Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Beastie Boys Songs

Sorry for the one-day delay.  I meant to post this yesterday, but my car hit a water buffalo and no one would let me borrow a towel.

With last week's passing of Beastie Boy Adam "MCA" Yauch, Gen X lost one of its musical pioneers.  Yauch was only 47, and he was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, which forced him to miss some tour dates and last month's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

As I'm sure many Baby Boomers can attest, it's weird when someone who you have listened to for 25 years dies, especially when it's someone who started making records after you were born.  There's an element of figurative possession there, like "I've listened to these guys from the beginning and I have specific memories throughout my formative years relating to their music, so they belong to me."  When George Harrison dies, everyone who has ever listened to music is sad because The Beatles were/are ubiquitous, but I'm sure it's different for someone who listened to The Beatles and Harrison since 1963 than it is for someone born after The Beatles broke up or even someone in our grandparents' generation who might have liked The Beatles.

When I first heard the news of Yauch's death, there was an immediate sadness because the Beastie Boys, arguably the greatest rap group ever (certainly top 3), can never be again.  I'll never be able to see them in concert, and neither will Daughter, Lollipop, or anyone else.  That blows.

I still remember my buddy Adam making a tape of his tape of License to Ill for me in about third grade.  I'm sure it's still buried somewhere at my mom's house.  Not knowing anything about sampling then, I didn't realize that my musical education was not only being expanded further into the rap and hip hop world, but also into the rock world.  I first heard John Bonham's thundering drums from "When the Levee Breaks" (now my favorite Zeppelin song and one of my top ten songs ever) when it was sampled on "Rhymin' & Stealin'."  Artists as diverse as Black Sabbath, The Clash, Kool & The Gang, War, Stevie Wonder, Steve Miller Band, and Kurtis Blow were also sampled on the album, although I had no idea at the time.

Of course, I kept listening to the Beastie Boys.  Granted, I don't have every Beastie Boys album, so don't hold it against me if many of these are from the same albums, but here are my ten favorite Beastie Boys songs, in alphabetical order.

1.  "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" (Paul's Boutique)

This is just your classic twelve-and-a-half-minute, nine-piece hip hop suite.

2.  "B-Boys Makin' With the Freak Freak" (Ill Communication)

This is on the list mainly because it has an audio clip of comedian Mantan Moreland saying, "If it's gonna be that kinda party, I'm gonna stick my dick in the mash potatoes."  For a brief period of time, that clip was the answering machine in my dorm room freshman year.  Then my roommate's grandma called when we weren't there.

3.  "Fight For Your Right" (License to Ill)

I struggled about whether I should include this on the list, since it's obviously a legendary song and an easy choice for anyone.  But then I listened to the song again, and I had to put it on there.  It's a great song with a great message, even if they were trying to be ironic.  Also, it taught me about hypocrisy and the word "porno."

4.  "Hey Fuck You" (To The Five Boroughs)

This has all the makings of a song that I would like:  a fantastic song title, an audio clip from Animal House, references to Regina (the city in Saskatchewan, not Charlemagne's concubine), and it contains a sample with the line "So put a quarter in your ass, 'cause you played yourself."

5.  "Paul Revere" (License to Ill)

One of my greatest failures (and I mean that literally) relates to "Paul Revere."  In fourth grade, the aforementioned friend Adam, another friend Danny, and I concocted a pretty damn good version of "Paul Revere" in our various basements and bedrooms.  Adam was Ad Rock, Danny was Mike D, and I was MCA.  Our performance always involved acting out the lyrics and sometimes involved kicking down a cardboard brick wall.  It was pretty intense.  We decided to take our brilliance to the masses, trying out for our grade school talent show.  The suburban mothers were not quite prepared when three 9- and 10-year-olds started rapping about beer, carrying shotguns, robbing a bar, and implied penetration of a constable's daughter with a whiffleball bat.  Needless to say, these wannabe PMRC moms were all over it, and we were not allowed to perform our cutting-edge show, despite the fact that it was pretty clear to any objective observer that we were mature beyond our years.  Instead, we did a barber shop quartet.  The performance was more subdued and the message more subtle than we would have preferred.

6.  "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" (License to Ill)

This song just never gets old for me.  It's a solid rock rap song.  Lead guitar is played by Slayer's Kerry King, which is pretty cool.  For some reason, when I was a kid and listened to this song, I pictured the three guys really tired and riding the subway towards Brooklyn, but refusing to fall asleep.

7.  "Sabotage" (Ill Communication)

If you went to high school in the mid '90s, this song has to bring back some memories.  Whenever I hear that beginning fuzzed-out bass riff, it takes me back to May and June of my sophomore year, when my friends and I unsuccessfully tried to see The Crow three Fridays in a row.

8.  "So Watcha Want" (Check Ya Head)

You can't go wrong with a funky organ intro, distorted vocals, and another "When the Levee Breaks" sample.

9.  "Sounds of Science" (Paul's Boutique)

This one has a nice sample of the riff from "The End" by The Beatles (and various other Beatles songs, along with Isaac Hayes, James Brown, and Boogie Down Productions).  I especially dig it when the song kicks in at about the 1:38 mark.

10.  "Sure Shot" (Ill Communication)

Is that a dog dying at the beginning?  I've always wondered.  When I was a junior in high school, we had a shortage of running backs, so I got switched from wide receiver to running back, despite my slight frame, hands as soft as chinchilla's ass, and deceptive foot speed.  The starting fullback decided that the running backs' group motto for the season was "We can't, we won't, and we don't stop."  Of course, we started 5-0 before losing our last four games and missing the playoffs, so we could, we would, and we did stop.  Then again, that same fullback admitted he smoked weed before games to lessen the impact of being the oft-used fullback in a triple-option offense, so we were following a false prophet.  Anyway, as for the song, MCA has a nice verse about respecting women, which is a rarity for a rap song.

11.  "Triple Trouble" (To The Five Boroughs)

I can't count, so here's a bonus track.  A nice sample of Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" sets the backdrop for and upbeat little ditty.