🕷️ Crawler Inspector

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Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 105 (from laksa042)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa105.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.vice.com/en/article/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy/\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.vice.com/en/article/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy/\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy\/","crawl_time":1775671925,"first_indexed_time":1773927067,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,vice!www,\/en\/article\/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy\/ s443","src_root_hash":"14023751400652881305","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"An Old Joke Inspired One of Aerosmith's Biggest Hits","meta_descriptions":["The members of Aerosmith came up with one of their biggest hits after watching a popular comedy movie one night."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Aerosmith began recording their third studio album,\nToys in the Attic\n, in early 1975. Midway through the process, the band found themselves struggling to come up with new material. They started building on a guitar riff that Joe Perry had been playing earlier, but the song didn’t have any lyrics yet, let alone a title. After a while, the other members decided to take a break and head to the movies.\nAccording to Perry, they went to check out Mel Brooks’s\nYoung Frankenstein\n, which he’d already seen. “When the guys returned, they were throwing lines back and forth from the film,” Perry told\nThe Wall Street Journal\nin 2014\n. “They were laughing about Marty Feldman greeting Gene Wilder at the door of the castle and telling him to follow him. ‘Walk this way,’ he says, limping, giving his stick to Wilder so he can walk that way, too.”\nProducer Jack Douglas then reportedly suggested that “Walk This Way” was a good title for the song they were having trouble with, and singer Steven Tyler got to work writing the lyrics. The result was their top-10 hit of the same name, released as the second single from\nToys in the Attic\nlater that year:\nAlthough Tyler\nbacked up\nthe\nYoung Frankenstein\nstory in his 2004 autobiography,\nDoes the Noise in My Head Bother You?\n, he had a slightly different explanation for how “Walk This Way” came about in a\n1984 interview\nwith Bruce Pollock, saying, “The song title evolved from watching the Three Stooges on TV. They walked this way and that.” What’s particularly interesting about this alternate version of things is that the Stooges also used the “Walk This Way” gag in their 1951 short\nDon’t Throw That Knife\n:\nIn fact, the joke is probably older than we’ll ever know, and Feldman and Brooks were well aware of that when they shot the iconic scene in\nYoung Frankenstein\n. Feldman only threw the gag in to make the crew laugh, but Brooks insisted on using it. “Mel, you can’t, it’s an old joke!” Feldman\ntold him\n. Wilder wasn’t happy with it, either, and neither of them were convinced that it belonged in the movie until the preview audiences gave it their stamp of approval.\nBut whether it was Feldman or the Stooges who were the true inspiration, the consensus seems to be that the recycled gag they have in common was responsible for how the song turned out. Where Feldman or Brooks first saw it is anyone’s guess, however, as the joke is said to have originated in music halls and appears in a number of films that predate even the Stooges. The Ritz Brothers did it in\nNever a Dull Moment\nin 1943\n, and Abbott and Costello\nused it\nin the following year’s\nIn Society\n. One of the earliest examples of it on film occurred in the 1936 William Powell mystery-comedy\nAfter the Thin Man\n, but it was included in a Betty Boop short three years before that as well. Check it out for yourself below.","attrs_markdown":"![](https:\/\/sb.scorecardresearch.com\/p?c1=2&c2=8568956&cj=1)\n\n![close](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/savage-membership-chargebee\/includes\/assets\/uploads\/close.svg)\n\n![VICE Logo](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/vice-logo_white@2x.png) [Back to homepage](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/)\n\n# Subscribe to VICE\nGet unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.\n\n![](https:\/\/px.ads.linkedin.com\/collect\/?pid=7004554&fmt=gif)\n\n\\+ English\n\nClose\n\n## VICE Editions\n- [English](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en)\n- [Bahasa Indonesia](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/id)\n- [Czech](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/cs)\n- [Danish](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/da)\n- [Deutsch](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/de)\n- [Español](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/es)\n- [Français](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/fr)\n- [Italiano](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/it)\n- [Nederlands](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/nl)\n- [Polish](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/pl)\n- [Portuguese](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/pt)\n- [Română](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/ro)\n- [Russian](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/ru)\n- [Srpski](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/sr)\n- [Swedish](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/sv)\n- [Ελληνικά](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/el)\n- [عربي](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/ar)\n- [日本語](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/ja)\n- [한국어](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/ko)\n\nOpen