ICYDK, Aerosmith announced yesterday that they would no longer tour. This sad news marks the end of an era for this kid. See, I wasn’t around (i.e., immersed in the music scene and aware of a higher plane of consciousness) for the birth of The Beatles or Jimi or Zeppelin like some of you born in the early-to-mid-50s. No, I came “of age” in 1973 like many of you who are on the cusp of Medicare now. And no band that first broke radio and album ground in the period of 1973 through 1975 was better or lasted longer or was easier for a teenage boy to relate to than Steven, Joe, Brad, Tom, and Joey. One of my earliest concert memories was Aerosmith opening for BOC and Joey playing the drums with his freakin’ head. (BOC closing their concert with Born to Be Wild with the guys all playing guitar at the end and then with Buck and Eric crossing their guitars like swords was awfully cool, too.)
Then, I distinctly remember (it’s funny what we remember, right?) sitting on a picnic table in Losantiville and somebody having a transistor radio and hearing cuts off the Toys in the Attic album. That was when Aersomith went from a good rock band to superstar status. And they so deserved it with the driving guitars and tongue-in-cheek lyrics only Tyler could write. I still say that Walk this Way was the first rap song to get airplay. And that Sweet Emotion is still my favorite use of the talkbox on a song (with apologies to Joe Walsh and Peter Frampton).
Rocks took them to an even harder drugs, harder rocking level and, for many (including no less an authority than Slash), was the ultimate American hard rock album. I still prefer the subtlety of Toys over Rocks but they are both up there for greatest musical achievements by a band or artist in history.
And then they imploded. But, how ironic that Tyler would be the one to write, “It’s the same old story, never get a second chance for a dance to the top of the hill” when they were one of the very few that got and mastered that second chance after crashing and dreaming.
Alas, all good things eventually come to an end. I hope all of you, my friends, had the chance to see live what can only be described as one of the top five (if not the top one) American bands of all time. The past is gone. But keep on dreaming until your dreams come true.
