"Cooky Puss" is the debut single by
Beastie Boys. The song is their first
hip hop recording, their first release featuring band member
Adam Horovitz, and their final release to feature drummer
Kate Schellenbach
Kate Schellenbach (born January 5, 1966) is an American musician and television producer. She is the drummer of Luscious Jackson and was a founding drummer of the Beastie Boys.
Born in New York City, she played with the Beastie Boys from 1981 t ...
. It was released in 1983 as a
12-inch single
The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...
on Rat Cage Records. The title, title track, and lyrics are satirical references to the
Cookie Puss ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
dessert.
All 4 tracks, along with the entire ''
Polly Wog Stew'' EP, appear on the compilation album ''
Some Old Bullshit''.
The title track samples
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominat ...
's "My Real Name" from his 1978 album ''
A Wild and Crazy Guy
''A Wild and Crazy Guy'' is an album by American comedian Steve Martin released in 1978. It reached number two on ''Billboards Pop Albums Chart. The album was eventually certified double platinum.
It contains the hit novelty single "King Tu ...
,'' as well as Beastie Boys' own "Beastie Boys" and "Transit Cop" from ''
Polly Wog Stew.'' It also contains parts of various
prank calls from the group to a local
Carvel retailer.
The airline corporation
British Airways
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport.
The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...
used a portion of "Beastie Revolution" (chosen by
Jeremy Healy
Jeremy Healy (born Jeremiah Healy, 18 January 1962) is an English Disc jockey, DJ and singer. He is a former member of 1980s pop group Haysi Fantayzee.
Career
Healy was born in Woolwich, South London. In the 1980s, with Paul Caplin and Kate ...
without the band's permission) in one of their television ads; the Beastie Boys contacted a lawyer and successfully sued British Airways for $40,000.
This money was then used to rent an apartment at 59
Chrystie Street in
Chinatown, New York City. This apartment was used not only as a place to live but also as a place for the group to rehearse and record. The group later thanked Jeremy Healy as he unwittingly kick-started their career via the money they won in the lawsuit.
The apartment was remembered in "
59 Chrystie Street 59 may refer to:
* 59 (number)
* one of the years 59 BC, AD 59, 1959, 2059
* ''59'' (album), by Puffy AmiYumi
* 59 (golf), a round of 59 in golf
* "Fifty Nine", a song by Karma to Burn from the album ''Arch Stanton
''Arch Stanton'' is the sixt ...
," a song on 1989's ''
Paul's Boutique'' LP.
Track listing
Side A (listed as This Side)
# "Cooky Puss" – 3:12
# "Bonus Batter" – 2:15
Side B (listed as That Side)
# "Beastie Revolution" – 5:00
# "Cooky Puss" (censored version) – 3:12
References
{{authority control
1983 debut singles
Beastie Boys songs
1983 songs
Songs written by Ad-Rock
Songs written by Mike D
Songs written by Kate Schellenbach
Songs written by Adam Yauch