This is one of those rare days when I post more than once.  Immediately upon hitting “Publish” on my last post, I read the news that Adam Yauch, aka MCA,  had died.

I actually got tears in my eyes.  I knew he was sick, and had been for quite some time.  But, I never actually considered the fact that he might die.

I’m not here to wax poetic about the musical legacy that Adam Yauch leaves behind or discuss how the Beastie Boys are the first white rap group of any importance.  That’s all true.

But, I’m just sad.

When Licensed to Ill hit in 1986, I was in high school.  I wore out a couple of cassettes during those years, went on to buy the CD and then the iTunes album.  To this day, I know just about every word to every song.  We sang “Fight for your Right to Party” at the top of our lungs at high school parties.  “Girls” was my favorite song. And, even though I didn’t really understand some of the lyrics in “She’s Crafty”, I remember a time when I definitely would have picked it to be my batter-up song. Everyone — no matter who you were — liked the Beastie Boys.  When the Beastie Boys were playing, we were all in the same posse.

To this day, it is a regular base song for my genius playlist for my runs.  And, I like to torture my 12 year old by playing the Beastie Boys in the car, loudly, and singing at the top of my lungs.

At the risk of sounding very cheesy, I think it’s safe to say that the children of the 80’s came of age with the Beastie Boys singing the sound-track.

RIP MCA.  I’ll drink a Brass Monkey in your memory tonight.  You will be missed.