Originally a hardcore punk band from Brooklyn, New York, founded 1981. They claim to have chosen their name because it was the stupidest band name they could come up with. First became noticed via their single Cookie Puss, a send-up of sampled disco music drawn from a prank phone call they made to Carvel. Turned to rap after meeting Def Jam Records co-owner and fellow punk refugeee Rick Rubin.

The Beastie Boys (Beastie apparently standing for Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence) started life as a trio based in Brooklyn, New York in 1981.

The original line up consisted of Mike Diamond (Mike D), Adam Yauch (MCA) and Kate Schellenback (who later became a member of Lucious Jackson). They started out life as a hardcore punk band, their first and only release (that I know of) release was 'Poly Wog Stew' in 1982. The band and reformed in 1983, without Schellenback , but with an ex member of 'The Young and the Useless', new boy Adam Horovitz (King AdRock), and released a semi-taking the piss record called Cookie Puss (consisting of samples of prank phonecalls the band had made), whose B-side Beastie Revolution was used in an advertising campaign by British Airways, without the band's permission. One court case and $40,000 later, the band started working with the now seminal rap guru Rick Rubin, and through his work, were signed to Def Jam records. He persuaded them to abandon punk and put them to work on their debut album, the now legendary Licence to Ill.

Their first album (released in 1986) went quintiple platinum, selling 8 million copies in the US alone, and being the first rap record to hit number 1 in the charts. The stand out track on the album was (You've Gotta) Fight for your Right to Party. The band toured with the likes of Run DMC and LL Cool J, before going back into the studio to develop Paul's Boutique with help from the Dust Brothers.

The album was released in 1986 on Capitol Records, after a time-consuming dispute with Def Jam , and was noted for its innovative style and is often referenced for starting many of the trends of the early 1990s. Tracks such as 'Hey Ladies' displayed the Beastie Boys' ability to have fun with their music while breaking new ground. All songs on the album were written by the boys.

Next up came Check Your Head in 1992. This album was intentionally more raw than previous work. with more instrumental use and less sampling. All of the band played their own instruments on the record and in so doing re-established themselves as musical force in the alternative scene with tracks such as 'So What'cha Want'. The line up consisted of MCA on bass, Mike D on drums, and King Ad-Rock on guitar. Keyboardist Mark Ramos Nishita (Money Mark) was the new addition to the group, brought in to flesh out some of the musical arrangements.

Continuing on to the the next album to come from the band, Ill Communication, was released in 1994 on their own sub-label of Capitol - known as Grand Royal (now totally separate from their musical work, and producing the X-Large range of clothing, designed by the band). This brought the Beasties in from the cold with Sabotage, and Sureshot being played in heavy rotation on MTV, and winning several awards (Sabotage still ranks highly in almost every 'best music video' chart). Inbetween albums the band have also released a few EPs, 'Some Old Bullshit' in 1994, 'In Sound From Way Out' in 1996, and Root Down in 1997.

1997 almost saw the band starring in their own movie (to be directed by Spike Jonze), but this fell through and the band pursued their own ideas. Adam Horowitz married the actress Ione Skye, and starred in a couple of movies of his own (Lost Angels and Roadside Prophets).Mike Diamond, keeps close tabs on Grand Royal, and Adam Yauch, a converted Buddhist, has become a prominent activist in the Tibet freedom movement and organized three high-profile concerts in 1996, 1997, and 1998 to raise money for the cause.

Album number five, Hello Nasty came in 1998, and included a ballad, a reggae flavored track, and the first single 'Intergalactic' and afterwards followed 'Body Movin'. The band have recently released the album 'The Sounds of Science' a 2-CD anthology set with 42 tracks. The bands discography consists of :-

Licensed to Ill  Def Jam 4500621 Def Jam 4500622 Vinyl Reissue Def Jam 4609791 
Paul's Boutique  Capitol EST2102
Capitol CDEST 2102  
Check Your Head  Capitol EST 2171
Capitol CDEST 2171  
Check Your Head + 4 (Japan)  Capitol Records/ Mfd. by Toshiba EMl Ltd. in Japan  
Some Old Bullshit  Capitol EST 2877 
Capitol CD 89843  
Ill Communication  Grand Royal / Capitol EST 2290
CDEST 2290  
Ill Communication (Japan)  Capitol/Toshiba EMI 
Hello Nasty  
The In Sound From Way Out (promo)  Polygram

The Beastie Boys Metanode
Last update: Monday, May 24th 2004

It's hard to deny it, the Beastie Boys are one of the most influential bands of the last decade. Many people agree that they are The Beatles of the 90's. I believe that anyone should own at least one of their albums.

Members
  • Michael Diamond a.k.a Mike D
  • Adam Yauch a.k.a MCA
  • Adam Horovitz a.k.a Adrock

    Albums (* = major release)
  • 1982 Poly Wog Stew
  • 1986 Licensed To Ill *
  • 1989 Paul's Boutique *
  • 1992 Check Your Head *
  • 1994 Ill Communication *
  • 1995 Aglio E Olio
  • 1996 The In Sound From Way Out
  • 1997 Some Old Bullshit
  • 1998 Hello Nasty *
  • 1999 The Sounds of Science (Anthology)
  • 2004 To the 5 Boroughs *

    Side Projects
  • BS2000
  • Country Mike (funny)
  • Latch Brothers

    Labels
  • Def Jam
  • Grand Royal
  • Capitol Records

    Friends
  • Hurricane
  • MixMaster Mike
  • Mario C
  • Money Mark
  • Biz Markie
  • UNKLE
  • AWOL
  • Q-Tip
  • Dust Brothers
  • Spike Jonze

    Roots and influence
  • Bad Brains
  • Black Flag
  • Grandmaster Flash
  • Run DMC
  • Elvis Costello

    Influenced these groups/artists
  • 311
  • Beck
  • Ben Lee
  • The Bloodhound Gang
  • The Chemical Brothers
  • Cypress Hill
  • Everlast
  • House of Pain
  • Kid Rock
  • Rage Against the Machine
  • Sean Lennon
  • The Roots

    Misc Nodes
  • Free Tibet
  • beastie
  • A white guy that can rap
  • The Beastie Boys have not retired!
  • Paul's Boutique Samples and References
  • Brass Monkey
  • Paul's Boutique: To All the Girls
  • I hooked my turntables to a waah waah pedal
  • Well if it's gonna be THAT kinda party, then I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes!
  • the infamous "Radio Radio" incident
  • Rhyme & Reason 2000
  • Beastie Boy Mike D Interviewed on Radio 1
  • John Holmes
  • In A World Gone Mad

    Weird nodeshells
  • argh, flying beastie in the room. PANIC. Damned wing-ed bastard. Kill kill kill
  • suddenly in the middle of a set for a beastie boys video
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