Album 567.
The Beastie Boys...........................Licensed To Ill   (1986) 











Well, another illuminating offering from this book. Given this album is 34 years old and I reallly never knew much about this mob apart from "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)" which in itself is a crank up to the max kinda song, this album surprised and surpassed any inklings I previously held for this band.


The funny thing I found was, listening through my earphones gave me a hell of a lot more pleasure than listening through PC,  maybe 'cause I couldn't play it as loud as I would have liked, so bottom line for me is give it plenty volume. I personally liked the lyrics, nothing deep and meaningful, just fun topical ranting, which for me, added to the drizzle of samples (not overloaded like a mash up), concocted a veritable feast of pulsating sounds and rhythm.


Obviously "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)" is the stand out track but " Slow Ride" with the sampled War track running through it was my personal favourite, "Girls" certainly came in from leftfield but was enjoyable all the same, and "No Sleep till Brooklyn" was another top track, but not all tracks were equal but all were well worth a listen, so if any of you old cunts or young cunts gave this one the rubber ear try it out, it doesn't mean you're now a hip-hop fan, but more a person who lets their guard down to occasionally to appreciate a very decent album.


This album wont be going into my collection as yet but has been downloaded and has been played a hell of a lot through my earphones of late.


Give it a go folks, I was a bit reticent, but am now glad I never missed out on this gem.





Bits & Bobs;


In 1986, their debut album, Licensed To Ill, became the first rap album to hit #1 in the US. It went on to sell over 10 million copies in America; their next four albums sold at least 2 million each.


 
They started their own record label, Grand Royal, in 1993 with Luscious Jackson the first signing; they shut it down due to financial difficulty in 2001. Other artists on the label included Sean Lennon and Atari Teenage Riot.


 
Early on, they were a hardcore band, but the rapping soon became the focus of their shows. Kate Shellenbach (later of Luscious Jackson) and John Barry were also in the group when they started.


 
Horovitz married actress Ione Skye in 1992. They divorced in 1998.


 
Dr. Dre from Yo! MTV Raps was their DJ before hosting the show for MTV.


 
They are from New York City. They are all Jewish, but both Adams are half-jewish, and they never were brought up with religious traditions.


 
They opened shows for Madonna in 1985 and Run-DMC in 1986. Predictably, their sets didn't go over well with Madonna's fans, but she kept them on the bill anyway. Horovitz explained in the book I Want My MTV: "The audience's hatred for us worked in her favor. When she got onstage, they couldn't have been happier to see her."


 
Michael Diamond is married to the director Tamra Davis (Billy Madison, Half-baked, Crossroads). Their dog Rufus, who unfortunately passed away, appeared in the Beastie Boys video "Sure Shot."


 
Horovitz acted in a few movies, notably Lost Angels and Roadside Prophets.


 
They are all New York Knicks basketball fans.


 
Horovitz and Jill Cuniff (ex-Luscious Jackson) studied together in the 5th grade.


 
The three of them lived together twice. The first place was a crappy apartment in Chinatown, before they were really famous. The second was soon after they moved to LA in the late '80s. They lived in a rented house they baptized the G-spot, because their owner was a nice old couple, the Grassholffs.


 
Yauch and Diamond both went to college. Yauch went to Bard but left after two years, and Diamond went to Vassar, but he gave up after six months.


 
"MCA" stands for "Master of Ceremonies Adam."


 
The Beastie Boys have supported a variety of causes over the years. Some of the benefits they played were for Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier and AIDS. They organized the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, which started in 1996 to help liberate Tibet.


 
Adam Yauch died from cancer at the age of 47 on May 4, 2012.


 
They have never allowed their music to be used in commercials, and are unlikely to ever do so, as Yauch stated in his will that he would like all future requests to be denied.


 
The surviving two members of Beastie Boys announced in June 2014 that they were discontinuing the group, following the death of Yauch.


 
They signed with Def Jam records, but went to Columbia after their first album, Licensed to Ill, was released. This sparked a nasty lawsuit, with the group claiming Def Jam withheld earnings, and Def Jam asserting that Beastie Boys owed them seven more albums. Russell Simmons of Def Jam claimed that he was responsible for their success, since he got them on tours and in the movie Krush Groove, and made them credible in the black community. The legal entanglements delayed their second album, Paul's Boutique, until 1989 - three years after their debut.


 
When the group left Def Jam, the label enlisted Chuck D to create another Beastie Boys album made up of outtakes and other leftover bits. After the group signed with Capitol and released Paul's Boutique, Chuck abandoned the project, since it was clear the group was a serious rap act and not a clownish concoction. Chuck became one of the group's biggest supporters and inducted them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.


 
In the Licensed To Ill era, Mike D wore a Volkswagen medallion on a rope necklace. Many fans made their own, using pilfered emblems from local VWs. The Volkswagen company offered free replacements and spun the trend into some positive marketing, taking out ads with the headline: Designer labels always get ripped off.






Licensed to Ill                November 15, 1986 4:20PM ET

By Mark Coleman


TheBeastie Boys‘ first album should bear a prominent label, not to protect impressionable teens so much as their elders. warning: certain scenes and references contained herein may seem offensive, even dangerous, until you realize that it’s all a colossal joke. “We drink and rob and rhyme and pillage,” goes “Rhymin & Stealin,” the lead cut, and that could also serve as the Beastie Credo. They also boast about smoking “dust,” shooting people in the back and face, getting kicked out of White Castle and “doing it” with the aid of a Wiffle Ball bat.


