Sabotage (song)
Encyclopedia
"Sabotage" is a song by American
hip-hop group Beastie Boys
, released as the first single from their fourth studio album Ill Communication
.
The song's style is characterized as rapcore
, featuring traditional rock instrumentation (Ad-Rock on guitar
, MCA on bass
, and Mike D on drums
), turntable
scratches
and heavily distorted bass guitar
riffs.
In 2004, Rolling Stone
magazine ranked "Sabotage" #475 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at #46 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, and was ranked #19 on VH1
's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s list. Pitchfork Media
included the song at #39 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s list.
, directed by Spike Jonze
and played extensively on MTV
, is an homage
and parody
of 1970s crime drama television series
such as Hawaii Five-O
, The Streets of San Francisco
, S.W.A.T.
, Baretta
, and Starsky and Hutch
. The video is presented as the opening credits
of a fiction
al 1970s-style police show called Sabotage, with the band members appearing as the show characters. Each band member is introduced as a fictional actor
, and the names of the characters are also given.
The characters appearing on the show are (in order of credits):
Some scenes had to be removed when the video was shown on MTV, including a knife-fight sequence, a falling-off-a-bridge scene, as well as a scene in which a man is thrown out of a car into a street. In addition, the Beastie Boys Video Anthology
featured a mock interview of the "cast" of Sabotage conducted by Jonze's then-wife Sofia Coppola
.
In the DVD commentary for the 1996 film Trainspotting
, Danny Boyle
credits the film's opening credits to those used in "Sabotage".
, Best Group Video
, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction in a Video
, and Viewer's Choice at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards
. However, it lost all five categories it was nominated in, losing Video of the Year, Best Group Video and Viewer's Choice to Aerosmith
's "Cryin'", and Breakthrough Video and Best Direction in a Video to R.E.M.
's "Everybody Hurts
".
During R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe
's acceptance speech for the Best Direction award, Beastie Boys member MCA bum-rushed the stage in his "Nathaniel Hornblower" disguise, interrupting Stipe to protest the shutout of "Sabotage" from every category it was nominated in.
At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
, the "Sabotage" video won best video in the new category of "Best Video (That Should Have Won a Moonman)"
The song has also appeared in the video games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
, Madden NFL 10
and Rock Band
. In addition, it is featured in DJ Hero
as a mashup with the Foo Fighters song Monkey Wrench
with a guitar part.
The video was shown in an episode of MTV's Beavis and Butt-head
who responded to it enthusiastically, as if they had seen the video several times, and with Beavis treating it as if it were an actual trailer as opposed to a parody.
It also featured in the 2009 movie Star Trek - set 250 years after its release, young James Kirk
plays this song on the radio during a joyride in his stepfather's '65 Corvette
.
During Saturday Night Live
s 25th Anniversary Special in 1999, the band played the first fifteen seconds of the song before their performance was "sabotaged" by Elvis Costello
- who had famously done the same to one of his own songs in a 1977 episode - who was then joined by the Beastie Boys for "Radio, Radio", the controversial song he had played during the original incident.
Canadian hardcore punk
band Cancer Bats
covered the song on their EP Sabotage as well as their 2010 album Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones
. It was also covered by alternative band Switchfoot
in 2010.
In the multiplayer part of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 there is a game mode known as "Sabotage". If one successfully completes 30 rounds in this game mode, you are rewarded with the title "Intergalactic
", in reference to another song by the Beastie Boys.
It is featured as part of the on-ride soundtrack to X², a roller coaster
at Six Flags Magic Mountain
.
The Finnish
political satire
TV show Presidentin kanslia uses "Sabotage" as the background tune for teasers of upcoming episodes.
The BBC 5 Live radio show Fighting talk
use the song as it's theme tune until the BBC cutbacks forced them to have an imitation version made which was more in keeping with the show
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hip-hop group Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, released as the first single from their fourth studio album Ill Communication
Ill Communication
Ill Communication is the fourth studio album by the Beastie Boys. It was released on May 24, 1994 via Grand Royal Records. It was remastered and made available on the Beastie Boys' Web site on July 7, 2009....
.
The song's style is characterized as rapcore
Rapcore
Rapcore is a subgenre of rap rock fusing vocal and sometimes instrumental elements of hip hop with punk rock .-History:...
