Columbia 40238
Producers: Rick Rubin, Beastie Boys
Track listing: Rhymin & Stealin / The New Style / She’s Crafty / Posse in Effect / Slow Ride / Girls / Fight for Right / No Sleep Till Brooklyn / Paul Revere / Hold It Now, Hit It / Brass Monkey / Slow and Low / Time to Get Ill
March 7, 1987
7 weeks
Who could have guessed that it would take three white punks to bring rap music to the top of the album chart? While it was certainly nothing new for white artists to achieve popular status with a form of music founded in the African-American community — Bill Haley’s cover of Big Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” the 1955 song frequently cited as the first rock ‘n’ roll record — is a prime example, but the sudden rise of the Beastie Boys was particularly unusual.
The Beastie Boys formed in August 1981 to play a party for bass player Adam Yauch’s 17th birthday. Yauch had heard the Los Angeles hardcore punk band Black Flag and found punk’s do-it-yourself ethic appealing. After a few breakups, reunions, personnel changes, and the release of the hardcore Polly Wog Stew EP, the Beasties became enamored with the world of hip-hop. Their “Cookie Puss” 12-inch single reflected this new passion, combining a prank phone call to a Carvel ice cream store with hip-hop beats. Eventually the band traded in their instruments for mics and a turntable, as Yauch, Mike Diamond, and Adam Horovitz became MCA, Mike D., and King Ad-Rock, respectively.
“If you’re not gonna have as much equipment as AC/DC, you really shouldn’t play instruments,” Mike D. said at the time. “When we can be as rich as them and have that kind of stage show, we’ll play instruments.” Actually, rap and punk shared certain sensibilities. “Punk rockers have really funny hairdos,” said Mike D. “And home boys have really funny hats,” added Ad-Rock.
With the Beastie Boys enjoying acceptance in the rap community, the band was soon signed to Rush Productions by manager Russell Simmons, whose brother Joseph was the “Run” in Run-D.M.C. By 1984, Simmons and Beastie DJ Rick Rubin had started Def Jam Records, with the Beasties and rapper LL Cool J among the first signings.
The Beasties recorded Licensed to Ill on and off during 1985 while completing tours as a support act for Madonna and Run-D.M.C. Meanwhile, Columbia Records picked up Def Jam for distribution, but the major label didn’t expect much from the Beastie Boys. “They looked at us as the curse of the whole deal,” says Mike D.
On Licensed to Ill, the band sampled everything from Led Zeppelin, the Clash, and War to the theme from Mr. Ed. But there were also live instruments. “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” featured Slayer’s Kerry King on guitar, while Rubin and Ad-Rock played guitar on the rap ‘n’ roll teen anthem “Fight for Your Right,” which reached number seven on the Hot 100.
Although the Beasties rapped their way into the hearts of millions of teens, their sometimes sexist, violent, and stupid lyrics outraged others. Even Mike D. finds some of Licensed to Ill a bit hard to swallow: “There are some things that I think are really fly and still stand up and there are songs that I am completely embarrassed to be involved with.”
THE TOP FIVE
Week of March 7, 1987
1. Licensed to III, Beastie Boys
2. Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi
3. The Way It Is, Bruce Hornsby & the Range
4. Invisible Touch, Genesis
5. Control, Janet Jackson