Aerosmith Obsession
Today’s post is by Allyson B. Crawford, from Bring Back Glam. Check out Allyson’s amazing glam coverage at Bring Back Glam today!
You know the ones.
Those obsessive fans who will go to any lengths to “appropriately follow” their favorite band.
I consider Aerosmith my favorite band, but now I’ve really got a handle on my addiction. I rarely write about them over at Bring Back Glam! and I don’t spend hordes of money on the Bad Boys of Boston like years past.
I’m 27 and I’m learning to set boundaries. Right now, I’ve got a creative obsession with music writing. I want to transition from a current news-based journalism career to one in which I get paid to listen to music all day. In a lot of ways, I can thank Aerosmith for my music drive.
I didn’t know much about Aerosmith until I was probably 13. Then, Get a Grip was released on April 20, 1993 and suddenly, I was a die-hard rock fan. Back in the early 90s, MTV still played videos, and Aerosmith had the name and the cash to crank out awesome clips. From Get a Grip alone there was “Cryin,’” “Crazy,” “Amazing” and of course, “Livin’ on the Edge.” As Aerosmith’s first album in their third decade of rock started to hit big, MTV started playing more of the band’s older clips. Soon, I found myself scraping together money to buy every Aerosmith release. After I owned just about everything on CD (sometimes I had to settle for cassette when I just didn’t have enough cash), I switched to collecting vinyl. Then T-shirts and other memorabilia. Then magazines with any member of Aerosmith on the cover. It didn’t matter: if my band was out there, endorsing something or on a special television appearance, I had to have it or watch it. No exceptions.
When I was older, I finally got a chance to see Aerosmith live in concert. In fact, I’ve seen Aerosmith in concert more times than any other band, and when they roll through town again, I’ll buy more tickets.
In my senior year of high school, my English teacher assigned the class a project. We had to tell the future of another classmate. One of my friends – who knew my Aerosmith obsession quite well – wrote that I would return to my high school reunion as the president of a record label. While I don’t even work for a label, she was close in guessing that I wanted to turn my passion for music into a money-making venture.
I’m not terrified of success; in fact, I think I’m getting a little closer to my goal every day. Still, I’m terrified at the prospect of meeting – let alone interview – any member of Aerosmith. Would sitting just inches from the one and only Joe Perry turn me into the shell of the woman I’ve become? Would Steven Tyler intimidate so much that I wouldn’t even be able to ask coherent questions?
I like to think that someday I’ll get there: backstage at an Aerosmith show, press pass proudly dangling from my neck. Hopefully, I’ll be able to pull off a quality interview and review…and still tell Boston’s most famous rockers how much they’ve changed my life.
Photo credit: Yahoo! Kids
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I can’t say I’m a big Aerosmith fan. They have their moments and where a lot of bands have swagger, they have swing, but they’ve been pretty up and down over the years. I do like that they’ve done some kinda odd tunes over the years, my favorite being “Kings and Queens.”
My boundaries just seem to keep getting bigger! The best thing is discovering new music whether it is a genuinely new band or something from 30, even 40 years ago that previously passed me by.
As for Aerosmith, I must admit I rarely listen to the MTV stuff – I most often go for that original ‘Greatest Hits’ collection released about 1980. That has everything essential for me on it.
Boundaries? There are no boundaries in Rock!
Thanks for the review Allyson!