There is a theory (and a movie) called Six Degrees of Separation, which means there are basically only “six” people who might separate you, from any other person on Earth.
What I have found out, time and time again, is that sometimes that “degree” of separation is very small indeed. My “degree” of separation from Steven Tyler, my favorite Rock Star, was only one person! The full story is below.
Earlier this year, I started looking through old photos, and reading old diaries, and I started noticing patterns…like how all of my old boyfriends had dark hair and were Musicians…and through the friends, lovers, spouses, etc., that have appeared and disappeared in my life, the same person keeps cropping up again and again. Yep, you guessed it, Steven Tyler! (I even seem to have more photos of Steven Tyler, than I do of some old boyfriends.)
Much to the chagrin of every boyfriend, husband, male friend (and sometimes even female friends) I have loved Steven Tyler and Aerosmith since the beginning of time. I can’t remember a time that I didn’t love Aerosmith. I had every Aerosmith album (even bootleg ones), I emulated Steven’s style in clothing, jewelry and even haircuts (as my old photos have also started to show.) I even lived in Boston, not once, but twice in my life. Did I move to Boston just for school, or was my real “quest” Steven Tyler?!
I wonder, if this “love” I had for Steven Tyler, started me on my path of falling in love with dark-haired Musicians? Since that seemed to be the only “type” of guy that I chose to have relationships with, for a very long period of time.
So here’s my story of how I met Steven Tyler. And, I’ll give the best part away…he kissed me.
Read on for details.
THOSE LIPS
I was attending my second college, in Boston, at the tender age of 19 (This would be my Boston Part 1 days.) At that time, I had a P/T job in a phone room, and our supervisor was this guy named Dave Scott. Dave was a very unassuming type of guy – he had red hair, glasses, was maybe about 5’6″, and he told us that he was the “original” drummer for Aerosmith! We would just roll our eyes and humor him when he said this, because we knew there was no way, he was ever in Aerosmith! We would just listen to his stories, with half an ear, not really wanting to be rude.
Aerosmith was known as “The Boys from Boston”, so whenever they played Boston, it created a frenzy. Dave came into work one day and announced that he had tickets to the concert, and unlimited access backstage, and he asked “who” wanted to go with him? My love for Aerosmith pushed my hand high into the air, and I “volunteered” to go! I had never been backstage at a concert before that time, and the thought of going backstage for Aerosmith, literally made me a nervous wreck.
I do have to point out that I went “dressed to the Nines” for this very important event. Apparently my diary says that I wore a Black corduroy jumpsuit, Red & White Adidas sneakers, and a Red Satin Baseball jacket. (Dear God, it is embarrassing to even write that now!)
I met Dave at Boston Music Hall and we had some trouble with our passes, and didn’t get backstage before the concert. Tom Hamilton had apparently gotten us our 10th row seats, so that made the concert really enjoyable. I actually managed to catch an Aerosmith frisbee that Steven Tyler threw from the stage as well (still have it to this day.)
Check out the “cost” of the Ticket!
After the show, we went backstage and I was first introduced to all the guys from the band Boston, who had also attended the show.
Brad Whitford was the first Aerosmith member to come up to us and he hugged Dave and held my hand, as we were introduced. Next Tom Hamilton came up and yelled out “Pudge” and gave Dave a big hug. Since he had gotten us the tickets, I thanked him for that, and he seemed surprised for the thank you! Tom Hamilton is also one of the tallest people I have ever met in my life. Joe Perry then came over and seemed very quiet in person. I was looking and looking for Steven Tyler, but he was nowhere to be found. Dave knew how much I wanted to meet him so he said: “Sorry you couldn’t meet Steven, maybe next time.” I was crestfallen that I couldn’t meet my “true love”, but then Tom Hamilton came back up to us and said that Columbia Records was having a private party for the band, and we were invited to come. Dave turned to ask me, if I wanted to go, and I said: “Do you even have to ask? So off we went to the private party for Aerosmith.
I must note that while I hadn’t believed that Dave was really the original drummer for Aerosmith, when all the guys came up and hugged him and had a “pet” name for him, I thought: “Hmmm – maybe he does know them, at least.” (Turns out that when I read Aerosmith’s Autobiography a few years ago, Dave was the original drummer. When the band moved to Boston from Sunapee, New Hampshire, he was too young to move with them, so they found Joey Kramer instead.) Wow! That was a surprise to read so many years down the road.
The party for Aerosmith was at Dom’s in Boston, and there was an open bar. It was really crowded so Dave and I grabbed two bar stools at a corner of the bar and ordered drinks. We sat there talking for awhile and then Dave said: “Don’t look now, but Steven Tyler is right next to you!” I turned on my bar stool and Steven was right there, leaning his back against my chair. I was so flustered, that Steven Tyler was so close to me, that I touched him with one finger and said something like: “I Die” and Dave just laughed at me.
Steven finally turned around, saw Dave and yelled out “PUDGE!” and grabbed him up in a big hug.
Yes. I took this photo…off my Television!
Then came the defining moment of my life…Dave said: “Steven – I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine.” Steven (looking very serious) reached out and held my hand, in both of his, and Dave said: “Steven Tyler, this is Mj. Mj, this is Steven Tyler.” Steven looked at me and then looked at Dave, and in his indubitable Steven Tyler fashion said: “Friends? You mean you two haven’t F****d yet?”
