What it was like writing with AEROSMITH! Desmond Child reveals

[@joebagofdonuts]

I can't believe Desmond Child looks as young as he does. I just remember seeing his name on almost every song on my Kiss albums as a kid - that was so long ago. Glad to see he's still going and he's so healthy. His songs brought me a lot of joy.

[@richalderson6069]

He's lost alot of weight and yes, looks much younger than his years.

[@pieterbalk-ht7kq]

Losing weight and plastic surgery.

[@luvbasses5487]

It’s gotta be one of the easiest/hardest things to do: pull words out of the air, write em down, develop a melody to put ‘em to. Des, safe to say, cracked the code and found a way in to the world of songwriting. Hugely talented individual here.

[@Funz2022]

That this guy co-wrote "What It Takes" makes all the difference. What a song.

[@DR-lc9qg]

Love Desmond’s solo album, and his prior band Desmond Child & Rouge, their second album Runners in the Night is amazing. Genius song writer and great singer.

[@markrushton1516]

Like it or not. Hitmaker. Took Aerosmith to another level and Bon Jovi.

[@VRPRocks]

He knew how to craft a hit, that's for sure! A few more videos to come of him talking about Bon Jovi, Kiss, Alice Cooper and Joan Jett too 👍🤘

[@markrushton1516]

had the golden touch along with Diane Warren.

[@VRPRocks]

It's crazy when you look at all the songs they had a hand in writing or producing. Helped to shape popular music for decades!

[@markrushton1516]

@@VRPRocks Also it set up careers for these acts. Aerosmith were making a comeback and just like that Permanent Vacation put them back on top. Same with Cher and Alice Cooper. Might be formulaic but when the tickets were selling and the cheques rolled in you can bet the artists were smiling.

[@VRPRocks]

Absolutely!

[@theoisme]

Desmonds top ten co-writes are such a mega hits collection

[@ministerofdarkness]

I’m not the biggest fan of some of his work, but I do respect Desmond immensely. Big fan of his work with Kiss. Nevertheless he helped save some of these classic rock bands in the 80s.

[@johnmaloney1681]

I wish he would have spoken about "What it takes". My favorite Aerosmith song. Genius.

[@technicalitems731]

Legend. Doesn't matter if he is called bubble gum. He makes it happen

[@BillMcGirr]

Great interview. Desmond is a songwriting genius…like it or not. I’d love to have his catalogue… and royalty streams.🤣🤣🤣👍🥃🎸

[@VRPRocks]

Hell yeah, I wouldn't mind a slice of his royalties too! 😂👍🤘

[@Rob-eo5ql]

Love, love, love 1970s Aerosmith: Somebody, One Way Street, Spaced, Seasons of Wither, Combination, Sick as a Dog, Lick and a Promise, Nobodys Fault, No More No More, I Wanna Know Why…Chiquita, No Surprize…. People trash post-70s Aerosmith, but 1989 PUMP is one of my all-time favorite albums. Every song is great.

[@I-Libertine]

Desmond Child and Rouge had an incredible sing called "The Night is Not" that was disco, but really undeniably good. I remember when I heard it thinking "someone like Kiss could pull this off..."

[@mikebozik]

Great interview, yes that material was definitely ahead of its time. What a songwriting genius!😊

[@VRPRocks]

Glad you enjoyed it! More clips with Desmond coming soon!

[@michaeldavis6607]

It’s not ahead if it’s time. It’s the same as Lola which is an old song

[@morbidmanmusic]

No.

[@patricklandon7476]

That impersonation of Steven Tyler was perfection.

[@Funz2022]

yeah that was amazing

[@geetarman513]

That Steven impression is STRONG!

[@CoCotheTurtle]

Entertaining, informative and downright hilarious! Good stuff!

[@VRPRocks]

Glad you enjoyed it! There's a few others on this channel with Desmond too 👍🤘

[@moonbeamskies3346]

Great stuff! Check out Desmond Child and Rouge on Saturday Night Live in 1979 for some wild rocking fun.

