MCA

Strangely enough, when Dick Clark passed a few weeks back, I posted a clip from American Bandstand that featured the Beastie Boys performing 'Fight For Your Right'. Obviously, at the time, I would have never guessed what was looming in the fact the MCA would lose his battle with cancer. Those of us of a certain age know what the Beastie Boys always meant to us, so I'm not going to go into some diatribe about the history or effect the band had on all us. It's been done well enough by more qualified people over the last 24 hours.

But, I feel as though I must say SOMETHING about the fact of how f'n cool that band is, and how it is so sad to lose such an indelible part of your own personal music life. I didn't know him, and never met him, but MCA and the Beasties were so monumental in shaping my musical taste, that to know that there will never be another Beastie record with his ever so recognizable voice and flow, is absolute tragedy to me. Those first 4 records (you know the ones) mean so much to me; they are part of the link to my middle and high school life that is the one piece of my youth I love: great music. It stinks to have something like the passing of a member to make you go back and listen to those records again after putting them away for so long and realize how awesome they are.

I had the fortunate opportunity to see the Beastie Boys in June 2009 at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC, and it was one of the greatest concerts I have ever been to. They were on fire! You could tell they were preparing for a massive "comeback" (did they ever go away?) and that they were ready to reclaim their crowns as kings of hip hop, punk, rock, funk or whatever they wanted it to be. They were THAT good. No one could do it like they did it, and they made sure to remind all of us that they were still relevant, creative and passionate in their craft. Sadly, it was one of MCA's last performances before announcing the diagnosis of cancer, (Bonnaroo a couple days later proved to be the last) and now I sincerely appreciate the fact that I was able to attend that event and see one of the greatest perform a masterful show one last time.

Damn, that band was good.

Sucks to lose the good ones.