 You’d want to jump these suckers yourself if the protean beat underneath all their blather weren’t played so close to the bone. Producer-DJ Rick Rubin recycles licks ripped from Led Zeppelin, James Brown and Mr. Ed with razor-sharp precision and a sense of humor. Licensed To Ill is one hard-rockin’ cartoon, a rappin’ caricature so huge only a grown-up sourpuss could take it seriously.


 Like Run-D.M.C., the Beasties match the sonic grandeur of heavy-metal guitar with rap’s “Say what?” immediacy: truly a marriage made in hell. But where Run and D.M.C. declaim with the fury of the righteous, Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock (“King Whine”) sneer and hoot like privileged hooligans. Licensed to Ill cuts an even wider swath musically than Raising Hell, and it’s the brash assurance of Rubin’s “stealin” that ultimately makes these white boys more than a sophomoric joke.
 “She’s Crafty,” “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” and “The New Style” are all squealing examples of Rubin’s signature metal-beat-box fusion, but even the kookiest mutations sound great here. “Paul Revere” puts a scabrous (and highly unlikely) autobiographical rap to a creepy underwater gurgle beat, “Girls” is irresistibly delinquent doowop, and “Slow Ride” takes War’s “Low Rider” on a stuttering cruise through the Beasties’ beer-fueled fantasy world. Rubin and the boys reach an epiphany of sorts on “Fight for Your Right,” a mindless, undeniable ode to hedonism every bit the equal of the classic Kiss anthem “Rock & Roll All Nite.” If that brings a smile to your face, well, it’s time to get ill.




"Rhymin & Stealin"

 
Beastie Boys opened their Licensed to Ill album with this track, which samples John Bonham's drum introduction from Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks." Producer Rick Rubin had previously explored the crossover between Rock and Hip-Hop in his work with Run–D.M.C., most famously with the cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way"



"Rhymin & Stealin" also samples Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" and The Clash version of "I Fought The Law."


 
Beastie Boys were the first artists to sample the drums on "When The Levee Breaks," but many others have gone on to do so, including Björk on "Army Of Me," Eminem on "Kim," Enigma on "Return To Innocence" and Sophie B. Hawkins on "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" The Beasties returned to the Zeppelin tune again for their 1989 Paul's Boutique track, "B-Boy Bouillabaisse."



The group didn't have a sampler when they recorded Licensed to Ill, so getting the Led Zeppelin sample required recording it to a reel-to-reel tape machine and looping it.





"New Style"

This is the second single — and Track #2 — from Beastie Boys' debut full-length album, Licensed To Ill. The record was released on 6.6.1986 by Def Jam Recordings, a division of CBS/Columbia Records. The track was co-produced by Beastie Boys, engineered by Steve Ett, and mastered by Howie Weinberg.

 Samples include:

 "Drop The Bomb" by Trouble Funk from the album, Drop the Bomb (1982)

"Peter Piper" by Run-DMC from the album, Raising Hell, (1986)


"2-3 Break by The B-Boys from the album 2-3 Break (1983)




"She's Crafty"



“She’s Crafty” is Track 3 on Licensed to Ill, released 11.15.1986 by Def Jam Recordings, a division of CBS/Columbia Records. The track was co-produced by Beastie Boys, engineered by Steve Ett, and mastered by Howie Weinberg. It samples Led Zeppelin’s "The Ocean“ from the 1973 album, Houses of the Holy. “She’s Crafty” also appeared as the B-side on the album’s seventh and final single on 5.6.1987.




"Posse In Effect"

 “Posse in Effect” is Track 4 on Licensed to Ill, released 11.15.1986 by Def Jam Recordings, a division of CBS/Columbia Records. The track was co-produced by Beastie Boys, engineered by Steve Ett, and mastered by Howie Weinberg.

 Samples include:
 
"PeeWee's Dance" by Joeski Love, from the single, "Pee-Wee’s Dance” (1986)



“Catch A Groove“ by Juice from the single "Catch a Groove/Feel Like Good Music” (1976)



"Slow Ride"


The song samples "Low Rider by War" (a fine tune).



"Girls"

This song finds Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz rapping about his desire for women over a drum beat and a vibrophone loop, with occasional pauses. He wrote the track with producer Rick Rubin on the train to Washington, DC. Rubin recalled to Newsweek in a 2013 interview: "We started with the idea of what the song would be. It was rooted in the Isley Brothers' 'Shout.' What would a rap version of 'Shout' sound like? And if you listen to it now, you'll see it's really similar."


 
Listening to this track from the trio's first album, you probably wouldn't have pegged them for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but the Beastie's had a plan all along. "Girls" is so outrageous in its misogyny that it is clearly satire, and while no reasonable listeners thought the rappers really expected girls to hang around doing their dishes and laundry, the group's breakout hit, "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)," led many to believe that they were mindless frat boys. Those who were in on the joke understood that the Beastie Boys told over-the-top stories in their songs, sometimes with references to White Castle.


 
Kesha did a female version titled "Boys" using an electronic form of the same beat.


 
We were wondering when someone would have the chutzpah to use this song to promote a product or event for women. It finally happened in 2013 when a toy company called GoldieBlox used it in an elaborate online commercial making the point that not all girls want to be princesses, and that some aspire to be scientists and engineers (with the aid of their toys, of course). In the commercial, the song is sung by young girls with the lyrics changed to be about their empowerment and disdain for all things pink.



