Beastie Boys and Vevo have teamed up for a new installment of Footnotes, going behind-the-scenes of ‘The Making of ‘Sabotage.’” Directed by Spike Jonze, “Sabotage” was the first music video from the group’s fourth album, 1994’s Ill Communication. The video finds Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, and Adam “MCA” Yauch paying tribute to classic 1970s cop shows like “Hawaii Five-O,” “S.W.A.T.”, and “Starsky and Hutch.”
The episode highlights how Horowitz had long desired the group to dress as undercover cops. The concept became a reality after Spike Jonze arrived at a photoshoot in a wig and fake mustache. Jonze recalls that “Sabotage” reminded him of the videos he used to film in high school with “weird glasses, fake mustaches, using flour as fake coke. It’s funny to realize I was making the same stuff all over again, but just much better.” “Sabotage” was filmed with a small budget, allowing Beastie Boys and crew to film around Los Angeles without permits.
Order the new edition of Beastie Boys Ill Communication now.
The Footnotes episode also reveals that “Sabotage” was born after Ad-Rock came up with the idea to write a fictitious song about their producer sabotaging the completion of their album. “Sabotage” was the final track added to the album and at one point featured a Queen Latifah sample as the hook. Ill Communication brought the Beastie Boys back to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Beastie Boys are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the multi-platinum Ill Communication with 3 LP deluxe vinyl and cassette. Both are out July 26. The LP has been long out-of-print and the deluxe edition features lenticular cover art and a third LP with 12 bonus tracks (including rarities like a live version of “the Maestro” from 1992’s Check Your Head, “Mullet Head,” and additional remixes, B-sides, and rarities. This also marks the first time in decades that Ill Communication will be available on cassette.
Order the new edition of Beastie Boys Ill Communication now.
