Songoftheday 5/27/21 - Well now don't you tell me to smile, you stick around I'll make it worth your while...
"Intergalactic" - Beastie Boys
from the album Hello Nasty (1998)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (four weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 10
Today's song of the day comes from the Beastie Boys, who we had last seen in the pop top-40 in America in the fall of 1989 with their Paul's Boutique single "Hey Ladies". Despite the fact that the album had sold relatively poorly compared to their big debut Licensed To Ill, the record was critically heralded as one of the best sets of the genre in that decade, and that clout allowed them to branch even farther in their musical palette on Capitol Records. Their third studio full-length, Check Your Head, arrived in 1992, and a sign that their focus had shifted was that the big single from the set, the drum-heavy "So What'cha Want", failed to make the R&B chart but instead climbed to #22 on Billboard magazine's Alternative Rock radio list (and #93 on the pop Hot 100). The album did climb to #10 on the Billboard 200, and scored Mike Diamond, Adam Yauch, and Adam Horovitz their first Grammy nomination for the album for Best Rap Duo/Group Performance in 1993, which went to Arrested Development's progressive song "Tennessee".
In 1994, the trio returned with their next set, Ill Communication, which returned them to #1 on the Billboard 200 sales tally. The Boys reached the top-40 in Britain with the "double-A" single "Get It Together" and "Sabotage", with the latter reaching #18 on the Alternative Rock radio chart in America and actually nabbing a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance, which went home with the grunge band Soundgarden for "Black Hole Sun". But even so, they became the stars of MTV, with the video for "Sabotage" becoming a cornerstone of their career on the channel.
After a trio of odds and ends releases including a pre-fame collection, an instrumental record, and an EP that all made the Billboard 200, the group came back with a proper full-length in 1998 with Hello Nasty. The lead single "Intergalactic" was treated as a big-name release, but the song by far wasn't kowtowing to any mainstream pattern. Written by the trio with producer Mario Caldato Jr., the track merges hip-hop rhymes to electro-funk in the likes of George Clinton and Afrika Bambaataa. With a Godzilla-inspired video to boot, they found themselves on the radio again...
"Intergalactic" became the Beastie Boys' third, and final, top-40 pop hit in August of 1998. The song also climbed to #4 on Billboard's Alternative Rock radio chart. Internationally, the single reached the top ten in Iceland (#2), New Zealand (#4), the UK (#5), Norway (#6), and Sweden (#9). It also made the top-40 in the Netherlands (#16), Canada (#21), Australia (#21), Ireland (#24), Austria (#26), Switzerland (#33), Belgium (#36F), and Germany (#40). The Hello Nasty album, released in July, went to #1 on the Billboard 200, going on to sell over three million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 1999, "Intergalactic" won them the trophy for Best Rap Duo/Group Performance, while Hello Nasty also won for Best Alternative Music Album.
The second single from Hello Nasty was "Body Movin'", which went to #15 on the Alternative Rock radio chart, while the remixes of the track helped it pop on to the Dance Club Play tally at #44. The song was bigger overseas, reaching the top-40 in the UK (#15), New Zealand (#20), Australia (#28), and Sweden (#30). That was followed by "The Negotiation Limerick File", which climbed to #29 on the American Alternative Rock list. Meanwhile in the UK, the two-fer single of "Remote Control" and "3 MCs and 1 DJ" climbed to #21 there. The trio capped off their career so far in 1999 with the Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds Of Silence, which included the new song "Alive", which rose to #11 on the Alternative Rock radio chart in America and #28 on the British singles chart. It was also nominated for the Best Duo/Group Rap Grammy, which went to Dr. Dre and Enimem's collab "Forgot About Dre".
After a six year hiatus, where they pursued outside projects, the Boys released their love letter to their New York City home, To The 5 Boroughs. It became their fourth and final #1 album, while single "Ch-Check It Out" spent two weeks at #1 on Billboard's Alternative Rock chart, and made the top ten in the UK at #8 and #68 on the American pop Hot 100. It also got nominated for the Duo/Group Rap category, which the Black Eyed Peas stole with their "Let's Get It Started" pop nugget. The 5 Boroughs album was the sole Rap Album nomination, which Kanye West took for The College Dropout. Two more tracks from the set made the British top-40, with "An Open Letter To NYC" their last at #38.
In 2007, the group released the instrumental set The Mix-Up, which got to a respectable #15 on the Billboard 200 sales list, and won their third Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, while album track "Off The Grid" was also nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Performance (the award went to folk-rock icon Joni Mitchell for "One Week Last Summer").
The trio's final album, Hot Sauce Committee Volume 2, came out in 2011, and went to #2 on the Billboard 200. Lead single "Make Some Noise" climbed to #7 on the Alternative Rock chart in America, while "Too Many Rappers" with Nas was their final Hot 100 placing at #93. The latter was nominated for a Rap Duo/Group Grammy, which again went to Dre and Eminem (along with 50 Cent) for "Crack A Bottle".
The Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April of 2012, but they were unable to perform, as Yauch's health had deteriorated to the point of hospitalization. Sadly, in a few weeks, he would pass on from cancer. Adam and Mike decided to put the Beastie Boys name to rest. But their mark on American music had been already solidified.
(8/10)
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and in concert in London in 1998...
Lastly, the trio at Live 8 in 2005...
Up tomorrow: An adequately-quick band ends the night.
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