After the commercial went viral, it was revealed that GoldieBlox didn't get permission to use the song. The toymaker claimed they were entitled to use the song because their version was a parody, but the Beastie Boys disagreed, stating in their lawsuit: "Unfortunately, rather than developing an original advertising campaign to inspire its customers to create and innovate, GoldieBlox has instead developed an advertising campaign that condones and encourages stealing from others."



The group doesn't allow their songs to be used for advertising, and their member Adam Yauch, who died in 2012, even requested in his will that they not alter this policy.




On March 19, 2014, a settlement was reached in the case, which included a public apology by GoldieBlox and a donation to charity.



"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party),"


In the liner notes to the Beastie Boys anthology, Adam "MCA" Yauch explains that the song began as a "goof" on dumb rock songs. They cut the vocals as a joke, then went on tour. Producer Rick Rubin added the loud drums and guitar track. Continuing with the joke, the Beasties made a video where they played along with the drunken party boy image that this song had created. Soon the Beasties were superstars, thanks to their new fanbase of frat boys they set out to parody. According to MCA, they played into their new roles until they realized that they had become their own joke.


 This is the song that got the Beastie Boys on MTV and exposed them to a huge audience. It rose to #7 in America on March 7, 1987, which is the same date the Licensed To Ill album hit #1, becoming the first rap album to top the chart. Beastie Boys would go down in history as one of the most successful and transgressive hip-hop acts of all time, but rap purists who knew them from this song were horrified. In the summer of 1987, the group went on what was billed as a co-headlining tour with the far more accomplished and credible Run-D.M.C. (In 1985, Run-D.M.C. played Live Aid around the same time the Beastie Boys were opening for Madonna). While Run-D.M.C. extolled education and sobriety, Beastie Boys doubled down on their reckless party image, using cage dancers on stage and dousing crowds with beer. There was unprecedented security at these shows, but the tour came off without incident. Beastie Boys shifted their focus to the studio; they didn't tour again until 1992.


 
Beastie Boys producer Rick Rubin had a lot to do with this song, injecting a rock sound into it. Rubin was the first to mash-up a major rap act with a rock superstar when he teamed Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith for the updated "Walk This Way" earlier in 1986. Rubin is credit as a co-writer on "Fight for Your Right" along with the three Beastie Boys.#


 
The video was directed by Ric Menello and Adam Dubin, who were roommates. Menello was the overnight desk clerk at the Weinstein Hall dormitory in New York University (NYU), where Rick Rubin lived while also starting up Def Jam Records. Most video directors at the time had a background in commercials, which Rubin wanted no part of, so he asked Menello, who was a huge film buff to do it. When Menello refused, Rubin talked him into it by allowing Dubin, a recent graduate of NYU Film School, to co-direct so they could share the blame if it flopped.



Menello based the video on the party scene from the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's, where a bunch of crazy characters cause all kinds of mayhem (the guy with an eye patch was copped from the scene). Rubin gave them two days and $20,000. They shot it in the apartment of Sunny Bak, a female friend of the Beasties who took one of the photographs that was used in the album art. They recruited their friends to play the revelers and staged a food fight, complete with Three Stooges-like pie throwing.



Rubin and Menello make the case that the characters in the video became slapstick icons, so popular that the band spent the rest of their career fighting the image. According to Menello, there was a method to his madness. He said in the book I Want My MTV: "The idea of the video was infantile rebellion. Some people, like frat boys, didn't see the satire of it. It's not so much satire as a kind of blanket, cartoonish rejection of anything adult."


 
After this song took off, Beastie Boys got more and more outrageous in their stage antics and in interviews. They were like professional wrestlers playing up a gimmick but also becoming the character, and it started to wear thin. "Fight for Your Right (to Party)" could have easily defined the group, but they had the good sense to disown it as a novelty and move forward in a more mature (but still mischievous) direction. They stopped performing the song when they finished touring in 1987.


 
Considering the group disowned this song, it's not surprising it wasn't taken seriously in the rap community. Any outrage over appropriation was tempered by the fact that Beastie Boys were signed to Def Jam Records, the label co-owned by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons that was also home to LL Cool J and a number of up-and-coming rap acts.


When the Beastie Boys sued the label over unpaid royalties, Simmons took credit for their success in the black community. "They had talent, but they came across as the worst sort of blackface band," he told Spin in 1989. "It was like they were making fun of black people. A lot of people thought they were racist, that they were putting down black culture. I taught them how to f--king walk and how to f--king talk; I convinced the black community that they were real."



The group left Def Jam and signed with Capitol in 1989. Without Simmons or Rick Rubin behind them, their good standing in the hip-hop community was uncertain, but their first Capitol album, Paul's Boutique, set them on a course to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The album didn't sell nearly as well as Licensed To Ill, but it got them away from the gimmicky "Fight for Your Right (to Party)" and established the Beastie Boys as hip-hop trendsetters.


 
Tabitha Soren, who was a reporter for MTV, appeared in the video with her hair dyed blonde. She says that the whipped cream for the pies quickly turned rancid, and the set smelled like rotten eggs.


 
The song was a radio hit before the video appeared. MTV knew it would appeal to their core audience of young males, so they held a spot in hot rotation while the video was being made. When the clip hit MTV, the song surged in popularity.


 
When they played this live, Beastie Boys made it really raunchy and offensive, often altering the lyrics with lines like:


"Livin' at home you're such a fag"
"Your teacher's sucking d--k like you're some kind of jerk"



And, they had a visual aid: a 20-foot inflatable penis that engorged during the song.



