'Goldbergs' adds Beastie Boys to its '80s soundtrack

The Goldbergs will start the new year moving to a signature ‘80s beat: a Beastie Boys song.

Creator Adam F. Goldberg reveals to Paste BN that he has secured the rights to the hip-hop trio’s 1989 song, Shake Your Rump, for the Jan. 6 episode (8:30 p.m. ET/PT).

The popular, third-season ABC comedy, set in the 1980s Philadelphia of Goldberg’s youth, features frequent remembrances of the decade, including nods to such films as The Goonies and Return of the Jedi.

Sometimes, the connections hit very close to home, as Goldberg tells Paste BN of another personal tie-in. In an episode later this season, he will celebrate the famed kids' game show, Double Dare, which was taped in Philadelphia. Two of his childhood friends who appeared on the game show, Ben Bauman and Amy Gross, will play Double Dare producers talking to actors playing them as kids. "It's so surreal," Goldberg says.

As for the Beastie Boys, “They were one of the most important touchstones of my childhood,” Goldberg tells Paste BN, explaining that it took some persuasion to get rights to a song from a group that doesn’t ordinarily license its music. “They're very protective."

Goldberg, who became a Beastie Boys fan when he was in elementary school, was able to persuade the group's manager with “a very passionate letter” that was underlined by frequent media interviews in which he expressed his hope to build an episode around their music.

In The Tasty Boys, Beastie Boys fan Barry Goldberg (Troy Gentile) figures he can become a rap star, too, enlisting younger brother Adam (Sean Giambrone) and friend Geoff Schwartz (Sam Lerner) in his hip-hop dream.

They have the path to fame and fortune planned out except for one element, Goldberg says. “What they don’t focus on is the actual music.”