Adam Yauch (MCA) first met John Berry (the first guitarist for the Beastie Boys) at Tier 3. Yauch was a distinct figure: tall, lanky, trenchcoat, and combat boots.

At the time, John Berry was in a band called the Young Aborigines with Michael Diamond (Mike D) and Kate Schellenbach (later Luscious Jackson). Berry soon introduced Yauch to the group, and they went on to form the Beastie Boys.

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After the Beastie Boys settled with British Airways for using a snippet of "Beastie Revolution" off their Cooky Puss EP in an ad without permission, they received a $40,000 payout. The first time the Beasties had any money, they moved into an apartment at this Chinese sweatshop building.

According to Adam Yauch (MCA), the apartment had something he had "...never seen before or since in any apartment anywhere in the world- the floor was actually laid blacktop. Somebody had rolled out tar on the floor- like from the street."

The apartment allowed them to play music anytime of day or night and generally party. At one point, a bullet went through the toaster oven from a gunshot upstairs. They ran upstairs and there was an old woman and nobody else in the room. They asked what happened, but she didn't speak English.

Yauch: "You know some crazy shit had just happened in that sweatshop and they had quickly covered it up- dragged the body out."

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Area was a themed nightclub that was extremely popular in downtown Manhattan in the 1980's. The theme of the club would change every six weeks, and the interior would be redecorated to reflect the new theme: specific themes included "Night" (with a masked welder), "Surrealism", "Suburbia", "Red", and "Gnarly" (with skate ramps and boarders.

New York artist (and former boyfriend of Madonna) Jean-Michel Basquiat displayed his work here. Andy Warhol often mention Area in his diaries.

When the Beastie Boys were making the transition from a hardcore band to a hip-hop band, they were hanging out with Rick Rubin quite a bit. After Beasties drummer Kate Schellenbach returned from an out-of-town trip one weekend, she went to Area and saw the members of the Beastie Boys. Rubin had purchased the boys (MCA, Ad-Rock, and Mike D) matching red Adidas sweat suits and sneakers. Kate was not given a suit, and it became clear she was not welcome in the new group.

Kate S. later played drums for the band Luscious Jackson.

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Rogue Music is a vintage instrument dealer that has been operating in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan since 1983.

The Beastie Boys had gotten a chunk of settlement money after British Airways had used their song "Beastie Revolution" from the Cooky Puss single in an ad without clearing it. With some of the money, Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys bought a Roland TR-808 drum machine at Rogue Music in the early 80's.

Ad-Rock then used that drum machine to create the beats for LL Cool J's first single, "I Need a Beat."

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Careful in the winter that you don't get hit by snowballs like Heathcliff here.

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