LI SOUND: Beastie Boys' book reveals the trio's LI escapades

Though the Beastie Boys were always a proud New York group — shouting out “Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten, from the Battery to the top of Manhattan” — their long-awaited memoir “Book” (Spiegel & Grau) also offers some insight into some of their Long Island escapades.

In the massive book, Michael Diamond (a.k.a. Mike D) and Adam Horovitz (a.k.a. Ad-Rock) tell plenty of stories about how they and the late Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA) started out and how their artistry deepened and broadened from their breakout hit “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” to organizing the Tibetan Freedom Concert series. To help make their case, Diamond and Horovitz turn over parts of “Book” to authors like Jonathan Lethem and Colson Whitehead, directors like Spike Jonze and Wes Anderson, and comedians like Amy Poehler.

But the personal details of the Beastie Boys’ early days are really what make “Book” such a treat, especially when they explain how they teamed up with their DJ and eventual producer, Rick Rubin.

“Rick was an interesting cat,” Diamond writes. “He was from an entirely different world from us: Long Island. A true suburban kid. Complete with doting, overly protective parents and an unbridled affection for AC/DC and Zeppelin and metal.”

Diamond writes that the night before the group shot the video for “She’s On It” on the beach in Long Beach was an eye-opener because they spent it at Rubin’s parents’ house in Lido Beach. “Unlike us, Rick had grown up in a bona fide suburban house. Staircase in the middle like ‘The Brady Bunch.’… We showed up and (Rubin’s mom) Linda was super excited to have Little Ricky back for a night. She never stopped offering us all manner of snacks, soup, matzo balls, you name it.”

Horovitz writes of the time the group played the Sweet 16 party of the daughter of music executive Charles Koppelman at the family’s home in Roslyn.

“As we looked around the guesthouse, we realized that the friendly staff member had locked us in,” Horovitz writes. “Mr. Koppelman must’ve heard about us, or seen our video.”

Their performance at the party was cut short and they were ordered to leave by a “tuxedoed securityish guy” who took the microphones out of their hands.  

“Book” also shows how the Beasties were influenced by several Strong Island rappers, including LL Cool J, Eric B. & Rakim and, of course, Public Enemy.

Diamond wrote about Yauch’s love of Public Enemy’s song “By The Time I Get to Arizona,” saying, “It merged one of his favorite rappers of all time with his favorite instrument of all time: epic fuzz bass.”

Diamond writes that the Beasties were “alternately inspired by and jealous of” Public Enemy’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” the Roosevelt group’s landmark 1988 album.

“It made us question whether what we were making was even worthwhile,” Diamond writes, adding that Yauch said, “Damn they did it! We will never make something this good!”

WLIR’s legacy lives on

“New Wave: Dare to Be Different,” Plainview native Ellen Goldfarb’s documentary about the rise and fall of the influential Long Island radio station WLIR, is finally getting its DVD release and it will be packed with previously unseen extras.

In addition to new interviews with Goldfarb and former WLIR program director Denis McNamara, there will also be more footage from Goldfarb’s interviews with Billy Idol, Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes, The Cure’s Lol Tolhurst, Tears for Fears’ Curt Smith, and Long Island Music Hall of Famer Steve Thompson, the Grammy-winning producer who has worked with everyone from Madonna to Guns ‘N’ Roses.

They all continue to tell the story of WLIR, the tiny Hempstead station that helped launch the careers of numerous new wave artists, especially those from England, in the ‘80s, bringing many of them to Long Island. The DVD, which will be released Dec. 7 by MVD Entertainment Group, will also include more interviews with WLIR staffers, including Larry “The Duck” Dunn, “Malibu Sue” McCann, Donna Donna, Delphine Blue, Ben Manilla, and Jeff “Beck” Carlson. 

Examples of the station's influence are still seen today, especially with Omnivore Records releasing Big Star's "Live on WLIR" on Jan. 25, which will be the first time the Alex Chilton-led band's concert at Ultrasonic Studios in Hempstead, which aired live on WLIR in 1973, will be released on vinyl. The 15-song show featured songs from its "#1 Record" and "Radio City" albums, as well as a cover of Loudon Wainwright III's "Motel Blues."

“Alex is, in this trio, playing all the guitar and singing lead, and he’s giving it about all he’s got," Robert Gordon writes in the album's liner notes. "This recording is a clear window into the impenetrable past, making it a thrill today to hear Alex so young and enthusiastic.”

Contact The Long Island Sound at glenn.gamboa@newsday.com or follow @ndmusic on Twitter.