Aerosmith, Hard Rock, Music, Obsessive behaviour, Record collecting, Vinyl

Arrow Smith Attacked By Apes

I woke up singing this song in my head this morning, Christ knows what manner of Bangkok shocks I’d been dreaming of. Ah, well, whatever, never mind.

Like a lot of European chaps Dude (Looks Like A Lady) was the first Aerosmith song I ever heard, I remember Paul Gambaccini playing it on his American chart show in 1987 and I perked up, it was just a slice of great catchy pop, it never occurred to me that this was some sort of hard rock band. I thought it was funny and I decided to check out this Arrow Smith person the first chance I got.

Flash forwards to 28 February 1990 and I went to Leeds University for an open day, I ended up there but can’t remember much else about it apart from buying Thunder Dirty Love and Aerosmith Dude (Looks Like A Lady) both on shaped picture disc* – so THIS was the point of big cities!

The picture disc plays a bit quiet, but hey I can stand to turn the volume up a notch and anyway shaped picture discs are 35% cooler than regular round picture discs, which in turn are 28.53% cooler than regular records**.

You all, we all, know this tune and I am very happy to say it still stands as a perfect slice of 80’s pop for me, catchy as hell, funny and Mrs 1537 and I still use it as a catchphrase occasionally. The Toxic Twins may have sold their souls to the De(s)mon(d) Child^ but, quite frankly they got back more than they gave up.

The flip on the 1990 version isn’t ‘Simoriah’^^ as it was in ’87, but the Pump track ‘Monkey On My Back’. True story, naïve chap that I was, I had no idea this was a reference to addiction at the time I genuinely thought it was the story of Mr Arrow Smith being attacked by a simian. An eccentric choice of subject matter, I thought at the time.

As a song ‘Monkey …’ doesn’t do much for me, although I do think it ends better than it started and middle-d the last 30+ seconds are great.

Fun times, fun track. Thank you subconscious!

1071 Down.

Best way to photograph shaped pic discs? put them on the wall

*Thunder had supported Aerosmith when I saw them the previous November. Mr Arrow Smith had re-released Dude (Looks Like A Lady) in 1990, to cash in on the success of Pump.

**according to figures released last month from CERN. What? you thought they were doing all that particle shit in there? nah, it’s just a front. Those Swiss science dudes spend all their time getting wrecked and cranking up 80’s rock before haring around Meyrin in their souped-up muscle cars. True story.

^see what I did there?!

^^which I still think sounds like a particularly virulent venereal disease.

Published by

Jat Storey

A man with too much vinyl and an itch in his typing finger.

23 thoughts on “Arrow Smith Attacked By Apes”

  1. Like many, I am a bit torn on Aerosmith. When I am listening to any of their first four records, I think they are incredible. When I listen to their late output, especially post-Pump, I am reminded of their awful attempts to have a “hip” contemporary sound.

    But one thing is for sure: Dude Looks Like a Lady is one hell of a tune.

    Reply

  2. I had a chuckle at the title. Well played (as usual).

    I think Dude… was the second Aerosmith song I became aware of on account of Mrs Doubtfire. I decided right there and then that they weren’t for me.

    I still don’t like the song, but I love 70’s Aerosmith.

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  3. Those percentages check out – I understand they’re still researching the optimal opacity of the picture discs as well. I gather that from preliminary investigations, some translucence can help reduce the coolness inequality suffered by regular /non-shaped round discs!

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    1. Why was Tyler continually being attacked by monkeys? That’s what I want to know. Did he carry too many bananas and peanuts on him all the time?

      Reply