, featuring traditional rock instrumentation (Ad-Rock on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, MCA on bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, and Mike D on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), turntable
Turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
scratches
Scratching
Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
and heavily distorted bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
riffs.
In 2004, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine ranked "Sabotage" #475 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at #46 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, and was ranked #19 on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s list. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
included the song at #39 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s list.
Music video
The song's music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, directed by Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze is an American director, producer and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television...
and played extensively on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, is an homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
and parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of 1970s crime drama television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
such as Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
, The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco is a 1970s television police drama filmed on location in San Francisco, California, and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros...
, S.W.A.T.
S.W.A.T. (TV series)
----S.W.A.T. is a 1970s American television series about the adventures of the WCPD's Olympic Division Special Weapons And Tactics team operating in an unidentified California city....
, Baretta
Baretta
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma...
, and Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...
. The video is presented as the opening credits
Opening credits
In a motion picture, television program, or video game, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There...
of a fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al 1970s-style police show called Sabotage, with the band members appearing as the show characters. Each band member is introduced as a fictional actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and the names of the characters are also given.
The characters appearing on the show are (in order of credits):
- Sir Stewart Wallace guest-starring as himself (played by MCA)
- Nathan Wind as Cochese (also played by MCA)
- Vic Colfari as Bobby, "The Rookie" (played by Ad-Rock)
- Alasondro Alegré as "The Chief" (played by Mike D)
- Fred Kelly as Bunny (played by DJ HurricaneDJ HurricaneDJ Hurricane is a hip hop DJ, producer and rapper. He is known for his work as the Beastie Boys' DJ...
)
Some scenes had to be removed when the video was shown on MTV, including a knife-fight sequence, a falling-off-a-bridge scene, as well as a scene in which a man is thrown out of a car into a street. In addition, the Beastie Boys Video Anthology
Beastie Boys Video Anthology
Beastie Boys Video Anthology is a 2000 DVD compilation of video clips by the Beastie Boys.- Disc 1 :# "Intergalactic"# "Shake Your Rump"# "Gratitude"# "Something's Got to Give"# "Sure Shot"# "Hey Ladies"# "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun"...
featured a mock interview of the "cast" of Sabotage conducted by Jonze's then-wife Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American screenwriter, film director, actress, and producer.In 2003 she received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, and became the third woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing...
.
In the DVD commentary for the 1996 film Trainspotting
Trainspotting (film)
Trainspotting is a 1996 British satirical/drama film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. The movie follows a group of heroin addicts in a late 1980s economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life...
, Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
credits the film's opening credits to those used in "Sabotage".
1994 MTV Video Music Awards
The video for "Sabotage" was nominated for Video of the YearMTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year
The MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year is the main award handed out at the yearly MTV Video Music Awards. It was first awarded in , when The Cars won it, and has been given out since. Eminem has been the most nominated solo artist, male solo artist, and act in this category, having been...
, Best Group Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video was first given out at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards; and in 2007, going along with how the VMAs were revamped that year, the award was renamed Best Group, as it awarded the artist's body of work for the full year rather than a specific video...
, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction in a Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction
The following is a list of MTV Video Music Awards winners for Best Direction in a Video. In 2007, the award was briefly renamed Best Director, but it returned to its original name for the 2008 awards....
, and Viewer's Choice at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards
1994 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1994 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 8, 1994, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1993, to June 15, 1994. The show was hosted by Roseanne Barr at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and this would be the last time there was a female host for the VMAs until Chelsea...
. However, it lost all five categories it was nominated in, losing Video of the Year, Best Group Video and Viewer's Choice to Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
's "Cryin'", and Breakthrough Video and Best Direction in a Video to R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
's "Everybody Hurts
Everybody Hurts
"Everybody Hurts" is a song by R.E.M., originally released on the band's 1992 album Automatic for the People and was also released as a single in 1993. It peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100, #7 on the UK Singles Chart and #3 on the French Singles Chart.-History:Much of the song was written by...
".
During R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
's acceptance speech for the Best Direction award, Beastie Boys member MCA bum-rushed the stage in his "Nathaniel Hornblower" disguise, interrupting Stipe to protest the shutout of "Sabotage" from every category it was nominated in.
At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
2009 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 13, 2009, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, honoring the best music videos from June 19, 2008, to June 29, 2009. Comedian Russell Brand hosted the event for the second time in a row. The awards were held a few months after Michael...
