Desmond Child helped bring Aerosmith back to life in the late 1980s. He gave the band direction after so many years of falling apart due to drugs and other divisions. Namely, he saved them from themselves on the mega, career-saving hit, “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)”. The band was going in a different direction on this song before the legendary songwriter course-corrected.
How Desmond Child Saved “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)”
Child came in to help Aerosmith with Permanent Vacation. His introduction to the band was an immediate pulse-taking moment when he boldly disagreed with them on a song they were writing. Not many collaborators would walk into a room with rock stars and completely shut down their creativity. But Child’s firm vision is what makes him so legendary.
“Steven warmly greeted me with his enormous smile and introduced me to a standoffish Joe Perry,” Child once said. “They played me a backward guitar loop that sounded like a boogie blues harmonica, and Steven began singing ‘Cruisin’ for the ladies, da-dap da-dap… cruisin’ for the ladies’, and asked me what I thought.”
“The first words out of my mouth were: ‘I think that really sucks. It sounds like a bad Van Halen cast-off they wouldn’t even put on the worst record of their enemy,’” he continued. “Now with his ire up and arms crossed over his chest, Joe looked like he was ready to have me escorted out the door by the roadies.”
Whatever the original version of this song was going to be, it couldn’t have beaten the magic of “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)”. Inspired by a case of mistaken identity, this song was an innuendo-filled track, perfect for a rock comeback.
“Steven jumped in and sheepishly admitted that he had mistaken blonde mullet-topped Vince Neil of the band Mötley Crüe for a hot chick from behind at a bar and started to sing ‘Dude looks like a lady,’” he continued. “I lit up and said, ‘Now that’s a hit song title!’”
Child was right. This song earned Aerosmith plenty of praise. It reinvigorated their career for decades to come. Without Child being honest about Tyler’s initial songwriting attempt, they may never have earned that second chance at chart success. The subsequent album, for which this song served as the single, went multi-platinum. That’s quite a lesson Child dished out.
(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
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