Beastie Boys

The Beastie Boys were an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1981. They were composed of Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums).

The Beastie Boys were formed in 1979 by members of experimental hardcore punk band the Young Aborigines with Diamond on drums, Jeremy Shatan on bass guitar, and John Berry on guitar. Kate Schellenbach later joined the band on drums. When Shatan left New York City in mid-1981, Yauch replaced him on bass and the band was renamed the Beastie Boys. Berry left shortly thereafter and was replaced by Horovitz.

After achieving local success with the 1983 comedy hip-hop single "Cooky Puss", the Beastie Boys made a full transition to hip-hop, and Schellenbach left. They toured with Madonna in 1985 and a year later released their debut album, Licensed to Ill (1986), the first rap album to top the Billboard 200 chart. Their second album, Paul's Boutique (1989), was made with significant contributions by the Dust Brothers and consisted almost entirely of samples. Despite being a commercial failure, the album received critical acclaim. Check Your Head (1992) and Ill Communication (1994) found mainstream success, followed by Hello Nasty (1998), To the 5 Boroughs (2004), The Mix-Up (2007), and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011). In 2012, they became the third rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The same year, Yauch died of cancer and the Beastie Boys disbanded. Several retrospective works, including a book, a documentary, and a career-spanning compilation album have been released since Yauch's death.

History

1981–1983: Formation and early years

Prior to forming the Beastie Boys, Michael Diamond was part of a number of bands such as the Walden Jazz Band, and BAN. The Young Aborigines formed in 1979. In 1981, when Young Aborigines bassist Jeremy Shatan left New York City for the summer, the remaining members Diamond, John Berry and Kate Schellenbach began to perform as the Beastie Boys with Adam Yauch.

In a 2007 interview with Charlie Rose, Yauch recalled that it was Berry who suggested the name the Beastie Boys. Although the band stated that "Beastie" is an acronym standing for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Inner Excellence", in the Charlie Rose interview, both Yauch and Diamond acknowledged that the acronym was an "afterthought" conceived after the name was chosen. The band supported Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys, the Misfits and Reagan Youth at venues such as CBGB, A7, Trude Heller's and Max's Kansas City, playing at the latter venue on its closing night. In November 1982, the Beastie Boys recorded the 7-inch EP Polly Wog Stew at 171A studios, an early recorded example of New York hardcore.

On November 13, 1982, the Beastie Boys played Philip Pucci's birthday for the purposes of his short concert film, Beastie. Pucci held the concert in Bard College's Preston Drama Dance Department Theatre. This performance marked the Beastie Boys' first on-screen appearance in a published motion picture. Pucci's concept for Beastie was to distribute a mixture of both a half dozen 16 mm Bell & Howell Filmo cameras, and 16 mm Bolex cameras to audience members and ask that they capture the Beastie Boys performance from the audience's own point of view while a master sync sound camera filmed from the balcony of the abandoned theater where the performance was held. The opening band for that performance was the Young and the Useless, which featured Adam Horovitz as the lead singer. A one-minute clip of Beastie was subsequently excerpted and licensed by the Beastie Boys for use in the "Egg Raid on Mojo" segment of the "Skills to Pay the Bills" long-form home video released by Capitol Records. "Skills to Pay the Bills" later went on to be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Berry left the group in 1982 (later forming Thwig, Big Fat Love and Bourbon Deluxe) and was replaced by Horovitz, who had become close friends with the Beastie Boys.

The band also recorded and then performed its first hip-hop track, "Cooky Puss", based on a prank call by the group to a Carvel Ice Cream franchise in 1983. It was a part of the new lineup's first EP, also called Cooky Puss, which was the first piece of work that showed their incorporation of the underground rap phenomenon and the use of samples. It quickly became a hit in New York underground dance clubs and night clubs. After "Beastie Revolution" was later sampled in a British Airways commercial, the Beastie Boys threatened to sue them over the use of the song, and the airline immediately paid them $40,000 in royalties.

1984–1987: Def Jam years and Licensed to Ill

Following the success of "Cooky Puss", the band began to incorporate rap into their sets. They hired a DJ for their live shows, New York University student Rick Rubin, who began producing records soon thereafter. "I met Mike first," Rubin recalled. "I thought he was an arrogant asshole. Through spending time with the Beasties I grew to see that they had this great sense of humor. It wasn't that they were assholes, and even if it was, they were funny with it." Rubin formed Def Jam Recordings with Russell Simmons, and approached the band about producing them for his new label. As the band was transitioning to hip-hop, Schellenbach was fired in 1984, with Diamond taking over on drums. In their 2018 memoir, Ad-Rock expressed regret for firing Schellenbach, which he attributed to her not fitting with the "new tough-rapper-guy identity".

The band's 12-inch single "Rock Hard" (1984) was the second Def Jam record crediting Rubin as producer (the first was "It's Yours" by T La Rock and Jazzy Jay). During 1985, the group was the supporting act of the Virgin Tour, Madonna's first concert series. On July 22, 1986, the Beastie Boys opened for John Lydon's post-Sex Pistols band Public Image Ltd., They headlined with Fishbone and Murphy's Law with DJ Hurricane, and later in the year the group was on the Raising Hell tour with Run-DMC, Whodini, LL Cool J, and the Timex Social Club. Thanks to this exposure, "Hold It Now, Hit It" charted on Billboard's US R&B and dance charts. "She's on It" from the Krush Groove soundtrack continued in a rap/metal vein while a double A-side 12", "Paul Revere/The New Style", was released at the end of the year.

The band recorded Licensed to Ill in 1986 and released it on November 15, 1986. The album was favorably reviewed by Rolling Stone magazine. Licensed to Ill became one of the best-selling rap albums of the 1980s and the first rap album to go number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, where it stayed for five weeks. It also reached number 2 on the Top R&B album chart. It was Def Jam's fastest selling debut record to date and sold over nine-million copies. The fourth single, "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)", reached number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Although the group has sold over 26-million records in the US, this is their only single to peak in the US top ten or top twenty. The accompanying video (directed by Ric Menello and Adam Dubin) became an MTV staple. Another song from the album, "No Sleep till Brooklyn", peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart.

The band took the Licensed to Ill tour around the world the following year. The tour was troubled by lawsuits and arrests, with the band accused of provoking the crowd. This culminated in a notorious gig at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, England, on May 30, 1987, that erupted into a riot approximately 10 minutes after the group hit the stage and the arrest of Adam Horovitz by Merseyside Police. He was charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm.

1988–1989: Move to Capitol Records and Paul's Boutique

In 1988, the Beastie Boys appeared in Tougher Than Leather, a film directed by Rubin as a star vehicle for Run-D.M.C. and Def Jam Recordings. After Def Jam stopped paying them for work they had already done and were owed money for, the Beastie Boys left Def Jam and signed with Capitol Records.

The second Beastie Boys album, Paul's Boutique, was released on July 25, 1989. Produced by the Dust Brothers, it blends eclectic samples and has been described as an early work of experimental hip-hop. It failed to match the sales of Licensed to Ill, reaching number 14 on the US album charts, but later attracted acclaim; Rolling Stone ranked it number 156 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It also made it onto the Apple Music 100 Best Albums list at number 48.