After they played Columbus, Georgia, on February 28, 1987, officials in that city passed an anti-lewdness law that threatened acts with arrest if they fell afoul. LL Cool J and Bobby Brown were both arrested under the ordinance for simulating sex acts; Gene Simmons got a misdemeanor for pulling his pants down when performing with Kiss.


 
The German rap group NYCC scored a #14 hit on the UK singles chart in 1998 with their cover of the tune.


 
In 1987 Q magazine got the parents' perspective on this song, asking MCA's father about it. "I could play the outraged parent, but I really find the Beastie Boys whole put-on terrifically amusing," he replied.



 Here's where we connect Stephen Bishop, who had hits in the '70s with "On and On" and "Save It For A Rainy Day," with this song. In the film Animal House, Bishop plays a sensitive guitar player serenading some girls with a sweet tune, only to have his guitar smashed by John Belushi's character, Bluto. In the "Fight for Your Right (to Party)" video, MCA (Adam Yauch) smashes a guitar in homage to this scene.


The song was co-written by Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin, and Tom Cushman. It was engineered by Steve Ett, and mastered by Howie Weinberg. “Fight for Your Right” was a massive crossover hit for the Boys, thanks in part to Mr. Rubin getting Slayer’s Kerry King to play guitar on the track. Its adorably goofy video, co-directed by Ric Menello (RIP) and Adam Dubin, received massive airplay on MTV. The majority of the “actors” appearing in the video were friends of the band.


The song was written as a satirical, sarcastic jab at “party anthems”. The group indulged in this image with their tongues firmly in their cheeks, but to their disappointment, the joke was lost on the masses. “Fight for Your Right” became a frat house battle cry and the Beastie Boys became synonymous with the lifestyle they were parodying…




"No Sleep Till Brooklyn"

This song and its video are a send-up of heavy metal music, playing up the ridiculous costumes, excessive hairspray and tendency for bands to take themselves just a tad too seriously in a very Spinal Tap way. The title is a play on "No Sleep 'til Hammersmith," which is the title of a 1981 Motörhead live album.


 
In order to spoof a heavy metal song, the Beasties needed a heavy guitar riff. That came courtesy of Kerry King, the guitarist for Slayer. Producer Rick Rubin was working with both Slayer and the Beastie Boys (each group was signed to Rubin's Def Jam Records), so he had King come down the hall and put down a guitar part, which he played intentionally out of tune in parts. King also appeared in the video: look for him pushing the gorilla off the stage.


 
Adam Yauch (MCA) came up with the title. He had it as part of another band he was in, and when Rick Rubin heard it, he suggested they use it for a Beastie Boys song.


 
The Beasties put the lyrics together for this one by hanging out with their producer Rick Rubin and throwing out lines to make each other laugh. They spent a lot of time at the New York club Danceteria, which provided plenty of inspiration. After a while they took the best lines and pared them down to create the final lyrics.


 
The video was directed by Ric Menello and Adam Dubin, who did the wildly successful clip for "Fight for Your Right (to Party)." That one was made for $20,000 and shot in an apartment with the group's friends, but now the the band was successful


In the book I Want My MTV, Durbin says, "The bloom was off the rose by that point. The good feeling that was on the set of "Fight for Your Right (to Party)" was not there. I could feel the tension."


According to Rick Rubin, Kerry King wasn't thrilled about working on this track. "I don't think he liked the song," Rubin told Rolling Stone. "I don't think he really spoke to the Beasties' aesthetic. They didn't really like him either. It was kind of mutual."


 
Jay-Z performed this song to open his set at the All Points West festival in 2009 in tribute to the Beastie Boys, who couldn't make it because MCA had been diagnosed with cancer and needed surgery. Jay grew up in Brooklyn and often mentions the borough in his raps.Samples include:
AC/DC’s “TNT” from the album, High Voltage (1976).




"Paul Revere"


This song tells the fictional story of how the Beastie Boys met. Basically, Ad Rock was running from the law riding on his horse when he came across M.C.A. M.C.A. asks for some of Ad Rock's beer and pulls a gun when Ad Rock refuses. Then Ad Rock gets the idea that they should join forces and rob a saloon for cash and more booze. It's at "the spot" where they finally meet Mike D. They all rob the place, knock out a piano player and his boy, grab two girlies and a cold beer and are out. The song helped form an image of the band as quirky and unpredictable.


 
Paul Revere was a key figure in the American Revolution, known for his midnight ride warning the Americans of the British invasion. He has nothing to do with this song, which got its title because that's the name of the horse Ad Rock was riding.


 
Produced by Rick Rubin, this track features an 808 drum machine, which is very common in Rap. What's uncommon is that they played the beat backwards and rapped over that.


 
This samples "I Like Funky Music" by the '70s/'80s disco-funk group Uncle Louie.


 
Cypress Hill reworked this for their track "Busted In The Hood" from their 2004 album Till Death Do Us Part.




"Hold It Now, Hit It"

“Hold It Now Hit It” is Track 10, and the first single off the Beastie Boys' debut full-length album, Licensed To Ill. The record was released on 6.6.1986 by Def Jam Recordings, a division of CBS/Columbia Records. The track was co-produced by Beastie Boys, engineered by Steve Ett, and mastered by Howie Weinberg.

