Beastie Boys co-founder Adam “MCA” Yauch sadly died on this date in 2012 from parotid cancer. Yauch was born on August 5, 1964 in Brooklyn and taught himself how to play bass while in high school. In 1981, Yauch formed the Beastie Boys along with Michael “Mike D” Diamond, guitarist John Berry and drummer Kate Schellenbach as a punk rock group. The band would cut their teeth opening for renowned punk rockers like the Dead Kennedys, the Misfits, Bad Brains and Reagan Youth at legendary New York clubs including CBGB and Max’s Kansas City.
As a band that came to prominence during the early days of MTV, film has always been a big part of the Beastie aesthetic as well as their origin story. It was while working on a Philip Pucci film called Beastie that Adam Yauch and Michael Diamond met Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz who joined the Beasties in 1982 after the departure of Berry. Schellenbach would leave the band in 1984, cementing the legendary hip hop/rock trio.
Besides being one third of the storied group, Yauch was also a talented filmmaker and he directed a number of Beastie videos, often under the pseudonym Nathaniel Hörnblowér, and co-founded independent film production company Oscilloscope Laboratories in 2008. MCA’s final directorial work for the Beasties was the Fight For Your Right (Revisited) short film which traces what happened after the Beastie Boys’ iconic video for “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!),” off their 1986 No. 1 debut album, Licensed To Ill.
While Yauch didn’t direct the original video, he wrote and directed Fight For Your Right (Revisited) to commemorate the 25th anniversary of “Fight For Your Right.” The short film is not only hilarious but also well shot. Fight For Your Right (Revisited) also features an endless slew of celebrity cameos including Seth Rogen, Danny McBride and Elijah Wood as the ‘80s Mike D, MCA and Ad Rock respectively, as well as Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Jack Black as the future Beasties and many more. It’s an absolute riot to watch and a great way to remember Adam “MCA” Yauch.
Watch Fight For Your Right (Revisited) below:
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