In the late 80s, Brian Wilson recorded the rap song “Smart Girls” with his therapist Eugene Landy taking co-writing credit.
“Smart Girls” was produced by Matt Dike, the co-founder of Delicious Vinyl who was also part of the production team behind hits by Tone Loc and Young MC. By varying accounts Dike was at one time a member of the Dust Brothers and responsible for a some of the production on The Beastie Boy’s “Paul’s Boutique” which was recorded in 1989 (roughly the same time as Wilson’s album). You can actually hear some vague links as “Smart Girls” employs a similar cut-and-paste sample aesthetic (to far worse effect) as bits of past Beach Boy hits are chopped up and sprinkled throughout the song.
For more details on how this song came about, we highly recommend Wilson’s autobiography Wouldn’t It Be Nice which details much of his career and includes an overview of the controversial relationship he had with his therapist. Hint: your therapist should not be co-writing your albums and collecting ASCAP checks. Big up all the smart girls!
[audio: http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DG/brianwilson_smartgirls.mp3][via WFMU]
