I was saddened to read about the passing of Adam “MCA” Yauch.  Yauch was a founding member of the Beastie Boys who died of cancer on Friday at the age of 47.

Music is sometimes described as a soundtrack to our lives.  If that were the case, then the songs from “Licensed to Ill” would have comprised a lot of my life’s soundtrack in the mid to late 80’s.  Almost every kid I knew in high school had that album.  The backwards drum in “Paul Revere” was something that we never heard before.  I played “Time to Get Ill” for the bass so I could snap heads with the four 12″ woofers I had in my car.  “Brass Monkey” was the house party anthem.  Many of my classmates played this song while drinking, well, Brass Monkey.  As for me and my friends, we look back at this decade with great memories.  Discovering girls.  Playing sports.  Going to parties.  Cruising.  Just being kids.  The Beastie Boys came out at a time many consider the “Golden Age” of hip-hop, when the genre really took off with varying styles and sound.  And no style, group, or sound was more unique than the Beastie Boys.  Rest in Peace MCA.

What were you doing in 1986?