I can't believe the end of the Beastie Boys has come. Sure they had a long run, but for some reason I had the uninspired impression that the best of the BBoys was still ahead of us. Sure, they may stay together as a duo or bring in a new member...but "often imitated, never duplicated" is my feeling on that.
The fact is that a legacy has come to a close upon the death of MCA. I got the news at work. Caitlin called me directly, knowing that I would soon be hearing from friends who would know the impact that it would have on me. She was wise...it's the type of news you want to hear from a loved one. I wanted to cry at work thinking about poor Mike D and Ad Rock and MCA's wife and kid. But since that was inappropriate, I hurried and found the biggest BBoys fan I could in the office and she told me all about the four concerts she attended in Chicago. She saw them with Run DMC. She was there for the inflatable penis. She saw it all. I was both comforted and made jealous by our conversation. All in all, it was therapeutic.
The role of the Beastie Boys in my life has been one of continuous impact, inspiration, and joy. All weekend I thought about some of the great BBoy memories I have. Here are a few:
1. My friend Joel from San Diego introduced me to a green cassette tape by a group called Beastie Boys. The album was Paul's Boutique and it literally blew my 11 year old mind. I still have that tape in my closet. It's broken, but I can't throw it away.
2. Mowing the lawn exclusively to Paul's Boutique for several summers every Saturday, dreaming of New York where there were no lawns to mow. I decided at that time that I would live there when I grew up. It sounded like the most magical place on earth.
3. Sitting in the back of the bus listening to So What'cha Want with friends on the way home from Junior High.
4. Laying on my bed listening to Ill Communication for almost 8 hours straight the day it came out. I went to Sam Goody to buy it after school. Realized some of the greatest songs to date were on that album.
5. Studying in my room to Fight For Your Right and having my mom literally walk in the door and ask "what's that noise" right when the song says that line and me sitting up to scream " Mom your just jealous it's the Beastie Boys" with the song and then laughing for about an hour because I couldn't believe that had happened.
6. Playing Paul's Boutique in my earphones almost every time I went night skiing alone at Bogus Basin.
7. I found out that Hello Nasty came out while I was on a mission in Argentina. I made my companion walk with me for an hour to Carrefour so I could just see the package and hold it. It took everything I had not to purchase it.
8. By the end of my mission I could only remember two popular songs that I could sing to myself on days I thought I was going to go crazy. One of those was "The Sounds of Science". I can still do it without any music or help on command.
9. I learned to run and work out to Hello Nasty in Phoenix or Provo.
10. Bonding with one of bestest friends Ashley over BBoys when the anthology album came out...including constant singing of Netty's Girl and Get it Together on road trips.
11. True to my word, I moved to NYC when I graduated...a place I had never even visited before except through BBoy songs. The first time I listened to Paul's Boutique after a year of living there I began to realize how amazing that CD is and how much of it I was just beginning to understand because I was living in NYC.
12. Being so poor my first year in NYC and begging a sales rep to buy me To The Five Boroughs because I couldn't afford it. He did and I listened to it the first time while walking over the Brooklyn Bridge alone.
13. Attending the premier of "Gunning' For The Number 1 Spot" directed by MCA and standing right next to Mike D and being completely stars truck and frozen like a fool.
14. Working at Baxter as an intern and finding out that MCA had cancer and they were canceling the two shows I had tickets to. I had no one to talk to about it so I just went into my boss's office and talked for a half hour. I am surprised they hired me. A fear that I would never see them on concert gripped me...one that has now come true.
15. BBoys released HSC2 just in time to help me heal from my shoulder surgery last year. Even though I could only do the recombinant bike, the BBoys made it bearable.
Those are just a few. Since I was 11 they have always been there in the background and the foreground. While I am currently filled with a sense of loss, I am hopeful that my premonition that some of the best work from the BBoys is yet to come is not wrong. Maybe the death of MCA will inspire great solo work from the remaining BBoys?
Until then...MCA you will be missed. Remember, No Sleep Till Heaven.
3 comments:
Great post. I thought of you immediately when I heard the news about MCA, specifically that trip to to Carrefour. I admired your restraint, even if I didn't fully understand your obsession at the time. I hope you're able to see the remaining BBoys in concert some day.
Thanks Matt. I'll never forget our long walk to Carrefour so I could hold the Hello Nasty CD in my hands and testify of its existence. I made you walk a long way and pass that house with the dude that served me a tapeworm for dinner (packaged in undercooked intestines). I'm glad its a memory you hold dear as well.
Two of my favorite memories of the beastie boys are listening to License to Ill (I realize it isn't their best album but it was the album that introduced me to the BBoys) in Lake Powell with my brothers and my uncle Blair. We were riding in his light blue rabbit, that also had ACDC duct taped to the side. We were screaming Fight for your Right at the top of our lungs and laughing hysterically. I loved it.
My second favorite memory is last year when you gave Tyler the most recent album and Owen couldn't get enough of Make Some Noise. He would dance like crazy while yelling at the top of his lungs in the car. That boy already knows good music.
So glad you posted about this. Truly a sad day.
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