Rest Easy MCA
Adam Yauch (1964-2012)
Right after I posted the song of the day I found out that Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys passed away. He was diagnosed in 2009 with a tumor in his salivary glands. He underwent surgery and radiation treatment. Further more, he took on a strict vegan diet and ancient Chinese medicines. I honestly didn’t realize he was still fighting for his right to live, I thought he was cancer free.
Yauch was only 47 years old, and what hit me hard was that my Dad had a simaliar cancer in 2004. Stage 4, a tumor on the base of his tongue. He underwent treatment, and has been cancer free since 2005.
The Beastie Boys were introduced to me by a babysitter named Jill. I must have been 10 years old. The only music I really knew of was the stuff my parents let me listen to, and The Beastie Boys weren’t on the same playing field as Amy Grant. I was working a coat check with her at an event. My parents put me to work at a young age, the tip jar at coat check keep me in BOP magazines and 1 cent candies. This was about the time III Communication came out. Jill had brought a CD player with her and just had got the album. We listen to it all night; it was completely foreign to me. I think the only rap song I had heard was Run DMC and Aerosmith “Walk This Way.”
There were a couple things that came from hearing “III Communication.”
-“Sabotage” is to this day one of the best music videos of all time. In fact at a Halloween Party this year, a couple guys dressed up as the Beasties from that video and all I wanted was to be their friends all night. It was a brilliant costume idea. If you watch the video now, they were Jackasses before Johnny Knoxville.
-My love of punk rock stems from the track “Heart AttackMan.” I loved loved loved this song, the last song I would think today I would enjoy from an ab, but from the intro where I am sure the boys are stoned I loved it. The guitar was fast and dirty, the vocals were grimy and distorted.
-Then there is “Sure Shot” the best song with a flute in it, and a dog intro.
“Hello Nasty” was released when I was in High School. I had forgotten about the Boys until then, but looking back they hadn’t released anything since “III Communcations”. A pot smoking friend loved them, myself, her and her boyfriend would drive around Calgary smoking weed and listening to “Hello Nasty.” I have a big soft spot for “The Move.”
Everyone is going to have something to say about what MCA and Beastie Boys meant to them and this is just a little bit of what he meant to me. I could write for days all the memories this group has given me, but I just wanted to keep it short. The Beastie Boys were a revoltion, they stood for the human race to be equal, women’s right, and buddist lifestyle. They meant something.
All I know is I have to drive to Rockies after work, and Beastie Boys will be the soundtrack to drive.
Rest Easy MCA
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