Buddy Rich

The Beastie Boys song "Sabotage" has a strange line in it: "I'm Buddy RIch when I fly off the handle." Who is Buddy Rich, I wondered to myself.

According to Wikipedia, Buddy Rich was a 70s drummer, and a quite good one. Some regard him as the greatest drummer ever. Current popular drum techniques are largely attributed to his innovations.

The Beastie Boys may be referring to Buddy Rich's drumming, but they may also be referring his temper. Buddy Rich - a Brooklyn native like the Beasties - had a legendary temper and would occasionally berade his bandmates. Many of these tirades were captured during recording sessions, others by bandmates who secretly taped his tantrums while on the road.

Apparently these tapes eventually became a popular bootleg. According to Wikipedia, several Seinfeld lines are taken verbatim from the tapes. New Yorkers Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David were big fans of the bootlegs and included several of the lines in the show. One example: when Jerry throws his comedy act to trip up a fellow comedian following his act, he remarks: "Let's see how he does without all the assistance". This is straight from one of Buddy's rants.