Walk This Way

Probably one of the dirtiest-sounding songs to hit the AM band, Aerosmith hadn't yet reached their drugged-out apex when they took "Walk This Way" Top Ten in 1975. The song's title was reportedly inspired by a line from the film Young Frankenstein, though its content is entirely unrelated. The song is about young lust as evidenced in Steven Tyler's pre-rap, dirty limerick verse. Joe Perry's funky guitar line and a gigantic drum sound is at the core of the tune, its irresistible hookiness in Perry's main riff and the chucka-chucka rhythm guitar which serve a similar function to a chorus. The song has all of the essential Aerosmith elements: grit, guitar and steamy sexual innuendo, plus one of those endless Perry jams as its outro. In 1986, Run-D.M.C. redid the track with Aerosmith sitting in to create the first rock/hip-hop hybrid that didn't rely on a sample. Tyler's rap lent itself nicely to Run-D.M.C.'s own tongue-in-cheek, cartoonish rap style. It was one of the few times in history that a band had a hit with their own song for a second time. The version was responsible for helping to relaunch Aerosmith's sagging career, setting them up nicely for their domination of the pop airwaves in the late '80s/early '90s.