xlargest
05-07-2012, 05:16 PM
This letter I wrote, sorry for it being so long, was not intended for the Beastie message board but for an audience that didn't know the Beasties. I wrote it as a self-healing remedy, I'm certainly in mourning just like everybody else here and around the world.
Adam Yauch and the BBoys were not just another music group that I had a few songs or an album from they were a teacher of music to me. Over the past 26 years I have collected as much music as possible from them; LP’s, EP’s, Records 7” & 12”, CD’s, DVD’s, Live shows, Bootlegs & Interview discs. Also shirts, stickers, hats, and just straight up junk that was somehow related to the BBoys in some way. I do draw the line somewhere…. I would not get a Beastie coffin like another artist out there offers (KISS). Some say I’m obsessed but people who know me know I’m a pack rat anyway but not a hoarder. Over the years, I have talked to others on beastie forums online or in person and learned that I’m not alone when it came to some say “obsession”. Many others out there enjoy them as much as I do and some of them dedicate websites to them containing every bit of information possible… Beastiemania.com is one of many.
One of the main reasons I got my first internet connection back in ’95 was to get on the beastie message board and public news groups and get access to their music and more information about them. When I lived in Guam back in ’95, I once called a record store in Australia to order a copy of Aglio E Olio, a clear 7” record, just because it had one additional song on it that they played only instruments on (Light My Fire with Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto). Every time any release came out, I would buy the U.S. version plus go through hoops to get the import version (Japan, Netherlands etc.), just because it had one or two additional songs that the U.S. version didn’t have. No one was able to download songs back then as easy as today.
My screen name & my email addresses since the beginning have always something to do with them. They used to have a clothing store called Xlarge that Mike D was affiliated with, and I would always go buy clothes from them. They had stores in San Francisco, Berkley, and all around the world that were short lived, but I would go there as much as I could. They also had a record label at one time called Grand Royal and launched many artists’ careers on that label. Not many had success except for Luscious Jackson. The drummer of Luscious Jackson was the original drummer of the BBoys (Kate Schellenbach) when they started out as a punk band, before they went goofing on rap.
This is what brings me to the point I want to make here. The BBoys as a whole taught me more about music over the years. In any song you listen to they’re always referencing other musicians, cultures, styles, genres, etc. and my own personal music encyclopedia was expanded largely due to them. The BBoys as a hip hop “rap” group started it for me, and it expanded to everyone else in that genre. I can’t give them entire credit, but when it came to other genres, cultures, and musicians, they get the majority of my credit. I was just a suburban white kid from Minnesota, so my musical influences were from my parents or kids around the block, thus my knowledge of music only went so far. KISS, Pink Floyd, REO Speedwagon, Rod Stewart, Bee Gees, Pet Benatar, Donna Summer, and the rest of the pop radio mainstream is what I grew up with until the mid eighties.
I was introduced to artists like reggae artists Jimmy Cliff & Lee “Scratch” Perry, jazz artists Richard "Groove" Holmes, Miles Davis, Eddie Harris, Dick Hyman & Jimmy Smith, DJ’s Mix Master Mike, DJ Hurricane, Kurtis Blow, Kool Mo Dee, Invisibl Skratch Piklz & Grandmaster Flash . Hip Hop artists Biz Markie, De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Spoonie Gee, RUN-DMC, Public Enemy & Afrika Bambaataa, producers Rick Rubin, Russel Simmons & the Dust Brothers. Other artists like Dr. John, Money Mark, Adrock’s first band The Young and Useless, Big Fat Love with John Berry who co-founded the Beastie Boys. BBoys were heavily influenced by punk music & rock such as Bad Brains, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, The Clash, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, The Ramones, Minor Threat and Billy Joel, to name a few…
Song samples from various funk, soul and jazz artists, movies like Three The Hard Way, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Taking of Pelham 123, Krush Groove and Tougher than Leather. People such as Japanese baseball player Sadaharu Oh, jazz drummer Buddy Rich, R&B singer Lee Dorsey, director John Woo, comedian Dolemite, and also cartoon Pete The Puma; The drink Brass Monkey and the mystery of the Spanish fly. I learned what the heck a Patty Duke is and who was Vaughn Bode. There are so many references, too many to name. If you listen to any song it all slowly comes back to ya.
Years ago, I would drive down to Amoeba or Rasputin Records in San Francisco, Berkley or Walnut Creek, CA to look for anything from them or artists they played with or mentioned. Sometimes I still do, because I still hear BBoys samples from other songs every now and then but record stores aren’t as abundant as before. I was blessed to see the BBoys 7 times in concert, not as many as some but certainly I’m very grateful for the many memories I do have (that I’m able to remember). I once flew to Madison Square Garden from Oakland, CA in 2004 to see them in concert with Doug E. Freash…by myself but that is only because my girlfriend at the time couldn’t get off work. One of the best concerts are saw and it turned into quite an adventure with people I met in New York.
To sum this all up, they are a major influence on me in all aspects; music, culture, religion and life. I didn’t even get into the charitable work they have been involved in, and continue to be involved with today. Adam Y, was a practicing Buddhist and created the Tibet Freedom Concerts that took place back in the ‘90’s to help bring awareness to the lack of civil rights and treatment of the Tibetans from the Chinese government.
Everyone has a favorite band, celebrity, person, religion, group, or cause that influences them and makes a mark and the Beasties Boys did that for me. All three spokes of the Beastie wheel made them turn. Adam Y (MCA) being gone slows the wheel down, however I know Mike and Adam H will continue to be influential until that wheel no longer moves.
