Ep567: Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill at 40 with Ben Merlis

Author Ben Merlis traces the Beastie Boys' wild leap from young hardcore punks to rap's first number-one album, revealing the rare records, recordings and scrapped ideas behind Licensed to Ill.

Pick up "Licensed To Ill at 40" book here

Topics Include:

How a short 2017 article landed Ben Merlis this book deal Why the Beasties' punk-to-rap story fits Ben's two obsessions perfectly The process of writing the book Pollywog Stew: an unknown pressing run How a Black Flag show sparked the Beastie Boys' hardcore beginnings The Upper Broadway loft where they formed, demoed and played first Lucky, well-connected teens, and why young genres are meritocracies Scrapping an EP, crank-calling Carvel, and stumbling into Cookie Puss Downtown dance-punk, and sets that switched from hardcore to rapping Def Jam's surprising origins as Rick Rubin's punk label Meeting Rubin over a bubble machine; Kate Schellenbach gets pushed out Rubin, Dr. Dre, Hurricane: were the Beastie Boys' DJs really members? Rock Hard & Beastie Groove Def Jam's collectible burgundy-sleeve era, and how to spot them British Airways steals Beastie Revolution and pays out $40,000 The settlement money buys an 808 instead of a Rickenbacker No band cooperation, then a surprise interview with Mike D The grief behind the jokes: losing parents young Counting the White Castle references on License to Ill Opening for Madonna at $500 a night with fifteen minutes' material Recording Licensed to Ill, and pinning down its real release date Fight for Your Right: written last-minute on Palladium cocktail napkins MTV, race and radio: how they scored rap's first number one The album's shockingly offensive working title, and why CBS killed it The crashing-plane cover, Led Zeppelin worship and uncleared samples A runaway tour, alienated fans and a messy split from Def Jam Rubin blocks their movie, royalties stop, and lawsuits follow Legacy: everything dope and whack about the 80s in one album Rare pressings: tour show vinyl, blank Spanish LP, "Licensed to Kill" French seven-inch box sets, Peruvian covers and a Japanese laserdisc High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

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