Menu\n\nClose Menu\n\n[![VICE](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/vice-logo_white@2x.png)](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en)\n\n- [Magazine](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/vice-magazine-is-coming-back\/)\n- [Pulse](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/category\/news\/)\n- [Life](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/category\/life\/)\n- [Tech](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/tech\/)\n- [Munchies](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/munchies\/)\n- [Music](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/music)\n- [Waypoint](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/waypoint\/)\n- [Shop](https:\/\/vice-shop.com\/)\n- [Members](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/membership\/)\n\n[Subscribe](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/memberships)\n\n[Newsletter](https:\/\/newsletter.vice.com\/)\n\n- [Instagram](https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vice)\n- [TikTok](https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@vice)\n- [YouTube](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/vice)\n- [Google Discover](https:\/\/profile.google.com\/cp\/CgkvbS8wMzR2Zmg)\n- [Google Top Posts](https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=vice.com)\n\n- [Video](https:\/\/video.vice.com\/)\n- [Shop](https:\/\/vice-shop.com\/)\n- [Members](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/membership\/)\n\n- [Facebook](https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/vice)\n- [Instagram](https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vice)\n- [TikTok](https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@vice)\n- [Reddit](https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/user\/vice)\n- [YouTube](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/vice)\n- [Google Discover](https:\/\/profile.google.com\/cp\/CgkvbS8wMzR2Zmg)\n- [Google Top Posts](https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=vice.com)\n\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/life\/)\n- [Pulse](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/category\/news\/)\n- [Tech](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/tech\/)\n- [Munchies](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/munchies\/)\n- [Drugs](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/drugs\/)\n- [Music](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/music\/)\n- [Waypoint](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/waypoint\/)\n- [Photography](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/photography)\n- [Sex](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/sex)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/travel)\n- [via](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/section\/via-vice\/)\n- [Comedy](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/category\/comedy\/)\n- [Entertainment](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/category\/entertainment\/)\n\n[Comedy](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/category\/comedy\/)\n\n# The Iconic Aerosmith Song That Was Inspired by One of the Most Recycled Gags in Comedy History\nEveryone from Abbott and Costello to the Three Stooges put their spin on the joke before Steven Tyler worked it into a top-10 hit\n\nBy [Tony Alpsen](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/contributor\/tony-alpsen\/ \"Posts by Tony Alpsen\")\n\nMarch 19, 2026, 9:31am\n\nShare:\n\n- [Share on X (Opens in new window)X](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy\/?share=x&nb=1)\n- [Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy\/?share=facebook&nb=1)\n- [Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy\/)\n\nAerosmith began recording their third studio album, *Toys in the Attic*, in early 1975. Midway through the process, the band found themselves struggling to come up with new material. They started building on a guitar riff that Joe Perry had been playing earlier, but the song didn’t have any lyrics yet, let alone a title. After a while, the other members decided to take a break and head to the movies.\n\nAccording to Perry, they went to check out Mel Brooks’s *Young Frankenstein*, which he’d already seen. “When the guys returned, they were throwing lines back and forth from the film,” Perry told *The Wall Street Journal* [in 2014](https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/how-aerosmith-created-walk-this-way-1410275586). “They were laughing about Marty Feldman greeting Gene Wilder at the door of the castle and telling him to follow him. ‘Walk this way,’ he says, limping, giving his stick to Wilder so he can walk that way, too.”