The Grand Royal Records label served not only as a platform to release new projects
by up and coming musicians, but also gave old side-projects like Big Fat Love an opportunity to be heard.
Back in 1997 Grand Royal Records released Big Fat Love's Hell House album which featured both new
recordings, as well as older material that had been recorded at Secret Society on Centre Street around
1983.
The Grand Royal Records label served not only as a platform to release new projects
by up and coming musicians, but also gave old side-projects like Big Fat Love an opportunity to be heard.
Back in 1997 Grand Royal Records released Big Fat Love's Hell House album which featured both new
recordings, as well as older material that had been recorded at Secret Society on Centre Street around
1983.
Big Fat Love was kind of a reaction to hardcore and other music trends that were
permeating the air during the early 1980s. The original members were Michael
Diamond on drums, John Berry on bass and some vocals, Bosco on vocals and acoustic guitar, in addition to Eric Huebel on slide and
other guitars. Following some personal tribulations, John Berry left the group and moved to San Francisco,
CA. At one point Erik Talbert was added to the group, and then later down the road Tom Cushman was also added to the Big Fat Love line-up. Whereas 59 Chrystie
Street, the G Spot, and later G-Son, would provide the Beastie Boys with inspiration and a place to hang
out and jam, for Big Fat Love the location was John Berry's place on the corner of Broadway and 100th
Street.
Big Fat Love would go on to play several gigs around New York City, including some
of the Beastie Boys famous hardcore haunts such as CBGB's and Danceteria. When Mike D left to tour with
the Beastie Boys, the band fell apart only to resurface later with a different line up. On April 23rd, 1987, Big Fat Love opened for Big Audio Dynamite
at Irving Plaza. The group would make additional line-up changes again a year later, with Mike D back on
drums & atmospherics and Tom Cushman on bass and altitude. Following this period, Yauch and Diamond's place on 59 Chrystie Street would serve as a rehearsal
spot for both Big Fat Love and Brooklyn.
Although Adam Yauch never played live with Big Fat Love, he was always close to the
band and always lent his encouragement. In addition to producing that record and releasing it, Yauch
edited the liner notes which Thomas Beller wrote. When asked about it Bosco said the following; "Adam
was really into it and he even does the horse clopping sounds on 'This way to Glory'". Big Fat Love's
sound is unlike any other Beastie Boys side-project and may take a few listens before one gets into it or
out of it, as the case may be. The music though is a wonderful document to just how creatively diverse
this group of musicians could be. When people ask about this period in the band's history, Thomas Beller
described it best in the liner notes: "Big Fat Love was organized around a particular living space,
in this case a house, where several of the band members lived and where, in the mid-80's, an amorphous and
slightly derelict group of people spent time. Big Fat Love didn't move to the house as a band, they just
sprung up out of the house the way that, in the right conditions, a random bit of plant life springs up
from a crack in the sidewalk."
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