Geoff Edgers - Walk This Way: Run-DMC, Aerosmith, and the Song That Changed American Music Forever

Joseph Simmons (Run)Run-DMCs most vocal member and considered the MC who formed the group. Also the younger brother of manager and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.

Darryl McDaniels (DMC)The comic book geek whose deep voice and imaginative rhymes earn him a spot as Runs partner on the mic.

Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay)Added after Run-DMCs first album, Mizell is a serviceable DJ who becomes a master on the turntable and, more importantly, serves as a powerful influence when Run and DMC arent taking the task at hand seriously.

Rick Rubin, producerThe NYU student who starts the record label Def Jam Recordings in his dorm room and earns respect for his stripped-down productions at a time when so many rappers are being forced to use disco-style instrumentation.

Russell Simmons, producer, managerThe second of three Simmons brothers, he starts his career as a concert promoter before launching Rush Management and representing rap pioneer Kurtis Blow. Will eventually join Rubin to partner on Def Jam Recordings.

Larry Smith, producerA bassist by training, Smith would produce Kurtis Blow, the Fat Boys, Whodini, and Run-DMC. His tragic decline and early death left him all but forgotten. But over a five-year period, he produced some of raps most successful albums.

Bill Adler, journalist, band publicist/biographerAdler was among the first journalists to write appreciatively about hip-hop. In 1984, he signed on to become director of publicity for Russell Simmons and Def Jam, spearheading campaigns for Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Whodini, and Public Enemy during the next half-dozen years.

Cory Robbins and Steve Plotnicki, cofounders, Profile RecordsThey were not the first to put out rap records, but Robbins and Plotnicki were the first to see the potential of rap albums. And unlike many indie companies, they were reluctant to let go of their acts once they became popular.

Steven TylerAerosmiths lead singer, spark plug, and resident diva. He was Jagger to Joe Perrys Richards, a flamboyant front man who could also play piano and drums. He and Perry would be known as the Toxic Twins because of their drug use.

Joe PerryAerosmiths lead guitarist. Quiet, mysterious, and hard to get close to. He would be responsible for writing many of the groups signature riffs, including the central hook of Walk This Way.

Jimmy Crespo and Rick DufayWhen Perry and Brad Whitford exit, Aerosmith brings in a new pair of guitarists. Crespo is a masterful player eager to revive the group, but shy and fragile. Dufay is a madman, brash and argumentative and not afraid to talk back or even tackle Tyler.

Tim CollinsA small-time manager who meets Joe Perry when the guitarist is at his lowest point and gets him back on the road and a record deal. When Perry approaches the other Aerosmith members to reform, he does it on one condition: Collins has to be their manager.

John KalodnerThe superstar A&R man, known for his Lennonesque appearance (white suits, long hair, and flowing beard), signs Aerosmith to Geffen Records after they reform and then finds himself under fire when he cant control the rebellious band.

Jack DouglasThe producer who transformed Aerosmith from a local band to stadium kings. Responsible for the bands greatest works, including Walk This Way and Sweet Emotion and brought back to try to salvage the Perryless Rock in a Hard Place.

INTRODUCTION

Run-DMC made it possible for all the majors to see that rap music and hip-hop was album-oriented music and rap artists were rock stars, really. Run-DMC was the complete sacrifice for anything that was successful after 1986.

Chuck D

The collaborators were, until that March morning in 1986, total strangers. Youll hear Tyler try to tell you otherwise, boasting about those mixtapes he would pick up when he was living in New York City in the early 80s. And that may be true. But even if he was digging all those B-boy jams, Tylers true focus had nothing to do with music. He was a dope fiend on a twenty-dollar-a-day allowance. He certainly wasnt checking out the Cold Crush.

And his partner, Joe Perry? The guitarist at least had a kid in the house to introduce him to this new sound. His stepson, Aaron, just thirteen years old, had tapes from the Fat Boys, Doug E. Fresh, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and, of course, Run-DMC. Did Perry fall in love with hip-hop? Not exactly. But the kids stack of tapes at least introduced him to the whirlpool of sonic energy.

To Tyler and Perrys credit, at least they pretended to know the guys. That was just good manners. Joey Run Simmons and Darryl DMC McDaniels, seventeen years younger than both Aerosmith leaders, didnt seem particularly concerned about showing mutual respect. They were smart-ass kids, late for the session and reluctant to be there in the first place. It was left to Jason Mizell, better known as Jam Master Jay, to tell Run and D that they better hustle down to the studio and take a serious whack at the song. Even then, they huddled on the couch with Big Macs, grumbling something about a stolen car. They hadnt even memorized the words to the song they were being asked to do, a song that had been a staple of 1970s white-programmed FM radio. They just knew the beat. Give us number four on