11. Beastie Boys Sabotage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5rRZdiu1UE When they first appeared the 1980s, the Beastie Boys may have come across like a bunch of spoilt brats, but from day one it was clear that they intuitively understood the power of a great hook. After the initial success of their debut album Licensed to Ill they started to really develop who they were over their next two records; the funk and sample orientated Paul's Boutique, and then starting to play the instruments for their third, Check your head. From their fourth record Ill Communications they released their masterpiece Sabotage. Combining their love of jamming with real instruments with scratching and rapping, it was the moment that they nailed the crossover between rock and hip hop, adding a new layer of sophistication to the music whilst retaining their sense of fun. The video was a wonderful pastiche of the US cop shows of the 70s, and is the star of the show. Its the first of two videos in this list to be directed by Spike Jonze, who was soon to make his name in the world of film with Being John Malkovich and he was the perfect sparring partner for the Beastie Boys, who played the lead characters here namely Cochese, The Chief and The Rookie. Forget Aerosmith and Run DMC collaborating on Walk this way, this is how hip hop and guitar music should be done, and whilst The Red Hot Chilli Peppers were certainly much more accomplished musicians, when did they record anything as pulsating as this? This was a song that was equally at home on the dance floors of hip-hop and rock clubs, Sabotage was a true genre-bending crossover song. And lets not forget that the lyrics were bonkers, Cant stand it, I know you planned it Listen all y'all, it's a sabotage. This was the most fun four minutes of music of the decade.
Ed Nash
Contributor
What makes music fantastic? Star quality, amazing music, breathtaking lyrics and the ability to bring something new to the table, even if that means a new take on the classics. That's what I love to listen to and write about.
As well as writing for What Culture, I occasionally write a blog http://tedney.blogspot.co.uk and sometimes use Twitter, but sparingly @TedneyNash
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Ed