Ad-Rock’s stoned investigation of the Beastie Boys ‘gold records’
Like it or not, marijuana has had an undeniable impact on the history of popular music. From the stoned musings of The Beatles to the ganja anthems of Lee “Scratch” Perry, the drug has inspired countless iconic musical moments. Seemingly, weed’s ability to make you think in a slightly different way is particularly beneficial for artistic expression, but the drug has also provided ample motivation for certain investigations. Back in the 1980s, a joint prompted Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys to launch a deep dive into gold records.
As far back as the 1940s, gold records represented the peak of musical achievement. First awarded by RCA Victor to Glenn Miller for the success of the single ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’, which sold 1.2 million copies, the award went on to be applicable to both singles and albums. Since 1976, gold records have been used to commemorate albums which sold upwards of 500,000 copies.
As you can expect, therefore, hip-hop heroes Beastie Boys received their fair share. These framed records would line the walls of recording studios and label offices across the land, but something did not sit right with Ad-Rock.
In September 1989, two months after its initial release, Beastie Boys sophomore album Paul’s Boutique was awarded gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. Eventually, the groundbreaking album would go double platinum, selling over two million copies. However, the gold record still adorned the wall of the trio’s studio in California as an admirable accolade and a nice bit of scenery.
Ad-Rock always harboured a fairly inquisitive mind, so while gazing at the framed gold record and smoking weed, a thought suddenly occurred to him. “We were at our studio here in California, and I was smoking pot – this was a long time ago. We had a gold record on the wall; it was our record, Paul’s Boutique,” he revealed on the podcast Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend. “I was looking at it, and I could see it has our label. [Paul’s Boutique] has – whatever – nine songs on one side; I was looking at the actual gold record, and I could see that it only had four songs on it.”
Although initial copies of Paul’s Boutique were released in a gatefold sleeve, the record was not a double album, so Ad-Rock was right to question the number of tracks housed on one side of the gold record. “So, we opened it, and we put the record on a record player,” the rapper continued, revealing the findings of this stoned investigation. “It was somebody doing, like, piano versions of Barry Manilow,” he shared, “Just some other shit.”
So, although gold records are meant to celebrate the success of a certain album, the actual record used for the award probably isn’t the same as the record being celebrated. Gold, silver, and platinum records are certainly playable; they are just regular vinyl records covered in a thin coat of the appropriate metal, but likely as a cost-cutting measure, you shouldn’t go smashing up the frames of your gold records to play them, as you will likely end up disappointed.
The fate of the Paul’s Boutique gold record remains unknown. It seems unlikely that, while high, the respective members of the Beastie Boys carefully reassembled the frame they had smashed up and rehoused the record after their little experiment. Luckily for them, they achieved multiple other silver, gold, and platinum records over the course of their celebrated discography. We can only hope Ad-Rock was satisfied with the results of his initial experiment and didn’t go smashing up all of Beastie Boys’ gold records in a desperate search for answers.