My eyes must have been as big as saucers and my mouth was just hanging open because not only had I not slept with Dave, I had no intention of sleeping with Dave, and for that matter, I was still a virgin at the time! I think Steven sensed his faux pas because when he saw the look of horror on my face, he quickly apologized. I must have stammered something like: “This is the first time we have been out,” to which Steven replied: “That’s the best time!” Again, another look of horror must have crossed my face, because Steven apologized again and kissed my neck. Ok. That almost made up for how embarrassed I was by his comments!
It’s funny when you meet someone that you have idolized from afar and who is a Rock Star no less – What in the world do you say to them?
My diary “says” that I told Steven that while I’d always wanted to meet Mick Jagger, I was glad I met him instead (I’m sure he loved that comment) and I told him that I had enjoyed the concert and since it was my “first” concert in Boston, I was glad it was Aerosmith.
You always expect your “idols” to be larger than life, so I was very shocked, when I got down off my bar stool, to find that Steven was at least two inches shorter than me! (And I was probably only 5′ 8″ at the time.) That really shocked me because I expected him to be well over six feet tall!
Later in the evening, as the night was winding down, and people were leaving, Dave and I walked over to talk to Tom and I thanked him again for the tickets and I also told him, that I was glad my first concert in Boston had been Aerosmith. Tom put his arm around me, kissed the top of my head and said: “I’m glad you liked the show.” Tom and Dave started talking, so I wandered away from them.
I looked over by the door and saw Steven talking to a bum, that had walked in off the street. Steven caught my eye and motioned me over to him. I looked behind me to see “who” he was looking at, but I was the only one standing there! I was puzzled as to why he was motioning me over and when I walked up to him, he put his arm around me and told the bum that I was his girlfriend and he had to leave now. We walked away, arm in arm, and when we’d walked across the room a bit, he then turned and put his arms around my neck, and his forehead against my forehead and he thanked me for “rescuing” him from the bum. I said that I was happy to help him out and I was also happy that I finally got to meet him.
Then he kissed me!
I swear to God I almost fainted.
We DO look sort of the same in this photo! So do the lips!
Don’t get all excited…it was a very chaste kiss, yet I was totally shocked by it. What in the hell do you say, when your favorite Rock Star kisses you full on the lips?
I came up with a brilliant “post kiss” comment and said: “Wow! I always wanted to kiss someone who had bigger lips than I did.” Steven said: “You don’t know what kind of shit I got in High School about them.” I said: “I know – so did I. People name calling and saying derogatory things.” He said: “Yeah, didn’t that suck?” I said: “Yeah, but at least we have a special look – I’ve learned to live with mine.” He smiled, winked at me, and said: “They come in handy sometimes, don’t they?” I said: “Yeah, they do help sometimes!” He hugged me and kissed me again and I turned and left. How I managed to walk away, and not fall over, I will never know.
I went home that night and woke my roommate up because I was jumping up and down on my bed, yelling that Steven Tyler had kissed me!
I became somewhat of a local celebrity, among my girlfriends, for that experience, and the funniest thing was, when I told them the story, of what had transpired between Steven and me, they all asked me: “Did you give him your phone number?” I was such an innocent back then, that I was confused by their question, so I asked: “Now why would I have done that?”!
To this day, Aerosmith is still my favorite band, and Steven Tyler is still my number one, favorite Rock Star! I don’t know why all these men “hate” on Steven Tyler so much. Sorry guys, but Steven is still one of the most unique vocalists in the rock world, to this day he writes very sexy music and he is still hot!
Like Steven said in a recent Rolling Stone interview, he keeps in shape because he thinks he “owes it” to his fans. THANK YOU. We appreciate it Steven.
Yes, I’d “Ride” it!
NOTE: While I love Steven Tyler, and I would love to see him every week on TV, when I first heard that he was going to be a judge, on the new Season of American Idol, I didn’t know how America was going to handle someone who pretty much just said what he thought (like he had done with me in Boston!) I was a little worried about how all that would go down and at first they made jokes on the show about “bleeping out” what had come out of his mouth, but no one was more surprised than me, that America just adored Steven Tyler by the time the show ended! He was a kind and gracious judge, who didn’t mind sharing his emotions when he felt them. I hear he’s coming back as a judge for the next season of Idol which is just fine by me.
The Photo to the right, of Randy Gun, is one of my all-time favorite photos. I think it looks wicked, and sexy, and cute, all at the same time.
While I don’t remember every bar or club that we went to, I know that in New York they played shows at CBGB’s, The Mudd Club, The Bottom Line, Hurrah’s as well as Trax and in Boston they played at The Rat and The Paradise. Funny thing was – I didn’t even know what a “Guest List” was, before I met Randy, as I was so “new” to the music scene at that time.
About a year later, I left LA for a vacation and went home to my parent’s house in Chicago. As soon as I came in the house from the airport, my Stepmother told me that I had a message. Since no one knew I was coming home, I asked her “who” the message was from. She replied: “Randy.” I asked bewildered: “Randy, who?” She said: “Read the message – Randy Gun!”
I don’t remember much of the rest of the night although Randy did remember a little more. He said it was some Music Festival with a lot of bands and they played by the waterfront. I know we went to the show, we don’t know how we got there, or how we got back. I don’t remember hearing any of the bands play but I remember calling Krystyna on the pay phone to tell her that she would never guess where I was, and who I was with!
