When Steven Tyler signed on as a judge for the 21{+s}{+t} century version of “The Gong Show” — that is, the outrageously popular “American Idol” — a lot of Aerosmith fans worried that their favorite rock 'n' roll rude boy had taken one too many nosedives off concert stages.
The future of their beloved band had already been in question for months, what with all the public bickering going on between Tyler and his bandmates — his closest collaborator, lead guitarist Joe Perry, in particular.
On top of all that, the supposedly long-sober lead singer had checked himself into rehab — again.
Now did he want to be the next Simon Cowell, ridiculing young wannabe singing stars in front of millions of viewers on what most self-respecting rock hipsters consider to be the uncoolest show on television?
Had Tyler taken leave of his senses, not to mention Aerosmith?
“We're already booked for a tour November/December that's to be South America and Japan,” he reassured members of the press in a January teleconference from New York.
“I mean what you hear in the press about Aerosmith getting in the way of ‘American Idol', it just isn't so.”
In fact, Tyler said he would be meeting soon with the rest of the band in Los Angeles in preparation for Aerosmith's next studio album, their first since 2004's collection of blues covers, “Honkin' on Bobo.”
“Joe's got the licks, and I got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith,” he said.
Tyler claims to have had no misgivings about how his participation in “American Idol” might affect his long-established image as a rock icon. If anything, his sometimes “off-color” antics have so far served to emphasize his rock 'n' roll history of backstage debauchery.
A case in point was a recent incident that occurred when one of the amateur performers introduced himself as Jack Muck, and Tyler promptly pointed out that the contestant's last named rhymed with a dirty four-letter word.
On the very next program, the producers apologized for Tyler's utterance, assuring viewers that he had promised such a thing wouldn't happen again.
“I got such an identity with this band for all the videos that I've done, I figured it'd be a shoo-in,” Tyler said.
But he was quick to add that he'd never had any intention of becoming the new Simon Cowell-esque villain at the judge's table.
“The part that's a little difficult is judging young kids, that I think they all have a voice, but actually being honest and open,” Tyler said. “So it took me a couple of minutes to get into the role of that, but I've grown accustomed to it and it's fun, and I get to sit next to (fellow judges) J. Lo (Jennifer Lopez) and Randy (Jackson), taking the you-know-what out of everybody, and it's been good.
“I don't take whatever happened to me this morning or last night or with the band or with exes. I don't take that into judging kids like some other people have. I kind of take what I've grown up with, which is being a very harsh judge of myself — my own vocals, my own band — and kind of laid that across the talent that comes across my view.
“... But I think I'm not going to be a harsh judge or an (overbearing) judge. I'm just bringing my Italian on how to work a room. Aunt Phyllis honesty, 40 years that front guy in Aerosmith who's judged the hell out of himself and kind of made a good career out of it, and with the hopes to find some kids in America here for ‘American Idol' to take the stage, and no more and no less.”
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