 Samples include…
 
The Eturn Of Leroy (part one)“ by Jimmy Castor, from the album, The Return of Leroy (1984)



“Funky Stuff“ by Kool & the Gang, from the album, Wild and Peaceful (1973)



“Drop the Bomb“ by Trouble Funk, from the album, Drop the Bomb (1982)



“Take Me to the Mardis Gras“ by Bob James, from the album, Two (1975)


"Christmas Rappin'" by Kurtis Blow, from Kurtis Blow (1980)


“La Di Da Di“ by Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew, from the single, "The Show/La-Di-Da-Di” (1985)”



“Let's Get Small“ by Trouble Funk,
from the album, Droppin' Bombs: The Definitive Trouble Funk



"Brass Monkey"





 


This song is about an alcoholic beverage. Brass Monkey is rum, vodka, and orange juice mixed over ice. Very popular with college kids trying to get drunk. The Beasties are not limited to just this cocktail, however, as the song explores various alcohol-related activities and beverages, apparently financed by their producer, Rick Rubin ("Double R. foots the bill most definitely"). Also showing up in the song: martinis, Moet champagne, and Chivas Regal whiskey.


 
Licensed To Ill was the first rap album to go #1 in the US. It is the best-selling rap album of the '80s.


 
The term "Brass Monkey" comes from the figure of speech, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey." An actual brass monkey was thought to be a naval contraption - here's the story we heard:


Back in the day of naval wars being fought with the old fashioned cannons, they would stack the cannonballs in a pyramid. This conserved space and made it easy to load them. However, they would roll around the deck if there weren't something to hold them in place. To solve this problem, they used a large metal plate with indents in which to place the bottom rows of cannonballs. They found that if they used iron, when it got wet the cannonballs would rust, so they used brass and called it a brass monkey. Brass tends to really expand and contract with the weather, and when it got really cold the indents would get smaller, causing the cannonballs to be dislodged, hence the saying, "It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey."



However, a pyramid of round objects will topple if it rocks more than 30 degrees - not to mention any sudden forceful shock to the stack - which would rank the pyramid shape among the worst shapes to use on a boat, seeing how there is an abundance of rocking and shocking to be had at sea. In addition, the coefficient of expansion of brass is 0.000019; that of iron is 0.000012. Long story short, if the base of the pyramid was one meter long, the change in temperature needed to shrink the brass 1 millimeter with relation to the cannonballs would have to be close to 100 degrees Celsius... so a little less than 200 degrees Fahrenheit.


 
The track for this song was based on a sample of "Bring It Here" by Wild Sugar. By 1988, sampling had become commonplace on many hit songs and there was still no legal precedent for clearing the samples. This song almost became the test case, as Wild Sugar came after The Beasties for compensation, but the case went away, most likely settled out of court. It was in the best interest of the Beastie Boys and their label Columbia Records to keep the big test case out of court so they could continue rhymin' and stealin', which they did for a few more years. It wasn't until 1991 that the big lawsuit happened: Gilbert O'Sullivan suing Biz Markie for sampling his song "Alone Again Naturally." This is when the law came down that all samples had to be cleared.




"Brass Monkey" carried more credibility in the hip-hop community, and the group performed (meaning lip-synched) the song when they appeared on Soul Train in 1987.




"Slow And Low"This track is a cover of the Run-D.M.C. “Slow and Low” demo originally recorded for the King of Rock album and was written by:
Joseph “Run” Simmons


Darryl “DMC” McDaniels


Rick Rubin
Samples include:
"8th Wonder” by Sugarhill Gang (1980)



“Flick of the Switch” by AC/DC (1983)



"Time To Get Ill"

“Time to Get Ill" is Track #13 on Licensed to Ill, released 11.15.1986. Samples include:
 
“Take the Money and Run“ by Steve Miller from the album, Fly Like an Eagle (1976)


 “I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More,Baby“ by Barry White from the album, I’ve Got So Much to Give (1973)

 “Gucci Time“ by Schoolly D from the single, "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?/Gucci Time” (1985)

 
“Theme from Mr Ed”

 
“Theme from Green Acres”

 
“Down on the Corner“ by Creedence Clearwater Revival from the album, Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)

 
“Custard Pie“ by Led Zeppelin from the album, Physical Graffiti (1975)

 
“Boogie On Reggae Woman“ by Stevie Wonder from the album, Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974)




 Extract: The Beastie Boys hit London, 1986 - ‘Yauch taught Mick Jones how to play Clash City Rockers’
 In this extract from Beastie Boys Book, Adam Horovitz recalls three young rap hooligans on the loose in the UK capital

 Adam Horovitz
 Sun 21 Oct 2018 09.00 BST



 So… early 1986. We all go to London.

 Def Jam signed a distribution deal with CBS UK, and there’s gonna be a big party to launch this “hot” new rap record label into the United Kingdom.

 So me, Adam, Mike, Rick, Russell, and another Def Jam recording artist, LL Cool J, fly to the UK to make it happen.

 Driving from the airport into London takes, like, a long-ass time. (Like in that Jam song London Traffic.) But seeing the city for the first time is so fucking cool. Actual fish-and-chips places. Just like you thought there’d be.

 Tons of curry houses. Big British taxis. Tiny winding streets. (You guys, there really is an actual Electric Avenue in Brixton.) We finally get to the hotel and have nothing to do for a while, so we go out. Walk around. Do what people do. Get snacks. But since we’re away from home, we get a ton of “local” snacks.

 You know how you do that when you’re somewhere else? Like, I should probably get all four different bags of potato chips ’cause they don’t have those styles back home.

 It actually worked out this time because I got fuckin’ chicken tikka masala-flavoured chips. Back home, we’d call the place we got the snacks from either the deli or the bodega.

