When I heard the news of Adam Yauch losing his fight against cancer, this morning, I felt the tears well up. I had to choke them back and get on with life, but this celebrity death hit me hard. The last time I reacted to a celebrity passing was probably Nate Dogg, and that's only because he was so interwoven throughout the music from my youth.
And it's that era that was the true home of The Beastie Boys. I had all their tapes. I listened to them so much they would break, and have to be replaced. When I hear 'Paul Revere' it takes me to 1994, when I was 16 and driving around with my music loud was enough to keep me happy. Now as an adult, I freak my kids out when I know every word, and sing/rap loudly, to 'Brass Monkey', 'Sabotage', and 'Intergalactic'.
The Beastie Boys are no longer a band, it's a fact. Without MCA, the show does not go on. I'm glad they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month, even if Adam couldn't make it. But as originality in music is waning, old school fans like me know that this is a sad, sad day for the music industry.
It's always been my running inside joke that whenever someone would ask, "What time is is?" I would happily reply, "It's time to get ill!" In the future, I will deliver my tagline with a tinge of sadness.
