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The Young and the Useless (II) Would you believe that there once was a line up consisting of Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch, Kate Schellenbach, and the late David Scilken? Such a group did indeed exist from late 1984 to early 1985. They too called themselves "The Young and the Useless." However, in an attempt to avoid confusion with Adam Horovitz’s first band with the same name, we here at beastiemania.com will refer to this line up as The Young and the Useless (II).
In the spring of 1984, Rick Rubin went out on the road with Yauch, Horovitz, Diamond, and Schellenbach to play shows at places like Boston’s Ratskeller. Back then Rick had a vision of how he could develop the Beastie Boys' image and future as hip hop recording artists. This all became a reality when he joined forces in 1984 with Russell Simmons and launched Def Jam. Shortly thereafter, the Beastie Boys and Def Jam Recordings were picked up and signed to parent label CBS Records. Sadly though, this vision of the group did not include founding Beastie Boys member Kate Schellenbach.
In Alan Light’s Book The Skills to Pay the Bills, (which is where the following quote appears) Kate tells her side of the story, “…Rick (Rubin) didn’t like me and I didn’t really like him and he didn’t like women rapping, the sound of women’s voices rapping, or something ridiculous. So Yauch was like, “All right, this is what’s happening. Rick’s kind of like; it’s either me or you.” Either Rick or Kate, basically was what it was. And he’s like, "Well, we’ll continue to play the hardcore stuff under a different name. So they went on to their rap stuff and we continued to play Beastie Boys material under the guise of the Young and the Useless. At that point it was Horovitz on guitar, Yauch on bass, me playing drums, and Dave Scilken singing. We didn’t play a whole lot because then the Beastie Boys stuff started really taking off.” One can assume the “stuff” Kate Schellenbach is speaking of back in late 1984 or early 1985, was (“Rock Hard,” “Drum Machine,” “She’s On It”) the rap material they would later perform on Madonna’s 1985 Virgin tour.
Beastiemania.com asked Kate Schellebach (in 2006) what she recalled about her days playing drums in the Young and the Useless (II) and she said "we did record at the studio Yauch was working at: Arthur Baker's Shakedown Sound Studios. Don't know if there was a plan for the recordings, per se."
Tom Cushman, in a 2006 interview, also remembered the Young and the Useless (II) demos, stating that there were three songs: “(Come on Baby) Let’s Do Some Work,” “Reuben is Groovin’,” and “Shish-ke-bob.” The first of these, “(Come on Baby) Let’s Do Some Work” had the first line “listen up baby and listen good, you’re gonna do the job that you know you should, listen up baby and listen good… come on baby and do some work…” which was played over a fast progression built around Adam Horovitz having just learned to play the pseudo-jazz root cord from the Jimi Hendrix song “Purple Haze.” Throughout the song, Dave Scilken yells “the show is over, it’s getting late…”
The second song “Reuben is Groovin’” makes reference to former Beastie Boys and The Young and the Useless manager Nick Cooper and his father Neil Cooper (then owner of ROIR Records). The lyrics for that song:
Nick got busted, he must’ve been framed.
Jumped the train, 50 hits to his name
The cops must’ve that he was insane
But Neil gave the cops a lot of cocaine
But, Reuben is Groooovin’
He always does the penis dance
He never gives the chicks a chance
So go get a man like Jack Palance
Reuben is Groooovin’….
Reuben is a complex man
Hard times don’t phase him
He always has bank on hand
Cause…
Reuben is Groooovin’…
With Dave Scilken singing the vocals, Tom Cushman recalls this song having a “…fuckin’ amazing Yauch bass-line that comes on slow and then builds in power and speed. I was always trying to get him (Adam Yauch) to steal it back for a Brooklyn song, but we came up with “Gratitude” instead.”
The third song, “Shish-ke-bob,” uses a somewhat familiar Beastie Boys lyric: “worm is the spice” which later showed up in the 1994-95 original version of “Intergalactic.” The lyrics for “Shish-ke-bob” were:
Shish ke bob, Shish ke bob
Shish ke bob, Shish ke bob
Only a dollar for a shish ke bob!
Worm is the spice
And the pork fried rice
Shish ke bob, Shish ke bob
Only a dollar for a shish ke bob!
You might be wondering how did things end? Well, as was the case with Big Fat Love and Triphammer...The Young and the Useless (II) got put on hold when the Beastie Boys were booked to tour with Madonna on her 1985 Virgin tour.
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