The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame generally inducts acts that have long since seen the best of their commercial days. These acts might be enjoying thriving recording and touring careers. But hit singles usually linger deep in their rear-view mirror. Leave it to Aerosmith to play the contrarian role in that scenario. Boston’s bad boys enjoyed that rarest of accomplishments, as a single of theirs was storming the charts at the same time as their induction ceremony. As it turned out, “Jaded” would be Aerosmith’s last song to make that kind of Top 40 chart impact.
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Overcoming a Slump
In 1975, Aerosmith squeaked into the US Top 40 with the propulsive anthem “Sweet Emotion”. It was the first single from their third album, Toys In The Attic, so it’s not like they instantly raided AM radio. Who knew that they’d still hold a pretty impressive position in the pop charts 26 years down the road from that?
Granted, Aerosmith wasn’t exactly a steady presence in the Top 40 in all that time. They endured a few fallow stretches along the way. Most notably, nine years elapsed between such hits in one particularly rough era in the late 70s and early 80s. That’s when it looked at several points like the band was imploding due to personal squabbles and substance abuse issues.
With those problems (mostly) behind them, and energized by their collaboration with Run DMC on a remake of “Walk This Way”, Aerosmith returned with a renewed sense of focus on the 1987 album Permanent Vacation. The band embraced the assistance of song doctors like Desmond Child and Holly Knight, a decision that greased the wheels for their return to crossover success.
The Halcyon Years
“Dude (Looks Like A Lady)”, the band’s first single from Permanent Vacation, rose to No. 14, breaking their chart slump. From that point, the band hit on the biggest hot streak of their career, one that lasted for more than a decade. It culminated in “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”, the 1998 movie ballad that gave them their first-ever No. 1 pop hit.
In 2001, the band returned with Just Push Play, their first studio album in four years. The record release coincided not just with their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but also with their appearance playing the Super Bowl halftime show. (That was in February; the album arrived in March, the same month as the induction.) Having a killer single to play on those occasions was paramount. Luckily, they were sitting on just such a track.
One More Smash
Steven Tyler wrote Aerosmith’s “Jaded” with Marti Frederiksen, who had begun doing work with the band in the mid-90s. Frederiksen got the ball rolling with the opening riff and some of the melody. Tyler pitched in with the title and also the idea to do a little bit of a stammer on it (“J-j-jaded.”)
The lyrics, typical of Tyler’s fast-talking patter, don’t really specify the identity of the character to whom the title is referring. Tyler later claimed that he was thinking of his daughter, Liv, and reflecting on how he’d missed so much of her early life. In any case, “Jaded” comes laden with hooks, making it one of the catchiest Aerosmith tracks.
Top 40 listeners certainly thought so, making it a No. 7 hit. That was all that the fates would allow the enduring band, as Aerosmith never again had a song even make the Top 100. But considering the long stretch from their first to last hit, they really didn’t leave too much on the table.
Photo by Ron Pownall/Getty Images
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