Description
In 1986, the hip hop group Run-DMC covered "Walk This Way", in collaboration with Aerosmith (with its leaders Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on vocals and guitars, respectively). While working on Raising Hell, Rick Rubin pulled out Toys in the Attic. At shows, Run-DMC had freestyled over the first few seconds of the song on a loop, not knowing what the full song sounded like, or even hearing the lyrics. While Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels had no idea who Aerosmith were at that time, Rubin suggested remaking the song. Neither Simmons nor McDaniels liked the idea, and considered the lyrics "hillbilly gibberish", though Jam Master Jay was open to it. Rubin brought in Tyler and Perry to re-record their parts; initially, Run and DMC intended to mimic Tyler's delivery, but were convinced by Jam Master Jay to do it in a more natural rap flow. Perry also recorded the bass tracks for the song; the studio didn't have a bass at hand, so one of the Beastie Boys, who happened to hang around the studio, went home and brought in his bass for Perry to use.
Even after recording with Tyler and Perry, Run-DMC did not want the record to be released as a single, and were shocked when it was played on both urban and rock radio stations. "I never even thought 'Walk This Way' would be a single," Rubin recalled. "Not that I didn't like it, but I didn't think in those terms." DMC called it "a beautiful thing" in a trailer for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. This version of "Walk This Way" charted higher on the Billboard Hot 100 than the original, peaking at number 4, becoming Run-DMC's biggest hit. It was also the first hip hop single to reach the top five on the Billboard charts, as well as one of the first big hip hop singles in the UK, peaking at #8.
The song marked a major comeback for Aerosmith, as they had been largely out of mainstream pop culture for several years while Tyler battled substance use disorder and Perry and Brad Whitford were out of the band. Their 1985 comeback album, Done with Mirrors, had also not met commercial expectations. Aerosmith followed "Walk This Way" with multi-platinum albums and Top 40 hits, starting with Permanent Vacation and its hit "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" in 1987.
The chorus of Run-DMC's cover contains a pitch alternation that Aerosmith adopted in most future live performances. In collaborations, the other singer often says "talk this way" every alternate line of the chorus. This rap-style delivery may explain why the song worked so well as a hip hop song when it was covered eleven years later.
The 1986 video for "Walk This Way" symbolically places a rock band and Run-DMC in a musical duel in neighbouring studios before Steven Tyler literally breaks through the wall that separates them. The video segues to the bands' joint performance on stage. Guitarist Perry recalls the experience and the impact on the network: "It was fun going down there and recording with them, and when they said, 'It's gonna go on the record. Do you want to do this video of you guys playing, and then you break down a wall, and we're side by side?' We said, 'Yeah, let's do it,' that was pretty amazing. It was amazing because it really did break down walls. At the time, I don't think that there were any minority acts on MTV, except for Michael Jackson, up to that point. If there was (sic), it wasn't a lot, and I think it definitely opened some doors, and I'm really proud of that. I'd like to say we planned it and that we knew that it was going to happen, but we didn't. I'm just glad it was Aerosmith and Run-DMC that did it.
The video was directed by Jon Small and filmed at the Park Theater in Union City, New Jersey. Small had an office at 1775 Broadway, the same building where Run-DMC's label Profile Records were based. The video's budget was a modest $67,000.
Aside from Tyler and Perry, none of the other rock musicians in the video are the Aerosmith members; instead, they were played by Roger Lane, J. D. Malo, and Matt Stelutto—respectively rhythm guitarist, bassist, and drummer of the largely unknown hair metal outfit Smashed Gladys. According to VH1's Pop Up Video, Run-DMC could not afford to use the entire Aerosmith band, just Tyler and Perry. As only Tyler and Perry had traveled to record the cover, they were the only Aerosmith members to appear, even though the entire band was credited in some releases of the remake.
According to journalist Geoff Edgers, Tyler and Perry were initially ambivalent about appearing in the video: when Small phoned Tyler to discuss the video concept, Tyler told him: "Just don't make fools of us.. I don't want people laughing at us". Plotnicki described the atmosphere on set as "beyond chilly", whilst Smashed Gladys lead guitarist Bart Lewis was struck by the fact that interaction between the members of Aerosmith and Run-DMC was minimal. However, according to Edgers, the frosty relations did thaw as the shoot went on.
"Walk This Way" was ranked #4 on VH1 "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop"