Best (and Worst) Collaborations with Racebannon's James Bauman

Posted June 15 by sarah.kitteringham

Bloomington noise weirdos Racebannon release their “DJ-styled” Wrap The Body 12-inch today, a collaborative record featuring mash-ups and remixes courtesy of Jilly Weiss (We Are Hex), Yea Big, Kid Static, and others. To celebrate the long and varied history of musical collaborations, Decibel played telephone tag—eventually opting for an email interview—with guitarist James Bauman, who provided us with his top three best and worst collaborations.

THREE BEST



1) Run DMC & Aerosmith - "Walk This Way"

Aerosmith’s comeback in the ’80s was largely due to Run DMC collaborating with them on a remake of “Walk This Way.” The song was a huge success and has always been sort of a guilty pleasure for me. For the first time (worth noting), rock and rap were working together. It definitely broke new ground. It paved the way for the entire Judgment Night soundtrack (too many awesome collaborations on that soundtrack to mention, but Slayer & Ice T, Helmet & House of Pain, and Biohazard & Onyx could all be considered groundbreaking and total failures at the same time—I liked them then, but am not too sure about how I feel about them now) and launched a pretty big craze in music. Most of the bands coming out of that “genre” ended up total crap (you know who they are), but without it we might not have Rage Against the Machine (which everyone has liked at some point, I’m sure).



2) Ozzy Osbourne & Lita Ford - "Close My Eyes Forever"

This song used to annoy the crap outta me. For some reason, every time I hear it now I think it rules. I was never a fan of ballads or slow songs, but I have always been a fan of Ozzy’s, and was a fan of Lita’s for a minute. Duets, especially in metal, are usually pretty stupid, but somehow this one just works. It was a chance for a metal god to prove that he can have a softer and sensitive side, and if he’s doing it alongside a hot metal chick, that makes it okay. No matter how much you want to hate this song, you just can’t deny that the vocals rule. Obviously, it didn’t hurt Ozzy’s career, and it probably ended up being Lita’s shining moment in rock history (unless you count her semi-success in the Runaways or her mega-hit “Kiss Me Deadly”). Now, I don’t know if it’s necessarily one of my favorite collaborations of music history, but I definitely think it’s worth mentioning.


3) Beastie Boys with Kerry King – “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”

The Beastie Boys album License To Ill was and still is the shit. Kerry King was and always will be the shit. Put them together and not only do you have a deadly combination, but you get “No Sleep Till Brooklyn.” Thanks to Rick Rubin, who is also the shit, Kerry was hooked up with the Beastie Boys to play a melting solo on one of the best tracks of their album. That song helped a lot of new rap fans discover Slayer most likely, also accelerating the rap/metal crossover (see #1). It also helped show the world that the Beastie Boys weren’t just a rap group, but a groundbreaking band with punk and rock roots.



Runner-Up: Anthrax & Public Enemy - "Bring The Noise"

Why? Because it ruled. C’mon, it’s Anthrax!

THREE WORST



1) Eminem & Elton John – “Stan” (Live at the Grammys)

Not sure if I really need to explain why this failed. Technically, it was a huge hit and was really just a stunt to show that Eminem wasn’t as a big of “homophobe” as he had claimed he was. Nonetheless, it pretty much sucked that the two of them did this.



2) Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney – “Say Say Say”

This song ended up being a failure, not necessarily because the song sucked (though I was personally never that into it), but because of the aftermath of the relationship between the two. They ended up doing another song together called “The Girl Is Mine,” which was pretty popular and a big hit from Jackson’s Thriller album. While the friendship seemed likely and a good idea musically, Michael Jackson ended up betraying McCartney’s trust by purchasing the rights to the Beatles catalog, making him millions of dollars from licensing and commercials. Good deal for Jackson, bad deal for McCartney.



3) Chris Cornell & Timbaland – “Scream”

Okay, this one is a little newer. While, I admit, I haven’t heard the whole album, what I HAVE heard is just atrocious. I have always been a Soundgarden fan and have often been a Timbaland fan, but this is just embarrassing. I understand why Chris Cornell thought that working with Timbaland would be a good career move, but some musicians just have no business working together, and this is why. Hopefully, Cornell can get past this terrible album and find another way to jump-start his solo career. But, since the end of Soundgarden, he has just continued (in my opinion) to suck. Sorry, Audioslave fans.

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