to my circle of close high school friends. For us, and to so many of our generation, the Beastie Boys meant more to us than just music.
It was really the first time I’ve had to deal with the death of a musical figure that meant so much to my adolescence and my love for music. The world has had to deal with some pretty monumental losses over the years: Michael Jackson, James Brown, Isaac Hayes, just to name a few. And while I certainly mourned their deaths, Yauch’s passing hit me a lot harder, merely because he and the Beastie Boys helped define part of my life.
My first concert ever was the Beastie Boys at the Oakland Coliseum back in ’95. I was literally a kid then. The mosh pits during “Heart Attack Man” scared the shit out of me and my friends. We watched most of the show from the seats, only mustering up the courage for their encore performance of “Sabotage” to venture onto the floor. I saw the Beasties two more times after that, once at the first Tibetan Freedom concert in ’96 which MCA helped organize, and again for their tour in support of Hello Nasty in ’98.
I was in Phoenix visiting my dad when that album dropped. I remember spending the day at the mall when it was released, my one and only goal being to purchase that CD. “What’s this record you want to get?” my dad asked me. I remember it vividly. “It’s this group called the Beastie Boys. If there was only one album I could buy all year, this would be it.” I forked over my $15 at Sam Goody and spent the rest of the day at the arcade, listening to Nasty on my discman.
I can only imagine it’s memories like these that highlighted previous generations’ youth, whether it being Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, or Michael Jackson. Like the Stones, it’s cool to think about what could have been, if the Beasties were still doing it well into their 60′s. Even at thirty plus years, hip hop is too young to experience anything like that yet, but surely if any group could have pulled it off it’s the Beastie Boys.
The Beastie Boys obviously paved the way for many musicians that came after them and while Yauch’s death almost certainly means the end of the Beastie Boys, MCA’s vision and voice will forever be heard in those artists that understand and appreciate their roots.
So with that I’m posting up some Beastie Boys tracks that you may not be able find on YouTube or Spotify.
R.I.P. MCA. Thanks for the music and the memories.
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