Beastie Boys “Together Forever” Photo Shoot Atop 298 Elizabeth

Beastie Boys discography has practically been on loop ever since news broke on Friday that MCA passed.

Throughout all the reminiscing, condolences, tributes, and whatnot, vintage shots of the trio are flooding all corners of the internets. Like the following photo of the three MCs and Run-DMC (and Russell Simmons) atop 298 Elizabeth Street exactly twenty-five years ago. Why Elizabeth Street?

Circa 1987; Photo Credit: Glen E. Friedman

This was the first legit home of Def Jam Records (and Rush Management), a label initially co-founded inside Rick Rubin’s NYU dorm room at Weinstein Hall. According to the book, Raising Hell, Rubin and Simmons purchased the building after signing a distribution deal with CBS in late 1985.

Circa 1987; Photo Credit: Glen E. Friedman

The occasion for such an assemblage of hip-hop royalty on the Lower East Side was the photo session for the 1987 “Together Forever” tour. Wrote the New York Times of the tour announcement:

RUN-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys, the country’s two most popular rap music acts, have announced a 40-city summerlong tour tentatively scheduled to begin in Honolulu on June 13 and to culminate at Madison Square Garden on Aug. 17. The ”Together Forever” tour will be one of the few in pop music history to give top billing to black and white acts of equal stature. Both Run-D.M.C.’s latest album, ”Raising Hell,” and the Beastie Boys’ debut, ”Licensed to Ill,” have surpassed the three million mark in sales.

Because both groups attract a rowdy audience, extraordinary security precautions are being taken for their tour. Special metal-detection units, an elaborate double barricade system for crowd control, and augmented, specially trained security personnel will be employed to help maintain order.

Now this block is an unaffordable posh mecca. This is how 298 Elizabeth Street looks today (with bonus scaffolding):

And some video:

[Both photos courtesy of Glen E. Friedman]