the abbreviated reign of “neon” leon spinks

OOPS 138
• Madonna and the Beastie Boys, 1985. The white rappers,
known for their irreverent humor as well as their inventive sam-
pling, were booed by the Material Girl’s fifteen- year- old fans at
Madison Square Garden. By one account, the Beasties’ Adam
Yauch responded by jumping atop one of the speakers, grabbing
his crotch, and spewing graphic insults at the crowd.
• Smash Mouth and ’NSYNC, 2002. Squeaky- clean harmonizers
’NSYNC and caustic Smash Mouth, whose songs deal with
topics such as getting evicted and being threatened by a baseball
bat–wielding girlfriend, were an incongruous pairing. But the
two bands actually hit it off. Smash Mouth even did a thrashy
punk version of ’NSYNC’s lost-love lament “Gone.”