BS2000 Radio Show Appearances

BS2000 band members at Radio K

Adam, with 45 rpm storage box, and Amery at Radio K (Photo: grindstyle.com)

In the spring of 2001 BS2000 band members Adam Horovitz, Amery "AWOL" Smith, Alfredo Ortiz, and Jazz Thompson set out in their tour van to perform a few shows in the United States. When time permitted, Amery and Adam would appear on local radio stations and as guest DJs, they would select 45 RPM seven inch records from their collections to play on the air. This is a chronicle of those radio appearances, including a couple of guest DJ appearances that BS2000 did during the fall of 2000.

On November 14^th, 2000 Amery and Adam dropped by the WFMU studio in New Jersey. As the special guest of DJ Small Change, the duo blew listeners away with their obscure selections and really lit up the Small Change's Nickel and Dime radio show. In addition to playing some of their favorite records, AWOL and Adrock also did a fairly lengthy interview during this particular show. Thanks to the technology minded people at WFMU, this BS2000 guest appearance can be heard online through a Real Player. Knowledge of this archive has remained a well kept secret until now.

Approximately two weeks later, the boys of BS2000 found themselves deep in the heart of the BBC's Radio One studio. Following a brief interview with the Breezeblock's Mary Anne Hobbs, Adrock and AWOL entertained British fans and promoted the upcoming release of their Simply Mortified album. Having reached deep into their 45 RPM storage boxes, the pair played an extraordinarily diverse array of song selections. Fans on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean who wanted to hear the show had to trade for copies of the recording, while others later discovered that a MP3 of the BS2000 Breezeblock was popping up in various locations online.

After BS2000 returned to the United States from their Japanese tour, their first American performance was in Honolulu, Hawaii. KPOI radio personality Fil Slash fondly recalls the stop Amery and Adam made at station's studio. "It was a lively interview. We played a few BS2000 tunes and then promoted the show that night at Pipeline Cafe." Unfortunately the KPOI website does not feature an archived BS2000 appearance. However, they do have a photo of Adam and Amery which was taken during their visit.

The next stop on the tour was Minneapolis, MN. Before taking the stage that night at the Quest, AWOL and Adrock stopped by the University of Minnesota's Radio K and proceeded to put on a full throttle 45 RPM vinyl assault. As was the case with the previous radio station stop in Honolulu, no one seems to have recorded this appearance. Fans have contacted Radio K through e-mail, but everyone from the station manager on down have proven to be no help in the quest for this recording. Thus the search continues for someone who may have taped this legendary pre-concert performance.

On the following day, April 4^th, 2001, Amery and Adam were in Milwaukee, WI to perform at the Rave 2. They stopped by radio station WSME and appeared on Jeff Joy's show. BS2000's online fans were delighted when WSME archived a MP3 of the BS2000 interview and guest DJ set on the station's website. Word of the MP3 spread like wildfire on the BS2000 message board, and before long fans were working diligently on trying to figure out what the titles were of all those 45 RPM records.

The spring of 2001 was a great time to be a BS2000 fan. Friends who had met online within the Beastie Boys' internet community came together at BS2000 shows and finally got see each other face to face. The impersonal huge arena setting of the Beastie Boys' 1998 tour was a distant memory and in its place were these intimate venues which BS2000 had handpicked to perform at. In addition to hearing BS2000 on the radio and seeing them play in person, fans often got to meet and greet the members of the band.

Sadly, it was after the WSME appearance that BS2000 began to fall off the radio appearance radar and thus uncertainty has crept into this chronicle.

Following the WSME appearance, it is unclear as to whether or not BS2000 continued to do interviews and guest DJ spots at the next four stops on the tour: Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. There is proof however that Amery and Adam were scheduled to appear on Philadelphia's Y100 on April 11^th, 2001. Caught in a traffic jam on the Pennsylvania turnpike and unable to make it to the studio, Adam Horovitz called in a terrific phone interview and among other things said. "We're having a good time. We were having a good time...except for...we're just going to forget about the past couple three hours that we were stuck in traffic. So yeah...If anyone sees us driving by...maybe you know they want to swing by and drop us off some Pizza Hut when driving by." Following the first four and a half minutes of the interview, Y100 played BS2000's "The Scrappy" to the delight of those who were also stuck in traffic on the Pennsylvania turnpike with BS2000.

Leaving Philadelphia, PA the band went on to perform in Washington, DC and in New York, but again no one seems to have heard whether or not BS2000 made any radio appearances during the time they spent on tour in these two cities. They did however perform a lengthy two hour guest DJ set on April 30^th, 2001 on New York's K-ROCK. This fell right after the death of Joey Ramone, so in tribute the first few 45 RPM singles that Adam and Amery played were all from the Ramones. Adrock even went so far as to say, "We're sad. It is a sad thing. You know the Ramones...They were everything to me when I was ...You know a kid...they definitely are the reason I wanted to be in a band...thought I could actually be in a band...cause of the Ramones."

For those who have not already tracked down digital copies of these interviews and guest DJ sets, you are only a trade or a download away from some seriously entertaining material. It is not going to be the same as having a new Beastie Boys album, but it may temporarily satisfy your appetite for something new to listen to. Also, if you are aware of a BS2000 radio appearance that was not mentioned here please e-mail us here at beastiemania.com We are aware that Adam and Amery made at least two radio station appearances outside of the United States, but very little is known about these two stops.

BS2000 Radio Show Appearances

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