[@allanpeck8523]

The story going around back in the day was the song was originally "Cruising For The Ladies" and after recording a demo and listening back to it someone commented that it sounded like Steven Tyler was singing "Do The Funky Lady". They thought about going in that direction with the song but what does "Do the Funky Lady" mean? Was it a dance move like the Funky Chicken? Eventually it evolved into "Dude Looks Like a Lady" and that was the final version.

[@contemposuits1983]

It's amazing to see how Desmond Child's mind works.

[@jascatt3341]

I don’t know how you got him on! But than I thought your a great interviewer! That’s how! Awesome video!

[@DevilsDevices666]

You should check-out his channel, this dude has interviewed so many legends

[@stevekonbass]

Good interview. Pretty interesting.

[@VRPRocks]

Glad you enjoyed it 👍 🤘

[@ronnie_5150]

Look up the list of the songs Child wrote or co-wrote from every genre of music. It's crazy.

[@tonycareyofficial4553]

What a cool guy... great interview!

[@VRPRocks]

Thanks, Tony! Hope you are keeping well, my friend!

[@clausm2203]

Great interview

[@apparitionight]

The shore is the North Shore aka North Vancouver, BC, Canada. Aerosmith was recording at Little Mountain Studios with Bob Rock at the controls. Flood was there with his gear in the lobby. White snake was also recording there at the same time. I was there being an ant on the wall. 😂

[@VRPRocks]

Very cool! Were you working at the studio?

[@OneMountainNine]

Working with one of the studio musicians that day

[@stevedamien638]

Vancouver is a dump with the worst judgmental people and over inexistant nightlife. Definitely not fantastic Montreal or even Toronto or fuck name any. Kelowna number one fuck vancouver. Everybody are paycheck to paycheck living with roomies or renting their sheds out or ground level house not of the Fuckers can afford his own.

[@MegaLoucon]

Good Steven Tyler impression

[@charleigh195]

By the way can’t thank you enough for your amazing content buddy.

[@VRPRocks]

Thanks for the kind words @charleigh195 Glad you're enjoying it all 😊👍🤘

[@carlr2259]

Great interview thank you sir

[@johnwatson3948]

Home story reminds me of a cameraman friend who would tell me after-the-fact how he’d worked on a famous band video without asking me along. Said he did some shots at Joe Perry’s house near Cape Cod with Jack Douglas and oh yeah, the other guys in the band showed up on motorcycles.

[@bobthebear1246]

Great story. 👏🏻 I never knew the story of how "Dude Looks Like A Lady" got made. Absolutely brilliant. BTW, major props to Joe Perry for not wanting to insult the Gay Community all the way back in 1987 when almost everyone else was insulting us. ❤️ And so cool of Desmond Child to be Out-And-Proud even all the way back then.

[@Whyioughtta111]

Thank GOD he wrote dude looks like a lady…. The highest achievement EVER in songwriting…. A true master class…. Be-boppin, great lyrics, amazing amazing riffage… What a winner

[@EDOGG62]

Aerosmith peaked creatively with "Rocks." Commercially is something else entirely... and not at all when I'm interested in.

[@marty_the_party]

Fact

[@toddlavigne6441]

the only album I'm not crazy about is Done with Mirrors

[@ianscholes3049]

John Kalodner and Steven Tyler's love of celebrity ruined Aerosmith

[@toddlavigne6441]

No way. The evolved once they got sober. I don't hear any difference with Dude or Back in the Saddle. Both are very commercial. They always have written very commercial songs. The 70's stuff was just a lot raunchy.

[@ianscholes3049]

@@toddlavigne6441 You think they evolved? Listen to the lyrics to 'F.I.N.E', they are just embarrassing and 'Love In An Elevator' is a Bon Jovi knock off. They have been rubbish for 30 years.

[@bloodlinefilms]

of all the places he popped up in my music listening i definitely like the cheesy 80s arena songs he wrote with paul stanley best. 80s kiss had so many penultimate examples of 80s glammy hair rock that could have probably been hits if they werent put out by kiss.

