The tragic death of Adam Yauch on May 4th sent shockwaves around the musical community, not to mention a sense of loss and grief from millions of fans everywhere who grew up with The Beastie Boys and got down with their bad selves to the sonic fury and fervor of that storied hip hop group. Mike D, Ad Rock, and Yauch, known as MCA, who arguably was the best of the trio, with rhymes that flowed like wine from Napa Valley, smooth and intense, soulful and with a sheen that blared out first from boom boxes then CD players, and now MP3 players everywhere.
Yauch will be missed, as with his death comes a loss of that oft used term “innocence” for a generation who came of age in the early 1980s that I was a part of, and maybe you were also. In an American 1980’s society then choked by Reaganomics, The Beastie Boys, with their loose wild, Animal House, juvee style, was like spray painting a mustache on the Lincoln Memorial and then blowing it up with dynamite. They had plenty of great songs throughout their career and they also had a nice propensity for throwing sharp and smart pop culture references in some of their songs, especially the lead off track from their cool as ice Ill Communication album, “Sure Shot.” From 1994. That song has lyrics that are easy to flow along in a hip (hop) karaoke style when one listens to it, but it’s also laden with pop cultural references that may be off many people’s radars. Now, as a public service to our faithful Geeks Of Doom readers, I, Stoogeypedia, the Underdog of all and everything pop cultural, break down the references in “Sure Shot.”
The twelfth episode of The Geeks Of Doom Round Up is here, and Greg takes a look at the underplayed third trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield and directed by Marc Webb. For our music selection this week, Andy pays tribute to Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys who sadly passed away this week, with "Fight For Your Right To Party".
Later, we take a look at an awesome Metal cover of the music from Doctor Who, by phenomenal guitarist Eric Calderone aka 331Erock. We also take a glance at the new intriguing comic series by Brian Churilla called The Secret History of D. B. Cooper.
With a jetpack fueled by insomnia and an easily amused mind, It Came From The Interwebs scours and sifts through everything that has ever appeared on the internet (more or less) to find a few things that you should know about every week. These things come from the interwebs, hence the clever name.
This Week: Hobo Puppets, Tank Demolition, The Church of Shatner, and Licking in a Lift, plus shout out to MCA.
Earlier today we told you of the sad news of the death of Adam Yauch, aka MCA, co-founder of the Beastie Boys, who passed away today after a long battle with cancer.
In honor Yauch’s musical contributions, MTV has some tributes planned for today with a switch in programming, as well as a live one-hour special tonight at 8pm ET/PT.
MTV News will present a one-hour live special hosted by MTV News’ Sway Calloway from their Times Square newsroom tonight at 8pm ET/PT and will be re-aired at 11pm ET/PT on MTV2. The special will highlight the Beastie Boys music and Yauch’s career through music videos, performances, MTV moments, and remembrances from his peers. You can watch a video here below of an interview with the Beastie Boys from back in 1986 discussing their album License To Ill when they were still openers on the Run-DMC tour.
Yet another death in the musical world has beset upon us. One of the founders of the legendary music trio The Beastie Boys has passed. Adam Yauch, best known as MCA to fans of the Caucasian hip hop band, died after a battle with cancer, from a complication of a tumor found in his salivary gland, reports Rolling Stone. He was 48.
The Beastie Boys, comprised of Yauch, along with Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horowitz, carved their own niche during the tail end of rap music’s first wave. Starting as a hardcore punk band in 1979, the Brooklyn, NY-based group became best known as the goofy nonsensically yet no-nonsense hip hop mavens who exploded in a huff of success with their 1986 release License to Ill. That record, and its accompanying single and perpetually run MTV video of “Fight For Your Right (To Party)”, put them as equal cohorts with their peers and like-minded artists during that era in the rap/hip hop ring, even surpassing many of those other artists who explored similar styles and genres.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press
