In “The Skills to Pay the Bills,” a 1992 song by the Beastie Boys, Mike D announces, “I’m on a crazy mission to wax Bob Mack.” Mack, an affable young gonzo journalist, had just spent the better part of a year harassing the Beasties for a Spin-magazine cover story, driving them to distraction. I witnessed this firsthand over the partition that separated our cubicles at Spy magazine, where Bob worked as a reporter—that is, when he wasn’t flagrantly freelancing on company time or failing to show up.
Through the receiver of Bob’s phone, I could hear a palpably agitated Mike D (and, on another occasion, Adam Yauch) rebuffing his questions, wondering how much longer this protracted profiling process was going to take. No wonder Mike D, full name Michael Diamond, wanted to wax—that is, finish off—Bob.