 Here, it’s called… “the shops”. Gonna go ’round to the shops. Pop down to the shops. Cornershop. Everyone’s got a cool British accent. Like on Monty Python or The Young Ones. We’re spending pounds and pence. The shop people are a little rude to you ’cause they can tell you’re American. But that’s kinda how you want them to be.

 One of the snacks we got was something called a scotch egg. I don’t know if you know what a scotch egg is, but as we learned, it’s a hard-boiled egg, wrapped in sausage meat, breaded, then fried. Looking out the hotel-room window we see a British gentleman right out of central casting walking down the street. Maybe, like, 60 years old. Wearing a nice black suit and a bowlerish-style black hat. A proper gentleman. So, of course, the first thing that comes to your mind is… I wonder if… from up here… can I hit that guy with this scotch egg? I mean, throwing a bag of chips (sorry, crisps) out a fifth-floor window at someone doesn’t make sense. It’d take a while to get down there… it’s an odd object to throw, and obviously, the wind would be a factor. But a scotch egg is perfect. Kids, I’m neither encouraging nor condoning this behaviour, I’m just letting you know what happened on our trip to England.

 We’re in London for a few days to “work”. Do some interviews, meet the people at the UK record label, etc. But that was daytime. At night we were on our own. Our friend from New York, photographer Josh Cheuse, was friends with Mick Jones from the Clash. He worked with them a little bit and hooked it up for us to go hang out with him one night. AT HIS FUCKIN’ HOUSE! I’d like to preface this by letting you know that this was one of my favourite nights. Ever. It was one of those times where you can’t believe this is actually happening to you. (But in a really good way.)

 So, we go to Mick Jones’s house. He lived in a normal house, not the kind you’d think one of the Clash would live in. It wasn’t a dark and depressing tiny British house like in Quadrophenia. His house was grown-up and fancy. Three or four floors. Nice furniture.

 Paintings and shit. And by the way, he is one of the nicest people in the world. We meet, hang out, have a little tea, a couple beers, and then he shows us his studio in the basement. Not a practice space, but a nice little studio, with all kinds of equipment. While Mick Jones is showing us a guitar of his, Yauch asks him to play Clash City rockers. I don’t know what possessed him to do that but, I mean, fuck yeah, I wanted that to happen. He kind of laughed and said that he forgot how to play it, and so Yauch took the guitar and taught Mick Jones how to play the song. Yes! Mick Jones from the fucking Clash. To quote my friend Bridget… “Story doesn’t end there.” Oh wait… Someone’s at the door. Yup. It’s Joe fucking Strummer! Our new close friend Mick Jones had said some people were coming over; and maybe we could have some beers, hang out, and go see a movie. We could’ve either gone back to the hotel to eat, then sleep, or done this. Tough call. Now Joe Strummer’s here and we’re all drinking Red Stripe Crucial Brews, which are delicious, and the doorbell rings again…

 It’s fucking Johnny fucking Rotten! He’s with this cool-ass German lady (who was the mom of Ari Up from the Slits) and we are now officially drunk, and freaking out. In Mick Jones’s living room. We’re getting ready to go see a movie, and one more person shows up on our way out. Take a guess… could be any-fuckin’-body, right? It is one of the coolest people in the world. Ever. Paul Simonon.

 Oh… the movie we’re about to go see is called Re-Animator. (A great movie. Not quite on par with TerrorVision, but still a fine, fine film.) Now…

 Picture yourself with your two best friends… real tipsy. Driving around the streets of London at night in two cabs with, basically, the fucking Clash and Johnny Rotten. Stopping at red lights, laughing, screaming, and throwing things at each other out the windows. I mean… just a few years ago, these people made music that changed our lives. We absolutely and totally fucking love them. And now we’re getting drunk with them and we’re on our way to go see a slasher movie together. IN LONDON!!!

 We were getting our incidentals paid for by the record label, which means free room service. (Obviously nothing is free. We’d soon learn that. “Wait… they said that the flights and hotels were paid for… You mean they’re gonna just charge it back to us later…?”) So one night we have some people over to our hotel, and order a ton of food and drinks. By now it’s really late so we figured the right thing to do before going to bed was to order a fish entree and some salad, break into Rick Rubin’s room, and slip it all under his sheets while he’s sleeping. I can’t remember for sure, but I think we put a big plant or small tree on Russell Simmons while he was sleeping too. I don’t know if it still works but… if you know what hotel room someone’s staying in, you can go down to the front desk, looking really sleepy and out of it, and tell them that you’re that person in room whatever and you somehow locked yourself out of the room and can you please have an extra key to let yourself back in. This was something we made a steady practice of.

 So now we’ve thrown all kinds of snacks at British pedestrians, had a big party, broken into other guests’ rooms, and well… the long and short of it is… we found out the next morning that we were banned for life from the wonderful chain of Hilton hotels. We had to move on. No big deal.

 There’s plenty of other places to stay in London.

 I feel like I’m telling you all about a vacation I went on, but it felt just like that. Every day of this London trip something amazing and memorable happened. We met a ton of new people and hung out with some of the great ones.

 Like Don Letts. For some reason he likes us and gives us some dancehall reggae mixtapes that changed the way we thought about making music. Through another New York friend, Peter Dougherty, we go to a recording studio to hang out with this little-known band maybe you’ve heard of called Madness. We were so overwhelmed and excited and jet-lagged and drunk from drinking snakebites and black-and-tans in the studio that me, Adam and Mike passed out asleep on a couch in the corner of the recording studio. I think all the stimulation of the past few days got to us and we just shut down.

