When I was a kid, my mom had an annoying element of control over my musical interests, at least for a while. She didn’t understand the music I liked, much of which was a peculiar mix of synthetic beats and comedy records, but I suppose that’s normal for most children. In particular, she really disliked Prince and his freaky image, thought Madonna was awful due to her overt sexuality and religious questioning, and saw the Beastie Boys as potential agents of corruption in regards to her children’s sensibilities. I fell off on Prince’s music for a few years after Purple Rain because of this, and her influence gave me a distorted view of Madonna as some kind of wicked she-devil, though the Beasties probably got it worst, as they held the position of drunk jerks. Nevermind that I watched their videos whenever they came on MTV and liked a few of their songs, their album and singles were not part of my collection, mostly because my mom wouldn’t let me buy them since she knew about the obscenities in their lyrics. This weird but probably somewhat normal parental interference caused a backwards kind of disdain for the Beasties and Madonna, for whom I looked at as negative entertainment for a generation. Hell, my parents mocked me a bit for liking MC Hammer, even his song Pray, although my father seemed to get it after a while.

Some years later, I was up and watching 120 Minutes or Alternative Nation, can’t remember which, when they premiered the video for Pass The Mic. It was confusing and I wasn’t sure what to think of it, but I liked it. Soon I was trying to scam a copy of the clean promo of Check Your Head from a record store I visited regularly, sadly to no success though. It took until I got my hands on a tape of Ill Communication and became totally engulfed in it. It was fun, funky, funny and full of twists I simply wasn’t used to. The mashed potatoes sample is still hilarious to this day! My mom had to accept that her son was maturing and she couldn’t control my musical interests, all of which had become to wild and diverse for her. In my usual reverse fashion, I found my was to Hello Nasty, Paul’s Boutique, and eventually Licensed To Ill, falling in love with all of them. Even To The 5 Burroughs has its moments, though I’ll mostly leave that one where it rests.

My brother at one point told me I’d give up on the Beasties like a lot of other groups eventually and didn’t understand my interest in them, but they always stayed in my head. They had an air of confidence that couldn’t be shaken, even in the face of failure. In those pre-internet days, all I knew about Paul’s Boutique was a lot of people didn’t like it when compared to Licensed To Ill and that it was considered a career-ending mistake. When I found a copy on CD at a flea market and got to finally listen to it I cherished it like a lost gem found in the rubble of a dead civilization. To say it changed my life is a given. It was easily the most complex hip-hop record I’d ever heard, and that’s saying a lot. Still, they could have left it behind or turned on it, claimed it was all in error, but they stood by it and still do, and you have to respect it.

Mike D. gets mentioned as the inspiration for a lot of the Beasties’ concepts but it clearly was always a group thing, though a lot of their image goes back to Yauch. He directed their videos and, even as a group thing, they clearly showed his influence. That said, even when their political opinions threatened to get in the way of their musical goals (again, see To The 5 Burroughs), you understood it was from the heart, and a lot of that was Yauch’s conscience. He was a Buddhist, a family man, a friend to many and a guy who stood by his beliefs. Ever heard a Beastie song in a commercial? Didn’t think so. Ever seen a group that did whatever they wanted to so clearly without fear of what their label might think? Can’t think of many, at least on a major label, right? Hell, it’s amazing to think they could stand by the legacy of Licensed To Ill despite their disdain for some of its message, almost ignoring the quandry they had put themselves in.

When I read about Yauch’s death yesterday, I was shaken. It’s not like I knew the guy personally, and when celebrities die I’ve felt bad for them and their families to some extent, but Yauch isn’t like that. He, along with Mike D. and Adrock, always seemed invincible in my mind, and with the astoundingly good Hot Sauce Committee Part Two having reminded everyone how good the Beasties are, the videos being wonderful, and Yauch having his cancer go into remission, I assumed, like most of us, that he was in the clear and everything was good. With that sad news, I felt the bottom drop out. I felt a part of my youth die. Yauch was a really good guy who fought for what he believed in and to see him go at 47 took some of that “I can do anything” stride out of my life. I guess the closest celebrity I could compare him to, and I know this will shock people, would be Jon Bon Jovi, a guy who similarly stands for what he believes in and actually goes on the line to do what he feels needs to be done, only trying to live by what he believes is right. If Jon died tomorrow he’d certainly get more press than Yauch, but I’m not sure if his influence could ever outweigh Yauch’s. Yauch helped shape MTV, the music industry, the face of hip-hop, the way people look at themselves and think about entertainment, but also the world around us and how we can change it. We don’t have to be the richest or most powerful, we just have to fight for what we believe in and be true to ourselves, that way, even if you don’t fully succeed, you’ve already become a success.

This might all be a bit of a ramble, and I’ll admit that I don’t have all my thoughts together as clearly as I’d like them to be, but I wanted to say that Yauch brought a lot of love to this world and he won’t be forgotten. It’s a sad day not just for hip-hop, but the world as a whole. R.I.P. Adam Yauch, aka MCA, aka Nathaniel Hornblower. Thank you.

PS – Just because I don’t want to be purely sad here, Yauch was definitely rockin’ a kinda Spock look in that photo, wasn’t he? Those ears look a little pointy.

Sorry I haven’t been around folks, we’ve been busy. That said, I don’t want anyone thinking I’m gone so I’m leaving this little update. New posts will start again in May but, for the time being, there is just too much crap going on. I’m trying to complete my proposal for a contribution to the 33 1/3 books series, I’m actually trying to start a digital label which is called slow lettuce, I’ve been trying to figure out how to contact Scott Munn, the ex-manager of Drive-By Truckers and Jason Isbell, about licensing the blackcowboy recordings (not much luck yet, other than a nice re-tweet from Jason Isbell), trying to finish reading Mindy Kaling’s book, also trying to convince myself to do stand-up at an open mic night, trying to catch up with Rom, and trying to find a balance between too little sleep and too much. I’m sure you understand that life has been very busy lately. Nonetheless, things will return to a more normal state soon enough. Until then, there are a number of Homemade Deluxe Editions I’m working on, including the previously mentioned Family and Time reissues, as well as other things that are non-Prince related. So, I’ll be back soon, but until then please keep seeding the torrents and let me know what you’re all thinking about. Peace!

Dave3

Sorry there have been no posts since the unmastered Gorillaz tracks, life is very busy and I’m still dealing with this ear infection. My change of employment last year definitely cut down on my ability to update the site at will. That said, nope, I’m not dead, and no, there are no April Fools joke here! Since the site started close to April Fools in the first place, I decided a long time ago that I wasn’t going to be messing with that “holiday”. Anyway, March 31st was the three year anniversary of The Unheard Music and I just wanted to thank everyone who has stuck with us on this crazy ride. I feel like we’ve been neutered to some extent, what with the previous host yanking the site without warning and the filesharing host deleting all our content, but I’m working on reversing that situation. I don’t really know what is to become of the site in the future, whether it will continue to operate like this or turn into something else. Maybe a forum, maybe a rarities and independent music strictly information site, maybe some kind of real world trading circle, who knows, but I intend to stick it out and you’ll know where to find me no matter what happens. Anyway, again, thank you to all of you, except the spammers and spam bots of course. The next post will be up tomorrow or early Wednesday. Talk soon!