Sure Shot (Beastie Boys)

• 19 Sep 15:44
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"Sure Shot" is a single from the Beastie Boys' 1994 album Ill Communication. The single was released a few days after the release of the album, on May 31, 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":

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:

"Sure Shot" was one of the songs...

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