[@dwaynejones1146]

Good story.

[@VRPRocks]

Glad you enjoyed it! More from Desmond talking about working with the likes of Kiss, Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper etc still to come on the channel 👍🤘

[@garthgundy]

Awesome Tyler impersonation 🤣🤣

[@bloodlinefilms]

he did a great paul stanley in another clip too. the guy is a good storyteller and clearly multi talented

[@sidewaysrain7609]

It is the musical hook that made the song. Tyler could sing about spaghetti and meatballs it still would have been a hit!

[@coldroses5337]

Aerosmith made Toys in the Attic 👊🏻💥 Rocks 👊🏻💥 The second time around was velveeta cheese.

[@mht525]

Awesome ✌️ 🇦🇺

[@elecrtif]

I don’t care for the songs from the era he worked with them on. Now I know it why. But, it appealed to way more ore people so I’m not saying he doesn’t have a gift, it’s just not for me.

[@charleigh195]

I personally think the last really good album Aerosmith did was PUMP.Its a great album saw them play it at Birmingham 1989 with Thunder as support who were just coming out of the Terraplane era they wear fucking amazing.Aerosmith were fabulous saw them a few months later at Donington 1990 when Jimmy Page came on all brilliant which is more than I can say to the headline that year Whitesnake they were awful with that hair rubbish never got to see them in the classic ere Moody/Marsden etc even Kerrang magazine said we survived Donington but did Whitesnake x

[@MrMortadella1]

Helping to create corporate Aerosmith is not something I would consider a crowning achievement. Still boggles my mind how a masterpiece like Rocks and bubble gum nonsense like Permanent Vacation came from the same band 10 years later.

[@harrisfrankou2368]

I am digging into Alice Cooper's earlier stuff, some is amazing.

[@VRPRocks]

@harrisfrankou2368 early Alice is amazing! Great band 👍🤘

[@VRPRocks]

@MrMortadella1 It was the 80s though wasn't it, that kind of music was all the rage. And don't forget at this stage, Aerosmith were struggling. Previous 2 albums didnt even break the US top 30 and they hadn't had a Top 10 hit for 10 years. That's why the label called for a 'hit maker'. Desmond Childs tracks have a combined 500m sales so I'm not sure it's his crowning achievement, but he's one of the very best at doing what he does.

[@MrMortadella1]

I’m not questioning his talent at creating pop hits and I do blame the band for selling out. Aerosmith’s decline in the early 80s was because of drug abuse and falling victim to the excesses of rock and roll. They were n9t creatively bankrupt. Pop rock music has always been a thing, wasn’t new to the 80s.. The 80s saw a shift toward synth music and new wave and bands like Rush went towards that trend but they didn’t go pop. Aerosmith could be given a pass for one pop rock album during the hair band days but they went full bore for the next decade with crap like Pump and Get a Grip that was as far away from early Aerosmith as you could get. And this was during a time when Guns and Roses’ dirty rock and grunge took over music where poppy music was hardly the rage anymore. They along with Def Leppard were poster boys for bands that completely sold out and never looked back. @@VRPRocks

[@VRPRocks]

@mrmortadella1 Can't argue with anything you've said 👍🤘 I guess once the money starts rolling in and the fame ramps back up its a hard choice for the band and record label to row back on what's 'working'. It's a whole interesting debate though, the 'new' sound would have attracted new fans too, whilst alienating the old ones.

[@paulcochrane1028]

What an intro to a podcast….

[@NealVio]

Ah the days of having long wild hair in the 80's/early 90's and having guys wave to me when I'm in the car. One guy (low life in a nice car) pulled up and asked if I wanted a ride. What women go through, good Lord.

[@AdamTaylor-g5p]

The World wouldn't miss any of his songs.

[@morbidmanmusic]

Important enough that you, ( of all people) needed to comment. I guess he made. It.

[@AdamTaylor-g5p]

@@morbidmanmusic Well Duh kiddo. Of course he made it. So did Nickelback. Try harder.

