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Cover of Licensed to Ill by Beastie Boys
Cover: Licensed to Ill

Song · Beastie Boys

“Brass Monkey” by Beastie Boys

From the album Licensed to Ill (1986)

“Brass Monkey” by Beastie Boys appears on 48 radio countdowns from 22 stations between 1992 and 2026. It was first released in 1986 on the album Licensed to Ill. Its best result is #2 on the KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #365 alternative song of all time.

48countdowns
22stations
#2best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1992–2026years charted

Watch

Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey (Live At Madison Square Garden) (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (BeastieBoysVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Brass Monkey" is one of the singles the Beastie Boys pulled from Licensed to Ill, their 1986 debut on Def Jam and Columbia, and it's the sound of three wise guys treating a hip-hop record like the loudest party on the block. Rick Rubin produced it with the band and gets the composer credit, while Ad-Rock, Mike D and Adam Yauch split the rhymes between them, tossing lines back and forth like a football.

Rubin keeps the beat stripped and rubbery, and the three of them bray over it with the snotty glee of kids who know they've gotten away with something. Steve Ett engineered it, and nothing about it sounds fussed over, which is exactly the point.

It later turned up on the Solid Gold Hits compilation, and stations kept slipping it into their countdowns for more than two decades.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1992 442 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1994 149 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1995 133 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 312 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 179 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1998 2 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 104 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 42 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 101 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 143 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 25 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
2001 181 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 33 K-Rock K-Rock Top 92 Party Songs of All-Time (2002) 92
2002 197 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 785 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 210 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 855 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 19 Q101 Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 253 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 160 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2005 60 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 32 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 25 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2007 1516 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 51 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 1347 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 138 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 1224 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1114 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1050 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1097 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1157 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 498 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 474 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 438 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 487 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2019 345 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2020 483 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2020 323 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2021 533 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 262 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2022 460 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2022 247 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2023 263 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 429 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2024 129 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2025 520 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800
2026 269 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

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