Burning The Ground Exclusive 1986
“Walk This Way” is a song originally recorded by the American rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the album Toys in the Attic (1975) from their LP Toys in the Attic.
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, though Jam Master Jay was open to it. They didn’t want the record to be released as a single even after recording with Tyler and Perry, 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 (This later appeared in a scene from the 2011 film The Smurfs). This version of “Walk This Way” charted higher on the Billboard Hot 100 than the original, peaking at number 4. It was also one of the first big hip hop singles in the UK, peaking at number 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 addiction 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.
In 2008, “Walk This Way” was ranked number 4 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop”. This version of the song is currently ranked as the 148th greatest song of all time, as well as the second best song of 1986, by Acclaimed Music.
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.
SIDE A:
Walk This Way 5:09
Featuring – Aerosmith
SIDE B:
Walk This Way (Instrumental) 3:36
My Adidas 2:48
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
OBI: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Walk This Way | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #4 |
| 1986 | Walk This Way | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | #13 |
| 1986 | Walk This Way | U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles | #8 |
| 1986 | Walk This Way | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | #6 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Profile Records – L13P 7117
Format:
Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Japan
Released: 1986
Genre: Hip Hop
Style: Hip Hop
CREDITS:
Cover [Photo] – Glen E. Friedman
Producer –Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons
Written-By – J. Perry, S. Tyler
NOTES:
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry appear courtesy of Geffen Records
Taken from the L.P./Cassette Raising Hell.
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
THE GEAR:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!
Password: burningtheground
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What an iconic record and music video too. It would be cool to see some early De La Soul in future, if possible?
Thanks Paul 🙂
Thank you very much Paul.
You’re welcome, Jason 🙂
Thank you again, Paul. Run-DMC was my major introduction to Rap and I was hooked. I still have their first 2 or 3 releases. Later, I graduated to Public Enemy and I’ve never been the same. As people say, “That boy ain’t right.” But I remember a slightly different timeline. I remember it must have been 1985 when my roommate in the Army first shared Walk This Way with me. There was also the popular MTV video that was playing seemingly constantly, (the one with the little old man introducing the music). To my memory, Walk This Way would have… Read more »
Hi Muff Diver, you’re not losing it! Just a simple mixup between King of Rock and Walk This Way. You’re right, King of Rock came out in ’85 and was the first single off their second album. That’s the one with the video introduced by Larry ‘Bud’ Melman as the museum guard. Walk This Way came out in summer of ’86 and was all over the radio and MTV. And it definitely came out in ’86 as it was recorded in March of that year. I hope this clears it up!
Oh man. Thank you so much for that help. Yes, now it’s making better sense to me.
Definitely a touch of senility going on too, probably 😉
I can remember the lyrics and the beat to King Of Rock, but now I’m wondering how I got that track crossed with Aerosmith.
Now I’ve got to dig up my copy of King Of Rock and reacquaint myself…
Thanks again for the assist, Retro Hound!
Any time Muff Diver!
Thanks for clearing this all up for us retro Hound 🙂
My pleasure!
Loving the change in direction this week! Thanks for this Japan 12″ of this landmark record! And the instrumental b-side is, to my knowledge, pretty rare. Thank you as always Paul!!
You’re most welcome Retro Hound 🙂
Loving this run of classic hip-hop singles. Great stuff! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Paul 🙂
Loving these posts so much… every day is a treat !!
Thank you, Grant 🙂
Rick Rubin produced an excellent single. I had loved the original version of “Walk This Way” and this rap version really brought an elevation of sorts to this record. I love the creativity with Hip Hop. It could blend music of all different genres into a whole new entity. I also really like how this record got Aerosmith to almost reinvent themselves with newer hit music. Thank you, Paul, for dusting this one off and giving it your magic touch.
Jeff
You’re welcome, Jeff. I do really enjoy early Hip-Hop there was a lot of creativity. 🙂
… Perfect Old School Hip Hop Week so far! Many Thanks Paul!
You’re welcome, CAPankow 🙂