[@wernervanderwalt8541]

Desmond is up there with the likes of the late Jim Steinman. If they are involved you know you've got a hit record on your hands.

[@iSiberianHusky]

I've always wanted to know why he concocted that ridiculous alias credit "Sir Arthur Payson."

[@SuperBoomshack]

This is funny considering Steven looked more like a lady than Vince back then😂

[@matthewwilson9656]

And here, all these years, I thought Dude looks like a Lady was about Tyler making fun of himself

[@KISSFAN1970]

Permanent Vacation is their best album.

[@PlayerToBeNamedLater1973]

With all respect to his success, I can't stand anything he wrote with Aerosmith. In the 70s they were great tho. I still spin their old albums and respect them as much as any American hard rock band but I can't deal with ANYTHING they've done since 1980. Rag Doll , Elevator, Crazy , Dude look like a lady , etc all make me want to puke . How they went from Toys to that crap used to confuse me til I found out that they were writing with this guy. Aerosmith was much better musically when they were getting stoned. I'm glad they got clean but I don't want to hear anything they have done since they did. I'm happy just listening to the first few albums

[@ianscholes3049]

Him or the atrocious Diane Warren

[@maxpower4734]

Dude, looks like a Lady and Janie‘s got a gun are two of the worst songs in rock ‘n’ roll history. I can’t turn those songs off fast enough when I hear them.

[@paulzenco6182]

Shut up

[@ericjencson9489]

I would agree with that

[@1rwjwith]

Add Love In An Elevator to that list…I hate all those songs…

[@bluelivesmatter719]

Add Don't wanna miss a thing

[@robj7386]

dude looks like a lady is a good tune

[@VonL]

After releasing “Hot for Teacher”, *Cruz’n for the ladies* would have seemed like the next A for Van Halen.

[@BlackDotPatrick]

Why do you look like you're in the Blair Witch Project movie?

[@VRPRocks]

Because I record from a voiceover booth. VRP Rocks began as a podcast, so the visual aspect wasn't important. The KZbin channel grew quicker than I dreamed so a new studio is definitely needed... one day! Thanks for watching though. 👍🤘

[@BlackDotPatrick]

@@VRPRocks Thanks. I was just trying to be funny, but seriously you can do better with your presentation and I think it would be appreciated. I enjoy your content.

[@VRPRocks]

@@BlackDotPatrick I'm glad you like the interviews, thanks for saying. I'm also a voiceover and voice commercials, corporate videos and many other things so i need a small sound proof recording studio for that. At the moment i don't have the space to create a larger studio for video purposes. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to, but right now not possible. I've interviewed over 100 classic rock stars (30 Rock Hall inductees) and hope that people are more interested in them than what i look like 😂👍🤘

[@tedsperos1620]

If he hadn't passed away in 2022, I would have sworn this was Peter Bogdanovich with a fake beard/ mustache and a skull cap.

[@EphemeralProductions]

8:45! Haha!

[@artguti1551]

Aerosmith was probably so Fked up, they don't remember much of what went on!

[@m.s.599]

Whatever - who cares. I like the diversity of Aerosmith. They paid their dues. They rule - except CRAZY that is.

[@EDDIETRUJILLO-q8p]

Now, Steven Tyker looks like a lady.

[@60zeller]

They walk into a random bar and see Vince Neil by himself? I call bullshit on that one. More likely a guy that looked like.

[@leedove4031]

Thanks for admitting who is responsible for the worst Aerosmith songs ever!

[@damfunk.]

😂😂 6:45 Time to let it go bud. It’s been 40 fuckin years.

[@IIIElijah]

Thank God the industry destroyed itself. Sin kills.

[@BillMcGirr]

Oddly enough… the same thing could be said for the church.🤷‍♂️👍🥃

[@morbidmanmusic]

You are embarrassing..

[@IIIElijah]

You are a poverty and will become a poverty entirely.@@morbidmanmusic

[@IIIElijah]

I like how you thumbs up'd your own comment. Self lover you were foretold.@@BillMcGirr

[@theplayersclub1126]

id call Desmond the same.

