AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Beastie Boys

Artist:Beastie Boys
Song:(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)
Album:Solid Gold Hits




(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) was the only top ten pop hit for the Beastie Boys in 1987. They had a pretty good run as album artists. I guess the controversy at the time is they were white boys from the suburbs. The other thing is they started as a punk group and seemingly switched to rap for commercial reasons. In 1981 they were called The Young Aborigines. Michael "Mike D" Diamond was the lead singer. John Berry was the guitarist and he brought with him bassist Adam "MCA" Yauch. Kate Schellenbach was the drummer. The Young Aborigines released a couple of singles. Berry left and was replaced by Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz. He is the son of playwright Israel Horovitz. That's when they switched to hip hop and changed their name to Beastie Boys. Schellenbach left and would go on to be drummer for Luscious Jackson. The group is getting a local rep in New York for performing and having the audience film the performances. They were still a punk band at this stage. But after Shellenbach left in 1984, they went completely hip hop complete with nicknames. They signed with fledgling label Def Jam owned by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons. The Beastie Boys went on tour. A song was on the Krush Groove soundtrack. Licensed To Ill was released in 1986. Fight For Your Right reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the first rap album to top the Billboard Hot 200 and it was the biggest selling rap album of the 80s. Beastie Boys left Def Jam for Capitol and started their own label Grand Royal. The album Paul's Boutique was released in 1989. Though it was considered to be a better album, it didn't do nearly as well as Licensed To Ill which turned out to be their most successful album. This budget comp is a good intro to their music. Beastie Boys continued to release albums until a 2000 tour was cancelled when Diamond was seriously injured in a bicycle accident. They returned in 2004 and continued until Yauch died of cancer on May 4, 2012 at age 47. Diamond and Horovitz said they would not record as Beastie Boys out of respect for Yauch. They still dabble in music but they aren't very active. They were certainly a big deal in 1986. Here's the video for (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) by Beastie Boys.