DeliciousVinyl.com: RIP Matt Dike
Matt Dike, co-founder of iconic record label Delicious Vinyl, producer of enduring hits for 1980s hip-hop stars Tone-Loc and Young MC, and driving creative force behind Beastie Boys’ 1989 album Paul’s Boutique, has died.
Dike formed record label Delicious Vinyl with co-founder Mike Ross in Los Angeles in 1987. The label’s first releases included 12-inch singles “On Fire/Cheeba Cheeba” by Tone-Loc and “Do This” by Cuba-American rapper Mellow Man Ace. Within 18 months of forming the label, Delicious Vinyl released Tone-Loc’s “Wild Thing,” selling over two million copies via heavy MTV airplay of its Tamra Davis-directed video, a sly parody of Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love.” The song’s incorporation of a Van Halen drum fill was indicative of the surprising source material, undeniable mass appeal and utter fun that were hallmarks of Dike’s production style.
Matthew Dike was born on December 2, 1962 in West Nyack, New York, and grew up in the town of Tuxedo Park, approximately forty miles north of New York City. His father, Constant Dike, was a master carpenter who built the Dike family home on We-Wah Lake. His parents (mother Tanya) raised the Dike siblings (brother Lane, sister Vikyana) as strict Jehovah’s Witnesses, banning records by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath from the house. Young Matt was not so easily discouraged.
