Beastie Boys - A History. 81-03

Adam Yauch is the oldest of the Beastie's and was born on August 5, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York.
Yauch was an only child and grew up in a upper middle-class family in Brooklyn Heights.

Michael Diamond was born the year after Yauch on November 20, 1965 also in Brooklyn, New York. Mike was born into a wealthy, Jewish family with two older brothers. His father was a specialized art vendor and his mother was a designer. At the age of 16, his father died.

Adam Horovitz was then born a year later after Mike on October 31, 1966 in South Orange, New Jersey.
Horovitz later moved to Manhattan were he lived for a long time. His father is the famous play writer Israel Horovitz who has written more than 50 produced plays. When Adam was 3 years old his parents divorced and later while in his teens his mother, Doris Keefe Horovitz, unfortunately died of alcoholism.

Mike was originally in a band with Kate Schellenbach and John Berry called the Young Aborigines. At this time Yauch was trying to learn Bass and would go to their practices and hang out with them. Yauch wanted to start his own band and he did. In 1981 Mike, Kate and John joined Yauch in his new band which he had called the Beastie Boys, with Beastie standing for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence." The name came from John and Yauch goofing around with names and they decided that sounded the stupidest so they kept it.
Their first show was at Yauch's 17th birthday and featured Mike is on vocals, Yauch was on bass, John was on guitar and Kate on Drums. Later on the, band begin opening for bands such as Bad Brains and Regan Youth at clubs like CGBG's and A-7.

In 1982 they record the first Beastie Boys release, the Polly Wog Stew EP on Ratcage Records.
At this time Adam Horovitz was in his own band called the Young and the Useless who would often open for the Beastie Boys and would also sometimes cover songs off of Polly Wog Stew.
Soon after the release of Polly Wog Stew the Beastie Boys broke up.

Later, after Polly Wog Stew started getting popular, the band re-united but with Adam Horovitz on guitar in the place of John who decided he was never that into the band so he left.
In 1983 the band released the Cooky Puss 12" Single, their first delve into the world of Hip Hop. Although this song might not sound like much it soon caught the attention of Hip Hop listeners and because the Beastie's couldn't play the song live they would try and rap over it instead.
The B-side, Beastie Revolution made the Beastie's a nice $40 000 when they took legal action against British Airways when they used the song in an advertisement without the Beastie's permission. Although that fact is disputable.

The Beastie's now decided they needed a DJ and so they hired their friend Rick Rubin as DJ Double R because he had turntables, a smoke machine and bubble machine, which they put to good use. Rick Rubin then started taking charge of the band, swaying them towards a Hip Hop sound. Originally the band played with Rick on the turntables, Kate on bass, Mike on drums and Yauch and Horovitz on the mic's trying to rap. Soon though, Kate left the band due to the way Rick was takeing charge and how the band was turning out.

Then in 1985 the Beastie's were ready to release their first rap single "Rock Hard". Rick had earlier started Def Jam Records so the band was signed and released the 7" on there. Unfortunately they record had to be recalled though because Rock Hard featured a guitar sample from AC/DC's "Back In Black" which was used without permission.
The band was now also using their "Hip Hop Names" which they still use today. Mike was Mike D, Yauch was MCA (MC Adam) and Horovitz was The King Adrock, often shortened to just Adrock.

The Beastie's were still playing small shows to confused Black audiences but soon got the job of a lifetime when Madonna requested they join her on her 'Like A Virgin Tour' when RunDMC weren''t available. Although they got booed a lot at the shows the Beastie's keep on coming out night after night and spend a lot of the time abusing the crowd too. They nearly got kicked off a few times but they would just complain to Madonna and she made shore they were kept on.

MCA also took time out to debut his solo track with Burzootie called "Drum Machine". Adrock would be on the turntables as MCA got the crowed to sing a long with him. The studio version was later released on a 12" on Def Jam records.

Later in the year the Beastie's released two more singles, 'She's On It' which also had a video made of it, and a cover of RunDMC's unreleased 'Slow & Low'. They then toured with RunDMC and LL Cool J on the 'Raising Hell Tour'.

In 1986 the Beastie Boys debut album, Licensed To Ill, was released to wide acclaim. It becomes the unofficial soundtrack for College drunks and sold over 8 million copies in the US alone and still sells about 500 000 copies a year.
Originally it was going to be titled 'Don't Be A Faggot' but Def Jam didn't like that idea. The Beastie's didn't mean this as a diss at gay people though, to them a Faggot was someone who was a wuss or a coward.

It was at this time that the Beastie's changed their DJ line up 3 times. Rick stepped down from DJ spot and let Dr. Dre (of MTV Raps! fame, not N.W.A.) step in but one night at a show Dre couldn't be found and Hurricane, who was part pf RunDMC's crew, was the only person there that knew how to DJ so he stepped up to the decks and stayed there for the Beastie's next 3 albums.

