[Sir SkratchaLot]

So, in Beastie Boys Book, Mike and Adrock explain how MCA had all this technical knowledge about recording and they couldn't figure out how he knew these types of things. For example, on Rhymin' and Stealin' MCA ran a tape loop around the room to record the John Bonham drums. After listening to this interview, it looks like Yauch probably picked that up from Jay Burnett. Jay explains how he used the same tape-loop technique to record Rock Hard. Also, he says he and Yauch were friends and he lived above Yauch (I wonder if this is the same place where Yauch was the Super).

Also, the fact that Yauch and Jay were hanging out might give some more insight into the MCA and Burzootie project. The way I've always heard the project explained was that Def Jam (Rick and Russell?) thought MCA was the best MC of the 3 and wanted a solo project from him. Knowing what I know now, it seems more likely that MCA and Burzootie were just hanging out and the project evolved more organically (or maybe it was a combination of the two.) I know that the backing track came out on 12" under Jayco before the version with MCA rhyming on it. I wonder whether they just weren't hanging out experimenting and came up with the record that way.