WE LOST A BEATLE

Hey Listen: There WAS no fucking Google. 

In 1986, when my crew of eleven-year-olds discovered The Beasties’ encrypted vinyl doctrine, we had our work cut out for us. We couldn’t just type their lyrics into some futuristic machine and have the meanings handed back—each crass little Easter egg had to be decoded by perverted detective work, or by relying on older brothers and irresponsible doormen to tell us what the hell it meant:

• How can he recognize a girlie from the back of her head?
• They all switch places when he rings the bell? Sounds fucked-up like naked Twister maybe?
• Rolled up to Wooley? Who the fuck is that?

We had to earn the enlightenment of each and every lesson, like tracking down hidden fire-flowers and 1up-mushrooms nestled in the uniform bricks of World 1-2.

In a world where owning a Playboy was the greatest achievement a kid could hope to attain, Licensed to Ill was more than the soundtrack of our childhood; it was a secret guide to humor and rebellion and confidence that helped us invent our own identities and eventually get laid.

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R.I.P. MCA

Beastie Boys frontman Adam Yauch died today of cancer. He was only forty-seven years old. 

I hate cancer so fucking much.

(via Rolling Stone)

The Roots, Hall & Oates on The Great GoogaMooga Music Line-Up

The Great GoogaMooga has been piecemailing us deets on the two-day music, food and drink fest going down in Prospect Park on May 19th and 20th. They finally released the music line-up, which is as follows:

• Daryl Hall & John Oates (Sun)
• The Roots (Sat)
• Fitz & the Tantrums (Sun)
• Holy Ghost! (Sat)
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band (Sat)
• Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires (Sun)
• The Pedrito Martinez Group (Sat)
• Escort (Sun)
• Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens (Sat)
• Bear Hands (Sat)
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Sat)
• Lez Zeppelin (Sun)
• Peelander-Z (Sun)
• Unchained "the Mighty Van Halen Tribute"  (Sat)
• Fort Lean (Sat)
• Lucius (Sun)

FiPS writer Amanda Tweeted her thoughts about the line-up, which I'm sure was a shared experience among many of us:

"For everyone that reads their email too quickly, Led Zeppelin is not playing at @Googamooga. LEZ ZEPPELIN is playing. What a let down."

I'm still pretty stoked for The Roots...

A 2012 Celebrate Brooklyn Schedule Preview!

Lest we forget amidst all the Coop douchery and our ongoing Bugaboo fury, Prospect Park -- the defining feature of Park Slope -- will soon return to all of its summer glory in the form of Celebrate Brooklyn. So sunscreen up for the BBQs, unshaded runs, and two months of fun shows at the bandshell. Here's an early (unofficial, for now) partial lineup (with more to come soon!): 

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Details Emerge On Prospect Park's Great Googa Mooga Fest

New details have emerged on the outdoor food and music fest that Superfly, the folks behind Bonnaroo, are bringing to Prospect Park for a weekend in May. The Great Googa Mooga, a self-described "amusement park of food and drink," will host around 75 food vendors, 35 brewers, 30 winemakers and 20 live music performances. Here are just a few of the talents that we can expect to stuff our gullets with food and booze:

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