, the "Sabotage" video won best video in the new category of "Best Video (That Should Have Won a Moonman)"
In popular culture
"Sabotage" was used as theme song in the show No Te Equivoques (2001-2002), a mexican version of Jackass hosted by Tony Dalton and Kristoff.The song has also appeared in the video games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...
, Madden NFL 10
Madden NFL 10
For the tenth installment in the Madden series, see Madden 64Madden NFL 10 is an American football video game based on the National Football League that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 21st annual installment in the Madden NFL video game franchise...
and Rock Band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
. In addition, it is featured in DJ Hero
DJ Hero
DJ Hero is a music video game, developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision as a rhythm game spin-off of the Guitar Hero franchise. It was released on October 27, 2009 in North America and on October 29, 2009 in Europe...
as a mashup with the Foo Fighters song Monkey Wrench
Monkey Wrench (song)
"Monkey Wrench" is the first single released from the second Foo Fighters album, The Colour and the Shape. Blistering lyrics chronicled the 1997 disintegration of singer/song writer Dave Grohl's four year marriage to Jennifer Youngblood...
with a guitar part.
The video was shown in an episode of MTV's Beavis and Butt-head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
who responded to it enthusiastically, as if they had seen the video several times, and with Beavis treating it as if it were an actual trailer as opposed to a parody.
It also featured in the 2009 movie Star Trek - set 250 years after its release, young James Kirk
James T. Kirk
James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. Kirk was first played by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series. Shatner voiced Kirk in the animated Star Trek series and appeared in the first seven Star Trek movies...
plays this song on the radio during a joyride in his stepfather's '65 Corvette
Chevrolet Corvette C2
The Chevrolet Corvette , also known as the Corvette Sting Ray, is a sports car produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1963 through 1967 model years.-Origin and development:...
.
During Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
s 25th Anniversary Special in 1999, the band played the first fifteen seconds of the song before their performance was "sabotaged" by Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
- who had famously done the same to one of his own songs in a 1977 episode - who was then joined by the Beastie Boys for "Radio, Radio", the controversial song he had played during the original incident.
Canadian hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band Cancer Bats
Cancer Bats
Cancer Bats are a hardcore punk/sludge metal band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Background:Cancer Bats originated in May 2004 with singer Liam Cormier and guitarist Scott Middleton, former member of Toronto heavy metal band At the Mercy of Inspiration...
covered the song on their EP Sabotage as well as their 2010 album Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones
Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones
Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones is the third studio album by Canadian hardcore punk band Cancer Bats. It was released on April 13, 2010 through Distort Entertainment in Canada. The name of the album derives from each of the band members personal nickname There was also a limited bonus DVD that came...
. It was also covered by alternative band Switchfoot
Switchfoot
Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman , Tim Foreman , Chad Butler , Jerome Fontamillas , and Drew Shirley .After early successes in the Christian rock scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream...
in 2010.
In the multiplayer part of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 there is a game mode known as "Sabotage". If one successfully completes 30 rounds in this game mode, you are rewarded with the title "Intergalactic
Intergalactic (song)
"Intergalactic" is a Grammy-winning song by American hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, released as the first single from their fifth studio album Hello Nasty on May 12, 1998....
", in reference to another song by the Beastie Boys.
It is featured as part of the on-ride soundtrack to X², a roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
at Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain is a theme park located in Valencia, California north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 30, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the Newhall Land and Farming Company. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name Six Flags to the park's title. In...
.
The Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
TV show Presidentin kanslia uses "Sabotage" as the background tune for teasers of upcoming episodes.
The BBC 5 Live radio show Fighting talk
Fighting Talk
Fighting Talk is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. Its first series aired in October 2003, and was presented by Johnny Vaughan. The second series featured Christian O'Connell. It is currently hosted by Colin Murray and is aired on Saturday...
use the song as it's theme tune until the BBC cutbacks forced them to have an imitation version made which was more in keeping with the show
Charts
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
38 |
| Dutch Singles Chart Mega Single Top 100 The Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales and legal downloads and composed by MegaCharts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Dutch Top 40 and the Mega Top 50. The difference is that these charts also include airplay data.The list is... |
35 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
19 |
| U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100... |
15 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs... |
18 |