 Everything on the trip led up to the big launch party for Def Jam. The party ended up being like the finale of a movie when everything gets wrapped up all neatly. Everyone we met that week was there. Even Paul Simonon. Our performance that night was awful, but for us it was as fun as cannonballing into a swimming pool. London is awesome.

 Here’s Rubin with the boys sporting matching tracksuits back in 1985. Shoutout to the ski goggles.

 


 Licensed To Ill wasn’t the title they had in mind. In fact, the working album name was Don’t Be A Faggot.
 Needless to say, attitudes around homophobia were a lot different in the 80’s, and so were the Beastie Boys. Their outlooks changed over time, from converting to buddhism and producing protest and gender equality songs.
 With pressure from the record label, the band eventually landed on Licence To Ill – which was a pun on the James Bond film, License To Kill.
 In 1999, Adam ‘Ad-Rock’ Horovitz issued a public apology for the themes and language used on License To Ill.


“I would like to … formally apologise to the entire gay and lesbian community for the shitty and ignorant things we said on our first record, 1986’s Licensed to Ill. There are no excuses. But time has healed our stupidity … We hope that you’ll accept this long overdue apology.”
 This wasn’t the first combo of Rock & Rap Rock and rap, what a crazy combo right? Thank god for the Beastie Boys! Well not really…
 You’ll read a lot that License To Ill was the bridge that brought the two genres together, but that’s far from the truth. Run DMC’s mash up with Aerosmith came out earlier that year on their record, Raising Hell.
 Well they were the first white kids writing raps right? Wrong again, remember the early Red Hot Chilli Peppers?

In an odd connection, actress Ione Skye dated Chili frontman Anthony Kiedis before marrying Ad-Rock in 1992.


Adam Yauch (MCA)

 In 2009, Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous parotid gland and lymph node. He underwent surgery and radiation therapy, delaying the release of Hot Sauce Committee Part Two and the subsequent tour. He was unable to appear in music videos for the album. Yauch became a vegan on the recommendation of his doctors. At the time, Yauch described the cancer as "very treatable".

 Yauch died at age 47 on May 4, 2012. Upon his death, fellow musicians and artists paid tribute. Russell Simmons of Def Jam Records said that Yauch "was incredibly sweet and the most sensitive artist, who I loved dearly".

Ben Stiller tweeted that Yauch "stood for integrity as an artist".

Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam said that Yauch was "a crazy talent whose contributions with his band were inspirational and consistently ground breaking".

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke wrote: "We looked up to the Beastie Boys a lot when we were starting out and how they maintained artistic control making wicked records but still were on a major label, and the Tibetan Freedom Concerts they organized had a very big influence on me personally and the way Adam conducted himself and dealt with it all impressed me a lot. He was a mellow and [very] smart guy. May he rest in peace."

Eminem said in an interview, "Adam Yauch brought a lot of positivity into the world and I think it's obvious to anyone how big of an influence the Beastie Boys were on me and so many others."

Phish dedicated their cover of "Sabotage" to Yauch during a concert at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on July 7, 2012.

Bandmate Adam "Ad-Rock Horowitz posted a note on the Beastie Boys' Tumblr page about the death of Yauch, acknowledging the pain of losing Yauch as well as the admiration for Yauch.

 In his last will and testament, Adam Yauch left instructions that his music could not be used in advertising, though some legal experts said that it may not be valid.

 On May 3, 2013, ceremonies were held to rename the Palmetto Playground in Brooklyn, New York, to Adam Yauch Park.

 

Hi folks,

Sorry about no' posting for a bit, but I've been in hospital this week getting pumped full of penicillin, had a thing called Acute Cellulitus in my ear, seemingly can be quite dangerous if not dealt with quickly, anyways gonna rest up the day and start afresh tomorrow when hopefully some sort of normal service will resume.

 

PatReilly wrote:

arabchanter wrote:

Hi folks,

Sorry about no' posting for a bit, but I've been in hospital this week getting pumped full of penicillin, had a thing called Acute Cellulitus in my ear, seemingly can be quite dangerous if not dealt with quickly, anyways gonna rest up the day and start afresh tomorrow when hopefully some sort of normal service will resume.

 

Not so great: you look after yourself, arabchanter.

Cheers Pat, it was a bit of a strange one but you've got to keep ca'in awa
 

"Chanter's alive...alive...alive"

The only Metallica song (and video) I really like is their Whiskey in the Jar cover.



 

Album 570.

Nanci Griffith.........................The Last Of The True Believers   (1986)











Together with Texas contemporaries Lyle Lovett and Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith emerged like a breath of fresh air blowing through the tired mid-1980's country music scene.


Not quite country, not quite folk, the sound is rich, rootsy, and acoustic, the songs catchy, literate and spry. Her voice meanwhile trills, quivers, and quavers to deftly emotive and subtly empowering effect.


 

Album 571.
Billy Bragg.............................Talking With The Taxman About Poetry   (1986)







[img]https://www.billybragg.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Talking-With-The-Taxman-About-Poetry
.jpg[/img]






Billy Bragg has always stood at the crossroads of the public and the private, exploring political issues and matters of the heart with equal passion. As such the poignantly titled Talking With The Taxman About Poetry is perhaps the most successful synthesis of his interests, bringing together the righteous vitriol of "Ideology" with the sensitivity of the "Passion"


Subtitled "The Difficult Third Album," the disc found him working more extensively with accompanists and enjoying support from the likes of Johnny Marr and Kirsty MacColl, while still retaining the sparse esthetic that showcased his sharp, reverb-heavy guitar sound. The result is a warm,direct, and still potent record.


