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Aerosmith’s Joe Perry Lends ‘Walke This Way’ Bladerunner Guitar to Met Exhibit

Aerosmith's Joe Perry Lends 'Walke This Way' Bladerunner Guitar to Met Exhibit
2002 0

NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) A current exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York includes a guitar from Aerosmith’s Joe Perry that was used for the video “Walk This Way.”

The exhibit, “Plat It Loud: Instruments of Rock and Roll,” is considered the first major exhibition in an art museum dedicated entirely to the iconic instruments of rock and roll. The exhibit, co-organized with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, opened today.

The Bladerunner guitar was used for the “Walk This Way” video because it was visually striking.

“We were working on songs for ‘Permanent Vacation’ [their 1987 hit album] and a friend who got a job at Guild Guitars, came by with this bizarre guitar called the Bladerunner,” Perry said. “This was the era of the pointy guitars and until the late 70’s most played Stratocaster or Les Paul, but then there was a whole new generation of makers with new shapes and sizes and some had points,” said Perry. “This one had an amazing striking look. Everything from the shape to the holes in it was just cool.”

The guitarist said taht when it came time to shoot the video, he know that half of the battle would be having something eye-catching because “that’ is half of what Rock and Roll is,” but he didn’t know the full impact the guitar would make.

“When we filmed the video we didn’t realize how important it was going to be. We just saw it as a chance to do something different and we had a lot of fun working with the guys. But it turns out now it was such a powerful time. MTV did not really play any black artists except maybe Michael [Jackson] but no rap,” he said. This collaboration made RUN DMC the first rap artists to be aired on MTV and was the first Billboard Top 10 for a rap act. And for Aerosmith, it is widely considered to be the song that turned them into a global brand. “Every time I see that guitar it reminds me it’s really symbolic of that era,” Perry said.

Perry is currently performing with the band at Aerosmith’s Las Vegas residency, promoted by Live Nation and MGM Resorts International.

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