R.I.P. MCA

Adam Yauch's (aka MCA) death has resonated deeply in and out of our demographic. The Beastie Boys' impact on music and pop culture is deep and indisputable. Punk,Hip Hop, Rock, Lounge Core, Sampling... they are/were one of the true innovators over the last 30 years.
Even the NY Mets paid tribute to the Beastie Boys (as they should have- after all, the Beastie Boys are as "New York" as the Mets are!



MCA's death from cancer represents perhaps the first of our "Generation X" (or is it "Y")" musical icons to succumb to a "grown up" disease. As such, it resonates a little deeper than the usual celebrity death. We are used to hearing how our rock stars overdose, or die in an accident, or kill themselves, or are murdered. Death from disease is for the "older generation" - even our Punk Heroes that die from disease (i.e.: Joey Ramone, Joe Strummer, Johnny Ramone) seem to be more "expected", as most of us look to them as being from the earlier scene. And the 60's scene seem to be jamming every nite with the Grim Reaper as we seem to hear of a death every month.

Compounding this is how the Beastie Boys represented youth and immaturity. Even as they aged physically and topically... and MCA looked older due to his grey hair probably quicker than anyone, their energy and attitude conceptually placed them in the "lost boys/never aging" aesthetic.

Many of us have had friends and peers our age die from disease or accident already. MCA's premature death is the bell ringer heralding our musical's generation into middle age.

Nazz Junior just asked me as I was typing this, "why is everyone so torn up about this guy dying?". I tried to explain it to him about The Beastie Boys and he replied "wasn't he the old guy that wore a suit?"

And the next generation moves in...


The Mets' "walk-up" songs: 5/4/2012

SS Ruben Tejada: "Intergalactic"
2B Daniel Murphy: "No Sleep Till Brooklyn"
3B David Wright: "Brass Monkey"
RF Lucas Duda: "The New Style"
LF Scott Hairston: "Root Down"
1B Ike Davis: "Fight For Your Right (To Party)"
CF Andres Torres: "So What'cha Want"
C Josh Thole: "Make Some Noise"
RHP Dillon Gee: "Body Movin'"

PH Vinny Rottino: "Paul Revere"

R.I.P. MCA

ps- Coldplay did the following tribute. Their rearranging of "Fight For Your Right" is totally punk rock.

Beastie Boys Samples

While listening to "Licensed To Ill", I got curious as to all the samples that the Beastie Boys have used on their albums.

 I found this on the Miscreant Productions site, and figured I'd pass it on. It's a catalog of all the different samples and the source material that the Beastie Boys lifted.

Some of the sources are pretty obvious (a ton of Zep, James Brown, and Sly Stone), but did you know that they also sampled Elvis Costello (on "Egg Man"), Black Flag ‐ (on "And What You Give Is What You Get") and Pink Floyd (on "Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun")?

Cool stuff.

NYHC Lives! (again)

(nope, we aren't on the flyer!)

A7 was THE place in the early 80's to get your real hardcore punk rock fix in New York City. The club itself was a little shithole across from Tompkins Square Park in Alphabet City in Manhattan. Unlike clubs like CBGB's and Irving Plaza, A7 pretty much was all hardcore punk, all the time. Bands like the Beastie Boys (yes, they started out Punk), Ism, Kraut, Reagan Youth and Heart Attack (Jesse Malin's old crew) would play there, along with whatever outta town bands were in the area.
I don't think the place could hold more than 50 people, but they'd pack em in. I dimly remember a dog (a German Shepherd?) present often as well.
Anyway, the place closed 'round '84; but there is a huge show at the Knitting Factory this Saturday that will be a reunion of sorts with many survivors of the old scene scheduled to play. Of course, many participants no longer have to shave their heads, as Mother Nature has seen to make em natural skinheads!

Well, yer Uncle Nazz is actually playing this show! My bro DV and Caterwauller-in-Arms J-Lo are The Betrayed, and we will be going on somewhere between 11 pm and midnite. We'll be playing all your favorite Betrayed toonz too!

I am really looking forward to seeing some folks that I haven't seen since the 80's!
Big fun! ~ (or something!)


Toonage:
ISM -A7
The Betrayed - Betrayed By You
Misfits - Bullet
Beastie Boys - Riot Fight
Bad Brains -Big Takeover

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Now playing: Black Market Baby - Potential Suicide
via FoxyTunes

Airwaves dreaming

"I like radio better than television because if you make a mistake on radio, they don't know. You can make anything up on radio."

Phil Rizzuto

"Anytime in radio that you can reach somebody on an emotional level, you're really connecting."

Casey Kasem

"I love the fact that 35 years later, I still hear my songs on the radio."

Ronnie Spector

"The radio makes hideous sounds"

Bob Dylan

Long ago, bands used to need radio airplay to expose their music to the masses. There are dozens of songs that reflect this. Here are a few you may not have that come to mind...

We Want The Airwaves - Spooney (Gabba Gabba Heys) :

I absolutely love the concept of the Ramones being packaged for the kindergarten set; complete with children singing in the background! When my progeny were tots, one of their favorite movies was Rock N Roll High School. This one is from an album called "Brats On The Beat: Ramones For Kids".

Radio Radio - Beastie Boys w/ Elvis Costello (Live Saturday Nite Live) : The legendary performance when the Beasties came out and started to play Sabotage and Elvis recreated his 1978 SNL performance.

Capital Radio - The Clash (live 5-28-77 UK) : The sound of a revolution. Revolutions don't always succeed.

You Can't Say Crap On The Radio- Stiff Little Fingers : A criminally underrated band.

Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio - Ni-Hao! : Another Ramones cover, I think these chicks are from Japan or Viet Nam. This song cracks me up.