And for the avoidance of doubt, I think he's an absolute Cunt of the first order!

Last edited by arabchanter (23/3/2020 4:04 pm)

Good to see you are posting more regularly A/C: are you 'working from home' now? Hope you are keeping well.

That Nanci wifey is brutal stuff, but someone must like it. The The were a wee bit better, but not much musically about them for me. 

PatReilly wrote:

Good to see you are posting more regularly A/C: are you 'working from home' now? Hope you are keeping well.

 

Hi Pat,  feeling a lot better thanks, still working but being a bit more selective in the work I 'm taking on.

On the posting side of things, I'm not as enthused with the latest albums as I was with the earlier stuff, probably because I'm an old fart, but hopefully things will perk up and we can unearth another few diamonds .
 

arabchanter wrote:

Album 572.
Talk Talk..............................The Colour Of Spring   (1986)












It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the technological revolution of the 1980's was not kind to rock. With the gap between elevator music and Top Ten single bridged by the ubiquitous Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, a generation of drummers were being replaced by machines. The result? Really crappy drums.


A turning point of sorts came in 1986.....surely the worst year for music ever.....when Talk Talk, one of the main culprits of this synth-drenched rock, became the first to reject it. They lost keyboard player Simon Brenner and employed the services of producer Tim Friese-Greene....an experimental foil for the emotional songwriting of guitarist and singer Mark Hollis. Next Hollis and Friese-Greene broke up the band's previously inflexible format, augmenting drummer Lee Harris and bassist Paul Webb with a host of guest players, including Steve Winwood, bassist Danny Thompson, and Pretenders guitarist Robbie McIntosh.


The Colour Of Spring was a revelation. Hollis's songs were finally wrapped in instrumentation sympathetic to their fragile melancholy. the haunting "April 5th" and "Chameleon Day" had a free-form, improvisational feel completely at odds with the band's past but the best examples were the sublime "Life's What You Make It" and "Living In Another World." The latter barely scraped the UK charts....a common fate of the best singles in those bleak days.

Loved this album at the time.  Will listen to it over the weekend and see if it still works post-80's

arabchanter wrote:

Hi folks, just a wee update on my lack of posting.

Since this horror show began I've been working six days a week and getting home late most nights, also sometimes I have to travel, the one day a week I can get away with taking off is a Sunday which is normally taken up with me acting as a UN peace keeper  trying to stop the three females in my house from killing each other, to be fair they have been mostly stuck in the house since this pandemic started (getting cabin fever) at least I get out and about.


This is a horrible time and I've seen things that unfortunately will haunt me for quite a while, I've also seen the best and the absolute f'k'n' worst in people, this leads me to another reason I have steered clear of social media, when you are living and working through this pish the last thing I want is to read or watch more of it, to be honest I've been a bit down, I wouldn't say I've been bitten by the "black dog," but the hoor keeps barking and snarling away at me.


So anyways I'm off morin and going to have a good swalley, and if I'm not too pished I will get that fucker Billy Bragg sorted tomorrow night (if anyones interested)


Hope I didn't sound too morose/morbid, if I did....sorry
 

One thing: I'm happy to see you are still with us.

Mind how you go.

Finn Seemann wrote:

arabchanter wrote:

Album 572.
Talk Talk..............................The Colour Of Spring   (1986)












It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the technological revolution of the 1980's was not kind to rock. With the gap between elevator music and Top Ten single bridged by the ubiquitous Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, a generation of drummers were being replaced by machines. The result? Really crappy drums.


A turning point of sorts came in 1986.....surely the worst year for music ever.....when Talk Talk, one of the main culprits of this synth-drenched rock, became the first to reject it. They lost keyboard player Simon Brenner and employed the services of producer Tim Friese-Greene....an experimental foil for the emotional songwriting of guitarist and singer Mark Hollis. Next Hollis and Friese-Greene broke up the band's previously inflexible format, augmenting drummer Lee Harris and bassist Paul Webb with a host of guest players, including Steve Winwood, bassist Danny Thompson, and Pretenders guitarist Robbie McIntosh.


The Colour Of Spring was a revelation. Hollis's songs were finally wrapped in instrumentation sympathetic to their fragile melancholy. the haunting "April 5th" and "Chameleon Day" had a free-form, improvisational feel completely at odds with the band's past but the best examples were the sublime "Life's What You Make It" and "Living In Another World." The latter barely scraped the UK charts....a common fate of the best singles in those bleak days.

Loved this album at the time.  Will listen to it over the weekend and see if it still works post-80's

Eventually listened to this again.  I was cleaning and that maybe wasn't the best background to it.  I would probably have been sulking in my room as a teenager when it came out which would probably have been more conducive to this album.  Enjoyed it, but can't say I'm desperate to listen to it again.  I then listened to an earlier entry, Deep Purple, Deep in Rock and have to say I'll need to inquire further - much better cleaning music...

Bragg's heart might be in the right place, but I've never been a fan of his music.

Get back posting......................... 

arabchanter wrote:

“Oh Jeremy Corbyn, oh Jeremy Corbyn…”https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4lUq0H_cclUCUNTS!
 
 

two hours of writing and fucked it, try again tomorrow, FUCK. Out of practise