Props to Silence7 at www.beastiemixes.com/
Adam Horovitz: guitar
Dave Scilken: vocals
Arthur Africano: bass
Adam Trese: drums
0:27 Ecstasy
1:18 Freddie's Dead
2:47 Billy, Don't Be A Hero (Paper Lace cover)
5:21 Young & Useless
7:46 Funky Music
12:45 Home Boy
14:51 Summer Nights (from 'Grease')
17:28 Rise And Shine
The Young And The Useless was the band in which Adam Horovitz played in the early 1980s before he joined the Beastie Boys. Scilken and Horovitz attended high school together at PS41 in Greenwich Village and were best friends. Scilken is credited for coming up with the title of the Young And The Useless' EP 'Real Men Don't Floss'. At the time, he was obsessed with 'Real Men Don't Eat Quiche', a popular 1982 book that satirized stereotypes of masculinity.
The Young And The Useless played many shows in New York with bands such as Bad Brains, Ramones, PiL, Dead Kennedys, and the Necros. In December 1983, while still a member of The Young And The Useless, Horovitz joined the Beastie Boys when guitarist John Berry left the band. "After 'Polly Wog Stew' came out, my band.....started covering Beastie Boys songs," Horovitz recalls. "When John Berry went AWOL, I took his spot. I came up from the minors!"
Following the unexpected success of 'Cooky Puss', the Beastie Boys began playing more shows, which drew Horovitz's time away from The Young And The Useless. Sadly, by late 1984, The Young And The Useless had split up as a band. "We fell apart really bad," recollects Horovitz. "The drummer went to military school in New Jersey."
Dave Parsons, who put out The Young And The Useless' only known recordings on his Ratcage Records label, fondly remembers the young punks as his favorite New York hardcore (or better called art-core) band. "They had the potential to be larger than the Beastie Boys," said Parsons. "I can recall people calling from California wanting to book the Young and Useless, and all of a sudden they didn't exist anymore. Just look at the cover of their Real Men Don't Floss EP. They would have been the biggest punk band from New York. They were way ahead of the pack. So young! Everybody wanted to see them. Dave Scilken had great ideas and was such a clever kid. He was way hip and had a different take on everything."
When Horovitz left The Young And The Useless to join Beastie Boys in 1983, his and Scilken's friendship did not end. The two remained friends and hung out together frequently. When the Beastie Boys achieved success with 'Licensed To Ill', they invited Scilken to join them on the Licensed To Ill world tour. Scilken was among the Beastie Boys friends who appeared in the video for 'Fight for Your Right.' He is the person whom Adam Yauch spits beer in the face: • Beastie Boys - (You Go... (at 0:47). Adam Dubin, the video's co-director, said Scilken volunteered for the role. He can also be seen at the Paul's Boutique release party • Beastie Boys - Paul's ... (at 29:28).
According to his friends, Scilken had an enigmatic personality and a gift for making people laugh and feel good about themselves. Scilken had an interest in graphic design and, like his friend Cey Adams, was into graffiti art. His graffiti tag was "Shadi". Scilken also had an interest in writing and created a music 'zine called 'Blister' in the early 1980s.
On May 26, 1991, Scilken died from a drug overdose, shortly after completing a drug rehabilitation program. His death deeply affected the Beastie Boys. In interviews, they have stated Scilken's death was a turning point for them, causing them to evaluate their rock 'n roll lifestyles. The Beastie Boys' 1992 album 'Check Your Head' is dedicated to him.
Scilken's life and death have inspired lyrics on several Beastie Boys songs, including 'Instant Death', 'The Move' and 'Live Wire'. Additionally, Scilken is referenced in the song 'Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun'. The video for the song, which was directed by Nathanial Hornblower, includes an image of Scilken • Beastie Boys - Looking... (at 2:10).
On the liner notes for 'Beastie Boys Anthology: Sounds of Science' (1999), Adam Horovitz included a comment about Scilken: "....it's hard to know what to do when you love someone whose drug problem is out of control."
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Proud to be a member of the Beastie grrrl movement!
(I originally uploaded this last year; but KZfaq took it down. I apologise to all the people who wrote comments on the original video. KZfaq terminated my account two weeks after Yauch passed. I promise to upload all the Beastie videos I had on my original channel for y'all.)