Many musical acts have to force you into a corner to hear their "art". They may even try coerce the fans into thinking they are something bigger than they aren't. The
Beastie Boys were honest about who they were and played their tunes on their own terms and exactly how they wanted to be heard. With this simple equation it made them a huge act and a cultural shift that blurred many lines.
It is easy to say that everyone does that already, but how well do you do it? Do you rip off a
Black Sabbath or
Motorhead vibe or copy another band's style and still call yourself legit? List your sources and be proud of where you cull the ideas from as reinventing the wheel has come and passed. The age we live in now is more a matter of patching together a quilt and or creating collages to make ideas feel new and fresh.
Here is the challenge to any and all far and wide, look upon the high water mark created by a group such as the Beastie Boys and reflect on what you could do to create a legacy. At the end of the day, that is all we are left to be remembered by. Adam Yauch, thanks for being a driving force in one amazingly great band, may your legacy live on...
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| Beastie Boys were true pioneers in music |
Below is great write up by
Bob Lefsetz on the Beastie Boys and is a perfect segue into their history and breaking new ground.
"This is not really my thing. But I find myself deeply affected.
I won't say the Beastie Boys were the Beatles of their generation, but
they too tested limits and were decried by oldsters and embraced by
youngsters. Their party anthem was ubiquitous on MTV when that channel
still meant something. And unlike too many TV bands they didn't stagnate
and repeat themselves, they didn't have their moment in time and fade
away, rather they continued to test limits and grow. "Paul's Boutique"
was so far ahead of what was in the marketplace that it took many years
to catch up with it. If it had been on Sony instead of Capitol, it would
have been just as big as the debut. Still, the music lives on.
As does "Sabotage" from their follow-up LP. In an era where videos were
becoming more formulaic, focusing on glitz and beauty, "Sabotage" was a
precursor to "Pulp Fiction", it was less about a fantasy life the fan
could never inhabit than musical stars inserting themselves into our
everyday world. The pictures were so good you continued to watch the
clip, even if you were not enamored of the music.
And in an era where everybody's got a clothing line, most forget the
Beastie Boys were there first. Or close to it. It wasn't seen as a
cash-in so much as satiating the fans, who wanted to separate those who
got it from those who did not, the same way Ken Kesey did for a
generation previous, delineating that some were on the bus and others
were off it.
And there were movies and a record label, even a magazine, but what's
most important other than the music is what the act meant to its
generation. Generation X. The one that Douglas Coupland wrote about in
his book, those now approaching fifty, who grew up in the shadow of the
baby boomers.
Sex was no longer free. The cost could be your life. The boomers were
suddenly greedy and all that was left were McJobs. But Gen X had its
music, rap, which most baby boomers still hate, still don't understand.
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| Beastie Boys group shot |
It was a different era. Madonna went on tour with an unknown opening act
that she had no financial investment in. Can you imagine that happening
today? And if you think the Material Girl's fans embraced the Beastie
Boys, you probably believe the Greatest Generation, the baby boomers'
parents, loved the Stones.
And despite succeeding with a hedonistic party anthem, the Beastie Boys
radiated intelligence. Stupid was an act, which was quickly cast aside.
Entertainment has too often sold dumb, and too much of our country
embraces ignorance, the Beastie Boys wanted no part of that.
And they took a stand. Musical stars have power. But those with stature
have abdicated it. They're afraid of turning off potential audience
members. Whereas the Beastie Boys didn't care. Furthermore, they led
their audience, they educated fans on issues. There's a direct line from
the Beatles to San Francisco to the Beastie Boys. And MCA was an
integral part.
Ian Rogers? Majordomo of Topspin? He started with the Beastie Boys. He gave up pursuing his Ph.D. because of the sound.
That's the power of music.
It's a sad day. For a long time we believed Adam would pull through.
Death is final. It creeps you out. Be sure to live while you're still alive."