In 1985 the Beastie Boys appeared in Def Jam's movies 'Krush Groove' and in 1987 CBS / Fox released 'Beastie Boys' which was a collection of the Beastie's video's as well as them mucking around.

In 1987 the Beastie's left Def Jam after they got sick of touring and didn't want to make another album like Licensed To Ill, which is what Rick was pushing for. Because of this CBS / Def Jam refused to pay the $2 million it owed the Beastie's in royalties. After a short time of not haveing any record label a bidding war started and they signed to Capitol Records, were they have stayed since.

After Adrock met Matt Dyke, then one part of the Dust Brothers, at a party and hearing his tracks the Dust Brothers were brought into produce the Beastie Boys next album

Capitol had given the Beastie's a lot of money to record the album and it wasn't just spent on session time and clearing samples, the Beastie's spent a fair amount also on amusement's like Air Hockey tables too.

In 1988 Def Jam released their movie'Tougher Than Leather' about RunDMC which also featured the Beastie Boys playing the unreleased 'Desperado'.
Also at this time Def Jam was planning to release an album called "White House" which would feature unreleased songs that the Beastie Boys had recorded in their time with Def Jam.

In July 1989 the Beastie Boys brought out their second album, 'Paul's Boutique'. Dust Brothers had produced and Mario G. Caldato had engineered. When the album failed to sell the amounts that Capitol had expected, a lot of jobs were lost and the Beastie's were cast aside and given total freedom to do what they wanted.

Although Paul's Boutique didn't didn't sell too well and cast a shadow over the Beastie's future, the album is now highly regarded in most Hip Hop community's as one of the best album of all time. It is probably most famous for it's wide range of samples all through the album with everything from Led Zeplin, The Beatles and various funk and soul records from music's greatest age, 1970.
Paul's Boutique is known as the 'Sgt Peppers' or the 'Pet Sounds' of Hip Hop and can't be missed when putting together a collection.
After a while Paul's Boutique went Platinum.
The Beastie Boys did play at a few small venues but didn't go on an actual tour.

It was at this time that everyone forgot about the Beastie Boys, many people didn't (and some still don't) realise that Paul's Boutique was even released. Many would think you were mistaken if you were to say these were the same group that had released Licensed To Ill and become banned from England for their stage antics.
This gave the Beastie's plenty of time to chill out and decide what they wanted to do. The Beastie's moved out of the G-Spot and hired Keyboardist Money Mark, who they met through Mario C who was now there producer, to build the G-Son Studio complex with the Parquet Floors, a Basketball Court as well as a Half Pipe for when the Beastie's became sick of recording.

In 1992 they unleashed their 3rd album to the world. It's was 'Check Your Head' and soon climbed the charts to gain Platinum status without a sweat. Eric Bobo (who later joined Cypress Hill) also stared on the album as percussionist showing off how the Beastie's had expanded there style yet again. This album saw the Beastie's going back to their roots and picking back up their instruments, hanging out, jamming and rhyming and in the end visiting every style of music from Punk to Funk with some Hip Hop in between for good measure.

The world tour that followed made sure everyone knew that the Beastie Boys were back. Also worth noting is that the Beastie's return to England for the first time after being banned in 1987 while touring Licensed To Ill.

In 1993 Grand Royal records was opened in G-Son and shiped out its first release, Luscious Jackson's In Search Of Many EP. Grand Royal was run by Mike D but the name comes from Biz Markie back when the Beastie's were recording Licensed To Ill and Biz would say "Grand Royal, Guaranteed Fresh" after they recorded something he liked.

Also in 93 Grand Royal Magazine debuted with it's Fall/Winter Issue. It features a cover story on Bruce Lee, interviews with Q-tip, Kareem Abdul and lots more.

In 1994 the Beastie Boys released there fourth album, the award winning 'Ill Communication'. The album went #1 while they toured Lollapalooza. The video for Sabotage was also nominated for numerous MTV Music Awards and when the Beastie's lost an award to R.E.M. for there video "Everybody Hurtz" MCA, dressed up as Nathaniel Hornblower, stormed the stage in protest. The Sabotage video was directed by Grand Royal Magazine Co-Editor Spike Jonze who went on to film some of the greatest music videos ever as well as directing the highly successful movie "Being John Malkervich".

Royalties from Ill Communication's "Shambala" and "Bodhisattva Vow" were donated to help found the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization set up by MCA and ? to help spread awareness for Tibet and the people's suffering under China.

Before the end of the year the Beastie's released Some Old Bullshit, which featured all the songs and artwork from Polly Wog Stew EP and Cooky Puss 12" single. Even though Mike D seems to hate the tracks he didn't think it was right that people were paying high prices for the originals, imports or bootlegs.

