Ready and illin
First there were the go-go girls in cages and an accompanying moral outrage, followed by several years of utter indifference, but finally THE BEASTIE BOYS have been recognised as the masters of the cut-and-paste approach to making records. Damien Love raps with one of the three fun boys about breakbeats, baggy clothes and bossa nova.
4 ‘m sorry. can you say that again‘.’ Hip/m- is on in Swedish at the moment. and the boat’s crashing. It got very exciting.‘ That‘s a Beastie Boy taking time out from an absurdly busy schedule to check out Scandinavian television. but how did we
get here‘? Maybe it’s a karma thing. The last time
The Beastie Boys received this much attention
from the British press was 1986 when. in a frenzy of exploding penises. baseball bats. go- go girls and prising off the insignia from Volkswagens. they. more than any other single group. were responsible for introducing hip hop culture to the mainstream.
In mid 80s Britain. let‘s not forget. hip hop
. Q0...
was a distinctly underground phenomenon —- almost the only way to hear the records outside London was listening to John Peel where, between your Stumps and your Bogsheds. the old buzzard would spin tracks by Schooly D, Public Enemy and Eric B (it boggles the mind to think now that Peel was probably the first Radio 1 DJ to play Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince). But then came the Beasties with their monstrous Def Jam debut Licensed T0 11/. and suddenly. before you could turn your Yankees cap round the wrong way. every street in the country seemed to have its own posse of B-Boys. Yo! Back then the press attitude to the group was very different. The music papers were divided.
18 The List 24 Feb-9 Mar 1995