10 Songs You Probably Didn't Know Were Inspired By Horror Movies
9. Aerosmith – Walk This Way
Back in 1975, way before they got together with Run DMC and made this a solid-gold smash hit, Aerosmith released the original cut of Walk This Way.
Though the song sold well in the end and (along with Sweet Emotion) helped make Toys In The Attic into one of the band's best-selling albums, its lacklustre chorus meant it didn't find much of an audience until its 1976 re-release, and never quite reached the signature notoriety of Sweet Emotion, other hits like Dream On or, indeed, its 1986 version.
The track tells the story of a high schooler losing his virginity, but not many know the inspiration behind the title, and the genesis of the song itself, which came from the most unsuspecting of places: Mel Brooks' 1974 horror-comedy Young Frankenstein.
In a break from recording, the band took a trip to the cinema, sans Steven Tyler. In Young Frankenstein, they saw Igor (Marty Feldman) tell Dr Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) to "walk this way" before ambling off with a limp, which Frankenstein copies - a running gag in many TV shows and movies.
Thus, when the Aerosmith boys returned to the studio, they had a title and a kick-start for the song they had been agonising over.