I’m not trying to get all dramatic on here or ‘toot’ my own horn but this is a public forum to post whatever the hell you want, so I will do just that today. This is my way of healing after the news of A. Yauch passing... Thanks.
Adam Yauch and the BBoys were not just another music group that I had a few songs or an album from they were a teacher of music to me. Over the past 26 years I have collected as much music as possible from them; LP’s, EP’s, Records 7” & 12”, CD’s, DVD’s, Live shows, Bootlegs & Interview discs. Also shirts, stickers, hats, and just straight up junk that was somehow related to the BBoys in some way. I do draw the line somewhere…. I would not get a Beastie coffin like another artist out there offers (KISS). Some say I’m obsessed but people who know me know I’m a pack rat anyway but not a hoarder. Over the years, I have talked to others on beastie forums online or in person and learned that I’m not alone when it came to some say “obsession”. Many others out there enjoy them as much as I do and some of them dedicate websites to them containing every bit of information possible… Beastiemania.com is one of many.
One of the main reasons I got my first internet connection back in ’95 was to get on the beastie message board and public news groups and get access to their music and more information about them. When I lived in Guam back in ’95, I once called a record store in Australia to order a copy of Aglio E Olio, a clear 7” record, just because it had one additional song on it that they played only instruments on (Light My Fire with Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto). Every time any release came out, I would buy the U.S. version plus go through hoops to get the import version (Japan, Netherlands etc.), just because it had one or two additional songs that the U.S. version didn’t have. No one was able to download songs back then as easy as today.
My screen name & my email addresses since the beginning have always something to do with them. They used to have a clothing store called Xlarge that Mike D was affiliated with, and I would always go buy clothes from them. They had stores in San Francisco, Berkley, and all around the world that were short lived, but I would go there as much as I could. They also had a record label at one time called Grand Royal and launched many artists’ careers on that label. Not many had success except for Luscious Jackson. The drummer of Luscious Jackson was the original drummer of the BBoys (Kate Schellenbach) when they started out as a punk band, before they went goofing on rap.
This is what brings me to the point I want to make here. The BBoys as a whole taught me more about music over the years. In any song you listen to they’re always referencing other musicians, cultures, styles, genres, etc. and my own personal music encyclopedia was expanded largely due to them. The BBoys as a hip hop “rap” group started it for me, and it expanded to everyone else in that genre. I can’t give them entire credit, but when it came to other genres, cultures, and musicians, they get the majority of my credit. I was just a suburban white kid from Minnesota, so my musical influences were from my parents or kids around the block, thus my knowledge of music only went so far. KISS, Pink Floyd, REO Speedwagon, Rod Stewart, Bee Gees, Pet Benatar, Donna Summer, and the rest of the pop radio mainstream is what I grew up with until the mid eighties.
I was introduced to artists like reggae artists Jimmy Cliff & Lee “Scratch” Perry, jazz artists Richard "Groove" Holmes, Miles Davis, Eddie Harris, Dick Hyman & Jimmy Smith, DJ’s Mix Master Mike, DJ Hurricane, Kurtis Blow, Kool Mo Dee, Invisibl Skratch Piklz & Grandmaster Flash . Hip Hop artists Biz Markie, De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Spoonie Gee, RUN-DMC, Public Enemy & Afrika Bambaataa, producers Rick Rubin, Russel Simmons & the Dust Brothers. Other artists like Dr. John, Money Mark, Adrock’s first band The Young and Useless, Big Fat Love with John Berry who co-founded the Beastie Boys. BBoys were heavily influenced by punk music & rock such as Bad Brains, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, The Clash, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, The Ramones, Minor Threat and Billy Joel, to name a few…
Song samples from various funk, soul and jazz artists, movies like Three The Hard Way, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Taking of Pelham 123, Krush Groove and Tougher than Leather. People such as Japanese baseball player Sadaharu Oh, jazz drummer Buddy Rich, R&B singer Lee Dorsey, director John Woo, comedian Dolemite, and also cartoon Pete The Puma; The drink Brass Monkey and the mystery of the Spanish fly. I learned what the heck a Patty Duke is and who was Vaughn Bode. There are so many references, too many to name. If you listen to any song it all slowly comes back to ya.
Years ago, I would drive down to Amoeba or Rasputin Records in San Francisco, Berkley or Walnut Creek, CA to look for anything from them or artists they played with or mentioned. Sometimes I still do, because I still hear BBoys samples from other songs every now and then but record stores aren’t as abundant as before. I was blessed to see the BBoys 7 times in concert, not as many as some but certainly I’m very grateful for the many memories I do have (that I’m able to remember). I once flew to Madison Square Garden from Oakland, CA in 2004 to see them in concert with Doug E. Freash…by myself but that is only because my girlfriend at the time couldn’t get off work. One of the best concerts are saw and it turned into quite an adventure with people I met in New York.
To sum this all up, they are a major influence on me in all aspects; music, culture, religion and life. I didn’t even get into the charitable work they have been involved in, and continue to be involved with today. Adam Y, was a practicing Buddhist and created the Tibet Freedom Concerts that took place back in the ‘90’s to help bring awareness to the lack of civil rights and treatment of the Tibetans from the Chinese government.
Everyone has a favorite band, celebrity, person, religion, group, or cause that influences them and makes a mark and the Beasties Boys did that for me. All three spokes of the Beastie wheel made them turn. Adam Y (MCA) being gone slows the wheel down, however I know Mike and Adam H will continue to be influential until that wheel no longer moves.
I’m not trying to get all dramatic on here or ‘toot’ my own horn but this is a public forum to post whatever the hell you want, so I will do just that today. This is my way of healing after the news of A. Yauch passing... Thanks.