In Honor Of SiriusXM Launching The New Beastie Boys Channel, Here's A Long Overdue Blog Dedicated To Them and Their Recent Documentary
Sirius XM - Beastie Boys Channel will feature classic bangers, deep cuts, rarities, and live recordings celebrating the legacy and influence of Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “ADROCK” Horovitz, and the late Adam “MCA” Yauch. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will share exclusive commentary, stories, and insight dating from their 10X-platinum debut, Licensed to Ill, through multi-platinum albums Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty, To the 5 Boroughs, and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. The channel will also feature a guest DJ series, Pass the Mic, which will include a slew of artists, celebrities, athletes — all fans of the band — including Z-Trip, Sean Lennon, Rosie Perez, Talib Kewli, ******** **********, and more taking over hosting duties. Beastie Boys Channel will be available on the SiriusXM app in the Rock category. Channel 35 will also become the Beastie Boys Channel
Got this eblast over the weekend and couldn't have been more pumped.
An all Beastie Boys channel (for a limited time only) featuring commentary from Ad-Rock and Mike D, and curated by some of the most respectable names in Hip-hop (and one awful, terrible, race-baiting, former hire). SiriusXM always crushes these artist feature channels so this one will no doubt be any exception. Rare versions, live performances, and insight from the artists themselves are like crack fixes to true music fiends and SiriusXM is well-trusted supplier.
STREAM THE BEASTIE BOYS CHANNEL BY CLICKING HERE
The Beastie's have had somewhat of a renaissance over the past few months.
First, they finally debuted the much anticipated Spike Jonze documentary on Apple+ back in April. More on this later.
Then, a few weeks back they were the subject of heavy debate amongst the Barstool Chicago crew.
To make a long story short, Carl attempted to use his Boy Band selection on the Beastie Boys citing the fact that they were a band, and they were comprised of boys. He was quickly shut down by Eddie, Dave, and Chief. As a fellow legal dropout of Carl's I respected the effort. However, I did not appreciate the indirect disrespect shown towards one of music's most dynamic groups of all time.
The peanut gallery jumped all over this, but the overall lack of appreciation for the Beastie Boys was what left me in awe.
(sidebar - somebody told me that the term "peanut gallery" is canceled now? Is that legit? Google found me nothing. If so what are we supposed to say? Snowflakes please let me know)
I'm not sure if people today remember or realize just how prolific the Beastie Boys actually were.
They, of course, have some of the best die-hard fans, (shout out Paul's Boutique), but the fact that today's casual music fan might only know them for "Fight For Your Right" is sad. (And from what we learned from the documentary, would probably infuriate them.)
Which is all the more reason for everybody to watch "The Beastie Boys Story" on Apple+.
The doc was shot over three nights at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn in 2019, set to debut in theatres this past April but due to Covid they shifted to Apple+.
It's immediately apparent to the viewer that this doc is geared towards the avid fan rather than the uninitiated. The crowd in the theatre is raucous and hangs on every one of Ad-Rock's words as he takes the lead in narrating with Mike D providing color and diving in deep on focal points.
Without spoiling the entire thing, the doc plays in part, a retelling of the band's origin and history, but also as a tribute to Adam Yauch, aka MCA. Yauch was not only the one who kick-started the group, he was also the most talented. Sadly, he lost his fight to cancer in 2012.
The story behind the band is fuckin awesome. And it's told by two really likable guys. Three Jewish kids from Brooklyn growing up in the 80s fell in love with hip hop. Real hip hop. The ignored the naysayers and decided to start a group. The first iteration of the Beastie Boys band actually had a female member in it, Kate Schellenbach, who was also their friend growing up. She played drums and they still show regret for treating her kind of shitty and kicking her out. The group came up the usual way, playing neighborhood parties, then dives, then clubs and building a true grassroots following.
By a stroke of luck, or fate, or both, they were introduced to Rick Rubin. An eccentric music buff, student at NYU, and DJ (what a loser). Rubin began DJing for the group and producing the sound that became synonymous with early Beastie Boys records "Rock Hard", "Party's Gettin' Rough", and "Beastie Groove".
(The doc also touches on just how crazy business minded Rubin was- essentially launching one of the worlds most dominant music labels from his dorm room)
Rubin introduced the Beastie Boys to Russell Simmons, who saw the value in them as a novelty act and quickly signed them.
The doc does an amazing job showcasing Yauch's amazing job at holding the group together and helping them find their way once "Fight For Your Right" became a smash success taking the band around the globe. They changed their image to portray themselves as beer-chugging, frat-boy, party rockers (something they seem to regret today), which became hard for them to shake later in their career.
The thing I found most amazing was how talented Yauch was. Not just musically. MCA could have easily ran for office on any level and been elected. He was super intelligent and seemed to be able to relate to everybody. Wherever they were on the road, MCA would always find a way to make friends with locals and immerse himself in the culture. He was also always learning. New instruments, languages, customs. He was the one always pushing the envelope of the bands sound- which is one of the main reasons The Beastie Boys sustained success for 3 decades the way they did. From punk rock to hip hop, from hip hop to party rock, from party rock back to hip hop all while maintaining a cutting edge sound fusing rock and rap loaded with synths and live percussions.
It documents the bands hiatus and then reunion. Followed by their resurgence and simultaneous introduction to a whole new generation of fans with "Sabotage"
and "Intergalactic"
Again, didn't want to spoil the whole thing so apologize if I did. But strongly recommend watching if you haven't already.
Stream The Beastie Boys Story Here
p.s. - Are people not on to Apple+ or was it just the Chicago office? I brought it up on radio and nobody had a clue what I was talking about. Eddie thought I was talking about the thing that plugs into your TV (Apple TV). It's got The Morning Show, Defending Jacob, For All Mankind, Greyhound (new), The Beastie Boys Story, and Aaron Paul's new show Truth Be Told (which wasn't great but wasn't the worst. Definitely better than most of the scraps left to watch on tv right now).