Sure Shot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Sure Shot" | ||
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| Single by Beastie Boys | ||
| Released | May 31st, 1994 | |
| Format | Vinyl, CD, Cassette | |
| Recorded | 1994 at G-Son Studios, Atwater Village; Tin Pan Alley, New York City | |
| Genre | Hip Hop | |
| Length | 3:20 | |
| Label | Grand Royal, Capitol Records | |
| Writer(s) | Beastie Boys/DJ Hurricane/Mario Caldato, Jr./Jeremy Steig (flute sample) | |
| Producer(s) | Beastie Boys and Mario Caldato, Jr. | |
Sure Shot is a single from the Beastie Boys' 1994 album Ill Communication. The single was released a few days after the album, on May 31st, 1994 (see 1994 in music). The CD and Cassette Maxi Single (with a total of 7 tracks) features three remixes of the title track, one by Large Professor, one by Mike Nardone and Dred Scott, and a third by The Prunes.
It also features 3 new songs, Mullet Head (a punk rock style song; the title is a reference to the much-ridiculed mullet hair-style), Son Of Neck Bone (an instrumental track) and The Vibes, a more traditional rap song in the manner of Sure Shot.
The driving force of the track Sure Shot is the flute riff (sampled from Jeremy Steig's Howlin' For Judy) and hardcore beat. In the booklet for the Beastie Boys Anthology, The Sounds of Science (1999), Adrock writes of the Sure Shot:
- "I like this cut a lot. Just straight up hip hop. Like a lot of our songs, it's arranged like a hardcore [punk] song. Mathematical. Intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-break-chorus-verse-chorus-end. Nice. The flute line is from the elusive Jeremey Steig. Off the SP1200 it sounds nice."
The Beastie Boys had laid down most of the song, and had put together many of the lyrics, but they were missing a chorus (or hook) for the song. They called DJ Hurricane over the phone to see if he had any ideas, and out of his sleep, over the phone, Hurricane improvised the chorus which would become:
- "Because you can't, you won't, and you don't stop
- When you can't, you won't, and you don't stop
- You know you can't, you won't, and you don't stop
- [name of Beastie Boy] .... come and rock the Sure Shot"
Sure Shot was one of the songs deemed inappropriate to play by Clear Channel Communications in the immediate aftermath of the 9-11 attacks; the refrain "Sure Shot" in the song was considered inappropriate, since it could recall the passenger planes flying into the WTC.
