Beastie Boys Pauls Boutique

Beastie Boys 'Paul's Boutique' (Capitol, 1989)

Like most people, I'd suspect, MCA, Mike D and Ad Rock first came to my attention when they briefly became the most notorious and controversial band on the planet with the release of 'License to Ill'. I knew the singles and like most teenagers guffawed at the mention of 'porno mags' in chart hits. I also liked the fact that they had Slayer's Kerry King in their video and that they looked like they were into skating. They also went on tour with woman in cages, motorised penises and induced riots; pretty exciting stuff at the time.

Another thing that grabbed my attention and that of many others was their penchant for wearing Volkswagen's 'VW' emblem around their necks. This led a group of us to partake in car badge larceny on a grand scale. I had massive haul of badges hidden in a cupboard leading to the loft in the house my Mum was renting in the winter of 1987/88. We would broker deals with guys at school and exchange badges for money. Strangely Saab was a popular request; yes, that's right, we didn't just get VW, we went and took everything we could. Armed with a penknife we even managed to get the odd Jaguar amongst the more common Fords and BMWs.

I now know that this was stupid and ridiculous vandalism but I was 13 so please forgive me my teenage trespasses. Unfortunately, some of the cars we targeted were pretty expensive and our activities were reported in the local paper. Suddenly our enterprise began to unravel, 'Shallow Grave' style, as paranoia and guilt began to take hold and panic set it.

Typically, as I experienced all too often when dealing with 'well off' people, bullying soon became an issue when older guys got wind of what we were up to and threatened to grass us up unless we handed over the goods to them. Obviously there would be the added threat of physical violence to mix into the pot. Needless to say, the badges were given up and I think had to be dumped pretty quickly by the Scarface wannabes because they became too hot to handle. I didn't even keep a VW for myself!

Prior to these escapades Jonsey and I recorded our 'Boogie Boys Demo'; you see what we did there, which was a resounding success. With the two of us. It comprised of me and Jonsey swapping 'rhymes' over Metallica's 'Orion'. The first verse, from memory, was;

'Now we're the Boogie Boys, and we like playing/With groups like Iron Maiden

They've got a mascot his name is 'Eddie'/He looks like a guy his name is 'Freddy'

You might have seen him in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'/In which of sleeping beauties he made mince meat'

Looking back, that's not too bad, but I think you can see why we never broke out of my bedroom!

'Paul's Boutique' is a completely different beast to its often gonzo predecessor. There's much more of the funky beats and use of different styles that the Boys would continue using for the rest of their career. The record, if you are into such things, was a groundbreaking milestone in the use of sampling and you can certainly hear where DJ Shadow drew a lot of his influences from; if you took away the vocals this would still be a very entertaining listen.

Having said that, it's the rapping that the Boys are rightly famous for. Constant pop culture references mixed with in jokes, witty observations and obligatory shout outs to their home town are what you get delivered in the familiar style first fully developed on this record. It's strange how the whiny voices of Ad Rock and Mike D never really grate and their style definitely resonated with a certain bleach haired inhabitant of Detroit. MCA is gruff and great as usual and hearing him once again brings home what a loss his death was earlier this year.

The cover is a work of art featuring a panorama of Ludlow and Rivington on the entirety of the gatefold. Coincidentally the streets are two of my favourite in New York, Schiller's on Rivington could be one of my favourite bars in the world, and when you get to the location it is one of those New York moments when you think 'Wow, this place is exactly like the movies/books/album covers etc'; what a great, great place.

The Beastie Boys are perhaps Danny's favourite band and it amuses me no end when he and I locate rare Beastie records and he buys them at any price just to get one up on fellow enthusiast, Fat Boz. I asked him to sum up 'Paul's Boutique' and he said; 'Awesome, eclectic and unsurpassed since.'

Who am I to disagree?

Thanks to the very nice chap in Cult who let me take the photo, I think I deserved it after trekking all the way to Ocean Terminal only to be told that I actually wanted to be in the outlet five minutes from my work!

Peace