In July on 1998, fans of the Beastie
Boys sat up and took notice as the long awaited Hello
Nasty album was released. In July on 2003, five years
later, fans of the Beastie Boys nearly fell out of their
computer chairs when they heard reports that a long lost
track from 1985 had surfaced. This track featuring Adam
MCA Yauch had gone under the radar and undetected
for eighteen years. What was it? Where did it come from?
Those questions and many more began to percolate in the
minds of collectors. It turns out that the album, which
the mysterious track appears on, was entitled Cant
Tempt Fate (1985) and released on the Elektra label
by the group Circuit II. The track itself was called Rock
This (Take Me Out), and the musicians who comprised
Circuit II were three guys from Detroit, Michigan: Alan
Sanchez, Tim Bryant, and Tom Rossiter. Although Circuit
IIs band members are not house hold names, Alan Sanchez
was an active member in Detroits punk rock scene.
His punk band, the Cubes, put out a rare seven inch back
in 1979. When Circuit II did not make a last impression
on the music industry Alan went on to be a well known artist
in New York.
Recorded at the Shakedown Sound Recording Studio and engineered
by Jay Burzootie Burnett,
upon first listen one will pick up on the distinct similarities
in sound that Rock This (Take Me Out) shares
with the Drum Machine and Rock Hard 12
records. Even the Latin Rascals, who worked on the fore
mentioned Beastie Boys recordings, had a hand in the creation
of Circuit IIs Cant Tempt Fate album. Adam Yauch
received two mentions in the albums liner notes. Obviously
one for his rapping on Rock This (Take Me Out),
and the other credit was given (along with Mark Russak and
Ned Feldman) for assisting on the entire album.
The appearance of this long forgotten project has prompted
more than one Beastie Boys fan to wonder if Yauch may have
helped out on some other albums. Any album coming out of
the Shakedown Studio around 1985 would be worth investigating as Yauch was working as an assistant to
Arthur Baker.
Keep that in mind the next time you are
flipping through a box of old records at a garage sale or
digging through a crate at your favorite record store. After
all, who would have guessed that Yauch had assisted and
lent his vocals to a song by Circuit II.
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