Certex
03-07-2007, 02:01 PM
Hi there. Dunno if the band ever read this board. Hardly matters. Sitting here with a day off work drinking a coupla beers listening to Licensed to Ill for soundskinspiration. Saw the band live in 1987 in Glasgow in Scotland on that tour (seen them live three times all in all; once on tour with Henry Rollins for Paul's Boutique in 1992 in Glasgow and the other time at T In The Park a few years ago - enjoyed them each time) and it was a great time. Rumors of cripple-baiting, brass monkey-drinking-spanking dementia, Volkswagen badges stolen and worn as badges of pride and BB-dom, topless women dancing in cages...what more do you want when you're 17 (or 37)?
:)
This is a nostalgic post, yes, but one with a very specific purpose. Licensed to Ill is a GREAT album and, as a writer (getting my first novel published soonish) I still get a massive kick out of lines like "Pistol-packin' monkey-drinkin' no-money bum/I come from Brooklyn cos that's where I'm from" (any lyricist could do NO BETTER than stuff like that) or "I drink it I think it I see it I be it" (LOVELY stuff and a small wordwork spinfluence on me, as is all the shit you listen to and read when yer a teenager) cos they're such GREAT lines.
However. I remember hearing at the time this album came out that the Beastie Boys had backed down to company pressure and recorded words over all the expletives on the album (which, of course, you can still hear - "All the girls in class knows that I'm a cool fucker," "I'm not surprised you're on my dick," etc) and my idea/reason for posting was this. Haven't the Beastie Boys ever felt like putting out a pure, cool, uncensored non-perversion-of-sonic-vision version of this album like it was originally MEANT to be heard? I mean, the album is now a bona fide modern classic, first rock/rap crossover, Rick Rubin goodyear goodear dementia...and it seems like such a shame that it's still only available in a censored version (insofar as I know, though please correct me if I'm wrong). I mean, wouldn't the 20th anniversary of such a monumentous album be a great time to release a new pure uncensored version? Or maybe they could do it as a 21st anniversary, Finally-Licensed-to-Legally-Drink version.
Just a thought.
"Autograph pictures and classy hos," was just sung there on the album. I always wondered why the band mentioned 'Casios' (yes, I know, makes no sense AT ALL in their lyrics cos, well, who in Scotland in 1987 ever heard the word 'hos'?) in the song.
Cheers for the lovely manic youthful mammary memories boys, catch youse later, fight crime, keep being the cutting edge musical tastemaker arbiters you undoubtedly are and have been for two decades now,
Chuckling here,
G.
:)
This is a nostalgic post, yes, but one with a very specific purpose. Licensed to Ill is a GREAT album and, as a writer (getting my first novel published soonish) I still get a massive kick out of lines like "Pistol-packin' monkey-drinkin' no-money bum/I come from Brooklyn cos that's where I'm from" (any lyricist could do NO BETTER than stuff like that) or "I drink it I think it I see it I be it" (LOVELY stuff and a small wordwork spinfluence on me, as is all the shit you listen to and read when yer a teenager) cos they're such GREAT lines.
However. I remember hearing at the time this album came out that the Beastie Boys had backed down to company pressure and recorded words over all the expletives on the album (which, of course, you can still hear - "All the girls in class knows that I'm a cool fucker," "I'm not surprised you're on my dick," etc) and my idea/reason for posting was this. Haven't the Beastie Boys ever felt like putting out a pure, cool, uncensored non-perversion-of-sonic-vision version of this album like it was originally MEANT to be heard? I mean, the album is now a bona fide modern classic, first rock/rap crossover, Rick Rubin goodyear goodear dementia...and it seems like such a shame that it's still only available in a censored version (insofar as I know, though please correct me if I'm wrong). I mean, wouldn't the 20th anniversary of such a monumentous album be a great time to release a new pure uncensored version? Or maybe they could do it as a 21st anniversary, Finally-Licensed-to-Legally-Drink version.
Just a thought.
"Autograph pictures and classy hos," was just sung there on the album. I always wondered why the band mentioned 'Casios' (yes, I know, makes no sense AT ALL in their lyrics cos, well, who in Scotland in 1987 ever heard the word 'hos'?) in the song.
Cheers for the lovely manic youthful mammary memories boys, catch youse later, fight crime, keep being the cutting edge musical tastemaker arbiters you undoubtedly are and have been for two decades now,
Chuckling here,
G.