[@jfrockon]

If you want your music to be ultimately ruined, this guy can make it happen. Take a rock band and turn them into a pop band. Sucks IMO 👎👎👎

[@jamesshelton8337]

Aerosmith is one of the greatest bands ever stfu 😂

[@FYMASMD]

Many a good rock bands turned to mush working with this guy. Almost as bad as Jeff Lynne.

[@robpaxson4455]

Full Moon Fever, and Great Wide Open were great records

[@klbax63]

Jeff Lynne is a genius

[@dw9034]

Lynne ruined Joe Walsh

[@toddlavigne6441]

Hey, they had to write slightly more radio friendly songs because it was their last chance to win back what they lost. They were not taking any chances.

[@wrongwayranger4736]

Aerosmith has one two good songs

[@I-Libertine]

You must've missed a couple of albums 😂😂😂

[@williamvanzytveld2906]

You must've skipped their whole 70s catalog.

[@wrongwayranger4736]

@@williamvanzytveld2906 I’m from Boston . Believe me there isn’t a Aerosmith song I haven’t heard

[@buckster2575]

I assume your brain dead.

[@totallykoolyeah]

What are they?

[@CurryRain]

His mind for writing hit songs made him a legendary genius. But his singing voice sounds like very Jewish Garfield the cat.

[@bryanclouse9579]

...and he does not "say a lot of funny things".

[@Whyioughtta111]

He wrote the tackiest music for the laziest musicians….. To lazy or drugged up to show up and write or record… That’s how this guy got his job…. If he was so scary talented, why not stand on your own…. Because Aerosmith( aside from first three or four albums)and Bon Jovi suck….really bad… I wouldn’t really brag about writing that….. Tyler is an embarrassment to rock and roll…. The Howard stern of rock is Steven…..I mean , he was so lazy he stopped singing altogether to be bop all over like a fool

[@rctubs3593]

Desmond takes the edge off every band. Pop crap

[@Taylor.Dude.]

That’s because the bands want to sell out.

[@VRPRocks]

He was a commercial hit making machine. If bands were struggling he was brought in to bag them a hit.

[@reverandscales]

@@VRPRocks Yet for some reason I never like any of his tunes.

[@VRPRocks]

@@reverandscalesThat's the beauty of music though I guess. It all hits us differently which is what makes it so personal. I think his songs have sold more than 500 million copies combined, so there's plenty who do like what he does 👍🤘

[@doodlebob3758]

​@@reverandscalesIf youre a musician, its natural to hate calculated pop hits, but theyre great for the hook-wanting masses.

[@sap7881]

Everything after night in the ruts is complete Crap

[@bbb8997]

aerosmith is a crap teeny bopper band, not in the league of Cactus, Foghat,or Mountain. total formula garbage.

[@MikaelLewisify]

80’s Aerosmith, yes, but their 70’s catalog is incredible.

[@morbidmanmusic]

You must not listen to early work. You are one of those modern kids who have no education and cancel everything before yu understand it.

[@MikaelLewisify]

@@morbidmanmusic they had some great 90’s and 2000’s stuff as well. Just Push Play and Nine Lives are great albums.

[@toddlavigne6441]

agree, their 70's stuff was brilliant@@MikaelLewisify

[@toddlavigne6441]

yup...they were brilliant in the 70's@@morbidmanmusic

[@sap7881]

That song, sucks

[@gill2675]

He writes sappy crap

[@poppiethestable1090]

Being Political correct is Never hip

[@Whyioughtta111]

He sucks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad

[@Whyioughtta111]

This guys is the hack of hacks. He brags about co writing some of the most ridiculous music every pushed upon humans

[@Tityretupatulae]

He is a genius

[@Whyioughtta111]

@ I know, who didn’t love hair metal in the 90s…. Full of substance, unique changes and tempos, and no self indulgent half assed leads…

[@sidewaysrain7609]

It is the musical hook that made the song. Tyler could sing about spaghetti and meatballs it still would have been a hit!