THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

305-Run-DMC and Aerosmith-Walk This Way.

1986-Number 8 single.

Best Bit-At 1.13. ‘Ebony and Ivory living together in perfect harmony.’

Aerosmith were formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in 1970 by Steven Tyler, (vocals) Joe Perry, (lead guitar) Joey Kramer, (drums) Tom Hamilton, (bass) and Ray Tabano, (guitar) Tabano would leave in 1971 to be replaced by Brad Whitford (guitar.) There have been a total of eight different band members come and go, and at the time of writing they remain active. As for the name ‘Aerosmith,’ Joey Kramer has said that when he was in school, he would write the word ‘aerosmith’ all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson’s (1941-1994) (see also best songs 388 and 39) 1968 Album ‘Aerial Ballet,’ which featured sleeve art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer’s band mates were unimpressed, they all thought he was referring to the 1925 Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class called ‘No, not Arrowsmith,’ Kramer explained. ‘A-E-R-O…Aerosmith.’ Other names considered were the ‘Hookers,’ and ‘Spike Jones,’ and for a brief period in 1971 they were known as ‘Fox Chase.’ Aerosmith are considered to be one of the most influential American Rock bands of all time, their style, which is rooted in ‘Blues’ based ‘Hard Rock,’ was influenced by 1960’s British groups such as the Rolling Stones, (see also best songs 933-662-452-160 and 77) Led Zeppelin, (see also best songs 135 and 66) and the Yardbirds, (see also best songs 361) in turn Aerosmith incorporated elements of ‘Pop Rock,’ ‘Heavy Metal,’ ‘Glam Metal, and ‘Rhythm and Blues,’ with numerous artists, including Guns N’ Roses, (see also best songs 463 and 8) Metallica, (see also best songs 730 and 52) and the Motley Crew acknowledging their influence.

Aerosmith are the best-selling American ‘Hard Rock band of all time, with sales in excess of 150 million records sold worldwide, approximately 85 million of those records have been sold in the United States. The discography of Aerosmith includes 15 studio Albums released between 1973-2012, and 72 singles released between 1973-2013, there are also two extended plays, (EP’s) 15 official compilation Albums, and nine live Albums available. In America on the ‘Billboard 200’ Album chart, two of their Albums ‘Get a Grip,’ (1993) and ‘Nine Lives,’ (1997) have both reached Number 1, while 21 of their singles have made the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ top 40 singles chart, with ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ peaking the highest at Number 1 in 1998, while ‘Walk This Way’ with ‘Run-DMC’ made Number 4. In the UK, Aerosmith have had seven top 40 charting Albums, with ‘Get a Grip,’ (1993) peaking the highest at Number 2, while 13 of their singles have made the UK top 40, with ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ peaking the highest at Number 4 in 1998.

The original version of ‘Walk This Way’ first appeared on Aerosmith’s breakthrough third studio Album ‘Toys in the Attic,’ from April 1975, and was co-written by Joe Perry, (music) and Steven Tyler, (lyrics) the song was the second of three singles issued from the Album, and on it’s initial release failed to chart, but when re-issued it reached Number 10 on Billboard in 1976, but it has never charted in the UK. In 1986 the ‘Hip-Hop’ group Run-DMC (see also best songs 113) heard their music producer Rick Rubin (see also best songs 977 and 610) playing ‘Toys in the Attic’ and they started free styling over the intro of ‘Walk This Way,’ which led to them introducing it into their live shows. It was a friend of Rubin’s called Sue Cummings, who was an editor at ‘Spin’ magazine, who first suggested a collaboration between Aerosmith, and Run-DMC.

By the mid 1980’s Aerosmith had fallen from grace, their record sales had dropped dramatically, and they were struggling, partly through their drug abuse. Run-DMC were already acknowledged as pioneers of ‘Hip-Hop,’ but it was this collaboration that brought them to the attention of a much wider audience. Both groups were nervous of what public reaction would be to them joining forces, and neither party had any idea if the mixing of ‘Rock,’ and ‘Rap’ would even work. ‘Walk This Way’ did break new ground, introducing the music genre of ‘Rap Rock.’ and paving the way for bands such as The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, (see also best songs 977) Linkin Park, and Faith No More (see also best songs 335.)

The re-make of ‘Walk This Way’ by Run-DMC and Aerosmith was the second of four singles released from ‘Raising Hell,’ the third studio Album by Run-DMC, from May 1986, although Run-DMC provided many of the songs new lyrics, only Steven Tyler, and Joe Perry of Aerosmith are given the official songwriting credits, with the production being by Russell Simmons, and Rick Rubin. The songs lyrics were written about a teenage boys sexual enlightening, where he has an encounter with not one, not two, but three women at the same time. It is the women who are in charge though, as the line ‘walk this way’ refers to the experienced girl showing the young man where to put his finger, showing him how to walk. The songs title came before the lyrics were written. Some of the band had been to see the film ‘Young Frankenstein,’ (1974) a comedy starring Gene Wilder (1933-2016.) There is a scene in the film where ‘Igor’ played by Marty Feldman (1934-1982) tells Dr. Frankenstein to ‘Walk this way,’ meaning to follow him. Dr. Frankenstein imitates Igor’s walk which the band thought was hilarious, on their return they told Steven Tyler, and suggested it as a great title for a song. Tyler however has said that his inspiration for the songs title came from watching ‘The Three Stooges’ on television, something the band all did together while getting high.

‘School girl sleazy with a classy kind of sassy, little skirt hangin’ way up her knee. It was three young ladies in the school gym locker, and they find they were lookin’ at D.’