I wasn’t going to post anything regarding the death of ADAM YAUCH, aka ‘MCA‘ of the BEASTIE BOYS. Everyone has already heard the ‘news,’ and I’m not keen on posting the morbid stuff here on The Rock Father… but this morning, I changed my mind. While browsing the comments section of another site, someone noted trollingly jokingly that while Yauch had been sick with cancer since 2009, he’d actually ”been Ill since the 80’s.” I didn’t find the comment offensive, but rather pretty clever and punny.
I have an unpopular view of death. I’m of the opinion that no one ever “passes away,” they simply die or are killed.. And like Norm McDonald muses on his latest comedy album, saying that someone “lost their battle” against cancer makes them seem like a real loser in the end. So let’s do away with the b.s. and just tell the truth – people get sick, and we hope that they’ll get better. Sometimes they don’t, and that’s really sad.
Like thousands, perhaps millions, of others, I was saddened to learn that Yauch died yesterday after being treated for cancer since 2009.
Like many 30-somethings, my first exposure to the Beasties’ music came via the 1986 classic LICENSE TO ILL. Released a few weeks past my 10th birthday, I vivdly remember dubbing a copy of the album on cassette through the decks on my relatively obnoxious red and black “six-speaker” boombox. Some may call it “piracy,” I call it being a kid in the 80’s. While the original cassette belonged to a friend down the street, I eventually convinced my parents to buy me a real one. In the years since, I’ve re-purchased that album a couple of times on various formats. It still rules, and was just as metal as it was hip-hop thanks to SLAYER guitarist KERRY KING and producer RICK RUBIN.
The Beastie Boys are one of those groups that have never released a bad album. Sure, some might be better than others – but they’re all good. It’s sad to think of 2011’s HOT SAUCE COMMITTEE PT. 2 as their swan song, but I tend to think that there’s more tracks floating around. Perhaps a full new album due to their weird flip-flop between part 1 and part 2?
The unmistakable voice of MCA may have been silenced for the future, but the past will live on. I’m thinking today my little one and I will be grooving to the sounds of the Beastie Boys. Don’t think that Beastie Boys are right for a toddler? Well, “I’m a freaky streaker like Winnie the Pooh/T-shirt and no pants and I dance the boogaloo!”
Revisit the Beasties’ back catalogue with this massive (and excellent) megamix courtesy of DJ Z-TRIP:
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Adam Yauch • 1964-2012