In 1996 The Beastie Boys and Milarepa organized the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Diego on June 15 and 16. over 100 000 people attended and it becomes the biggest Stateside benefit concert since 1985's Live Aid. Bands that attended were A Tribe Called Quest, Beck, Björk, Cibo Matto, De La Soul, Foo Fighters, The Fugees, John Lee Hooker, Pavement, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono and Ima, Buddy Guy, Biz Markie, Skatalites, Richie Havens, Tibetan performer Chaksam-Pa, and guest speakers Tibet House founder Robert Thurman and Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan monk who endured 33 years of torture and imprisonment for nonviolent protest.

The Beastie's also commercially released The In Sounds From Way Out!, a collection of their instrumentals from their two previous albums. It was originally only available to members of their French Fan Club but Capitol made an agreement that they would release it commercially instead of Aglio E Olio, a collection of Punk songs the Beastie's had recorded while writing their next album. Aglio E Olio goes for 11 minutes and only has 9 songs on it. The Japanese and Australian versions includes Soba Violence, the Australian 7" also features a cover of the Doors 'Light My Fire' featuring Miho of Cibo Matto.

In 1997 a second Tibetan Freedom Concert took place on June 7 and 8. Portions of the show were released on a 3 CD album in the Fall. Also this year the Beastie's moved back to NYC to finish recording their next album.

In 1998 a third Tibetan Freedom Concert was organized for June 13 and 14 at RFK Stadium in Washington DC. Over 130 000 people attend and the tickets sold out within one afternoon.

On July 14 the Beastie Boys released their fifth album, 'Hello Nasty' which went #1 in its first week on the Billboard charts selling 681 572 copies in the US and it stayed at #1 for a week in the UK.

The Beastie's then toured with their 360 degree spinning stage for the In The Round Tour starting on July 31st at Seattle's Key Arena.
During the tour the Beastie's started offering MP3's of their performances on their website. After a while Capitol Records pulls the plug on this and they are replaced with Real Audio that stream from the site. This was when the whole MP3 crisis started and The Wall Street Journal ran a cover story on the Beastie Boys site offering MP3s.

Near the end of August, the Beastie's caused some controversy at the Reading Festival when they asked the Prodigy, who were also playing at the event, not to play their hit single "Smack My Bitch Up" because they believed it promoted hatred and violence towards women. Prodigy said that the song was actually about drugs and to smack your bitch up was to inject her with a drug and get her high. The song was played but it seems the bands have forgiven each other.

In 1999 the Beastie's took their rotating stage across the Atlantic to the UK and the tour was broadcast live on TV on May 3rd in Glasgow. They also organized another Tibetan Freedom Concert over the June 13 weekend and the tour went from East Troy WI all the way to Sydney, Australia with stops in-between.

On September 26th the Beastie's shared the stage with Elvis Costello on Saturday Night Live's 25th Anniversary as a re-enactment of Costello's US TV debut. The Beastie's started playing Sabotage when Costello marched on stage, stopped the song and then they all played Costello's 'Radio Radio' together.

On November 23rd the Sounds Of Science, 2-CD Anthology, was released. It featured 42 tracks spanning the Beastie's entire career. It contained not only their hits but also B-sides, Unreleased tracks, Remixes, 2 Country Mike tracks as well as their newest single Alive.

In December the Beastie's sent a letter to be printed in Time Out New York apologizing for their homophobic and sexist behavior from their early years.

In 2000 Rage Against The Machine were scheduled to tour with the Beastie's on the 'Rhyme And Reason 2000 Tour' but Mike D had a bicycle accident and was unable to tour. The tour was to be re-scheduled but unfortunately Rage later broke up.

In September 2001 Licensed To Ill was certified 9x Platinum and in 2002 Mix Master Mike told MTV that the Beastie Boys were working on a new album.

Later in March 2003 the Beastie Boys rush released a new song over their website. The song is called 'In A World Gone Mad' and spoke out against the war in Iraq and George Bush.
Later in the year the Beastie's organized a Tibetan Freedom Concert in Taipei, Japan and also played a show at the Jam Master Jay Tribute Show were DJ Hurricane joined them while Mix Master Mike took a short break. They also played a show at the Coachella festival and another at Field Day which was a disaster after it had to move location from Long Beach to Giant Stadium.
At the shows the Beastie Boys previewed another new track which has been nicknamed "That's It (Fresh For You)" by fans. Again the song is political.

The Beastie Boys are currently working on their next album, MCA is producing and it is unsure whether Mario C. will appear on the album or not. Mix Master Mike is currently the only confirmed person to be appearing and he will again reprise his role as the bands DJ.

Artists that have been rumored to be appearing as guests or producers on the album are Prince, Prince Paul, Norah Jones, Neptunes and many more. Of course at the moment this is all rumor and is yet to be confirmed. Tour wise the Beastie's are rumored to be going to the UK at some point but no official word has been released.
When something new does happen you can be sure that the official website, as well as many fan sites, will all let you know.

Also worth mentioning is that there will be a newly designed official website up hopefully by November. It will feature a new store with new merchandise.

Author: Jim Gaunt (Jimmy JRG)

Sources:
BeastieBoys.com
Beastie Boys Time Line
Beastiemania