\n\n## Videos by VICE\nPlay video\n\n![Play](https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/6wchqfLA5d0\/hqdefault.jpg)\n\nProducer Jack Douglas then reportedly suggested that “Walk This Way” was a good title for the song they were having trouble with, and singer Steven Tyler got to work writing the lyrics. The result was their top-10 hit of the same name, released as the second single from *Toys in the Attic* later that year:\n\nPlay video\n\n![Play](https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/4c8O2n1Gfto\/hqdefault.jpg)\n\nAlthough Tyler [backed up](https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/doesnoiseinmyhea00stev\/page\/158\/mode\/2up?q=frankenstein) the *Young Frankenstein* story in his 2004 autobiography, *Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?*, he had a slightly different explanation for how “Walk This Way” came about in a [1984 interview](https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/blog\/interviews\/steven-tyler-of-aerosmith) with Bruce Pollock, saying, “The song title evolved from watching the Three Stooges on TV. They walked this way and that.” What’s particularly interesting about this alternate version of things is that the Stooges also used the “Walk This Way” gag in their 1951 short *Don’t Throw That Knife*:\n\nPlay video\n\n![Play](https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/stJsPmGcGcw\/hqdefault.jpg)\n\nIn fact, the joke is probably older than we’ll ever know, and Feldman and Brooks were well aware of that when they shot the iconic scene in *Young Frankenstein*. Feldman only threw the gag in to make the crew laugh, but Brooks insisted on using it. “Mel, you can’t, it’s an old joke!” Feldman [told him](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20171115083449\/https:\/\/www.thebookseller.com\/feature\/marty-feldman-walk-way-339163). Wilder wasn’t happy with it, either, and neither of them were convinced that it belonged in the movie until the preview audiences gave it their stamp of approval.\n\nBut whether it was Feldman or the Stooges who were the true inspiration, the consensus seems to be that the recycled gag they have in common was responsible for how the song turned out. Where Feldman or Brooks first saw it is anyone’s guess, however, as the joke is said to have originated in music halls and appears in a number of films that predate even the Stooges. The Ritz Brothers did it in *Never a Dull Moment* [in 1943](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OK8iNBiO05M&t=82s), and Abbott and Costello [used it](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sVdJrkOpDps&t=562s) in the following year’s *In Society*. One of the earliest examples of it on film occurred in the 1936 William Powell mystery-comedy [*After the Thin Man*](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JoMmn31q-d0), but it was included in a Betty Boop short three years before that as well. Check it out for yourself below.\n\nPlay video\n\n![Play](https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/WzBqPXRaWVE\/hqdefault.jpg)\n\n***\nTagged:  \n[abbott and costello](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/abbott-and-costello\/), [aerosmith](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/aerosmith\/), [Betty Boop](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/betty-boop\/), [Gene Wilder](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/gene-wilder\/), [Joe Perry](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/joe-perry\/), [marty feldman](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/marty-feldman\/), [Mel Brooks](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/mel-brooks\/), [steven tyler](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/steven-tyler\/), [the ritz brothers](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/the-ritz-brothers\/), [the three stooges](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/the-three-stooges\/), [william powell](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/william-powell\/), [Young Frankenstein](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/tag\/young-frankenstein\/)\n\n[Follow Us On Discover](https:\/\/profile.google.com\/cp\/CgkvbS8wMzR2Zmg)\n\n[Make Us Preferred In Top Stories](https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=vice.com)\n\nShare:\n\n- [Share on X (Opens in new window)X](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy\/?share=x&nb=1)\n- [Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy\/?share=facebook&nb=1)\n- [Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy\/)\n\n## More Like This\n- ![Toy Story Fortnite Skins Revealed: Buzz Lightyear Release Date, Prices & First Look](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Toy-Story-Fortnite-Skins-Revealed-Buzz-Lightyear-Release-Date-Prices-First-Look.jpg?w=300)\n  \n  Screenshot: Epic Games\n  ### [Toy Story Fortnite Skins Revealed: Buzz Lightyear Release Date, Prices & First 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ago\n  \n  By [Lauren Boisvert](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/contributor\/lauren-boisvert\/ \"Posts by Lauren Boisvert\")\n- ![](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/SanDisk-Creator-Pro-SSD-2.webp?w=1024)\n  \n  SanDisk Creator Pro SSD – Credit: SanDisk\n  ### [AI Is Driving SSD Prices Up, But Best Buy Has a Solid Deal on the SanDisk Creator Pro 2TB Portable SSD](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/via\/sandisk-portable-ssd-deal-april-2026\/)\n  3 hours ago\n  \n  By [Matt Jancer](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/contributor\/matt-jancer-2\/ \"Posts by Matt Jancer\") \\| Reviewed by Ysolt Usigan\n- ![007 First Light Theme Song Artist Reportedly Leaked](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Lana-Del-Rey-Rumored-to-Sing-Theme-Song-for-007-First-Light-Video-Game.jpg?w=1024)\n  \n  Screenshot: IO Interactive\n  ### [007 First Light Gets a Delay, But Only On One Console](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/007-first-light-gets-a-delay-but-only-on-one-console\/)\n  4 hours ago\n  \n  By [Denny Connolly](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/contributor\/denny-connolly\/ \"Posts by Denny Connolly\")\n\n[VICE Media](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/)\n\n- [Instagram](https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vice)\n- [TikTok](https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@vice)\n- [YouTube](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/vice)\n\n- [About](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/about-vice-digital-publishing\/)\n- [Accessibility](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/vice-media-accessibility-statement\/)\n- [Privacy Policy](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/privacy\/)\n- [Terms of Use](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/terms\/)\n- [Security Policy](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/vice-responsible-disclosure-policy\/)\n- [Fulfillment Policy](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/fulfillment-policy\/)\n\n© 2026 VICE Digital Publishing, LLC\n\n![Quantcast](https:\/\/pixel.quantserve.com\/pixel\/p-RxPFZR-mKeJrq.gif)\n\nThank for your puchase\\!\n\nYou have successfully purchased.\n\nOK\n\n× ![Logo](https:\/\/www.vice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/vice-logo_white@2x.png)\n\n## Add your account details\n\nNext","attrs_readable_markdown":"Aerosmith began recording their third studio album, *Toys in the Attic*, in early 1975. Midway through the process, the band found themselves struggling to come up with new material. They started building on a guitar riff that Joe Perry had been playing earlier, but the song didn’t have any lyrics yet, let alone a title. After a while, the other members decided to take a break and head to the movies.\n\nAccording to Perry, they went to check out Mel Brooks’s *Young Frankenstein*, which he’d already seen. “When the guys returned, they were throwing lines back and forth from the film,” Perry told *The Wall Street Journal* [in 2014](https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/how-aerosmith-created-walk-this-way-1410275586). “They were laughing about Marty Feldman greeting Gene Wilder at the door of the castle and telling him to follow him. ‘Walk this way,’ he says, limping, giving his stick to Wilder so he can walk that way, too.”\n\nProducer Jack Douglas then reportedly suggested that “Walk This Way” was a good title for the song they were having trouble with, and singer Steven Tyler got to work writing the lyrics. The result was their top-10 hit of the same name, released as the second single from *Toys in the Attic* later that year:\n\nAlthough Tyler [backed up](https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/doesnoiseinmyhea00stev\/page\/158\/mode\/2up?q=frankenstein) the *Young Frankenstein* story in his 2004 autobiography, *Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?*, he had a slightly different explanation for how “Walk This Way” came about in a [1984 interview](https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/blog\/interviews\/steven-tyler-of-aerosmith) with Bruce Pollock, saying, “The song title evolved from watching the Three Stooges on TV. They walked this way and that.” What’s particularly interesting about this alternate version of things is that the Stooges also used the “Walk This Way” gag in their 1951 short *Don’t Throw That Knife*:\n\nIn fact, the joke is probably older than we’ll ever know, and Feldman and Brooks were well aware of that when they shot the iconic scene in *Young Frankenstein*. Feldman only threw the gag in to make the crew laugh, but Brooks insisted on using it. “Mel, you can’t, it’s an old joke!” Feldman [told him](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20171115083449\/https:\/\/www.thebookseller.com\/feature\/marty-feldman-walk-way-339163). Wilder wasn’t happy with it, either, and neither of them were convinced that it belonged in the movie until the preview audiences gave it their stamp of approval.\n\nBut whether it was Feldman or the Stooges who were the true inspiration, the consensus seems to be that the recycled gag they have in common was responsible for how the song turned out. Where Feldman or Brooks first saw it is anyone’s guess, however, as the joke is said to have originated in music halls and appears in a number of films that predate even the Stooges. The Ritz Brothers did it in *Never a Dull Moment* [in 1943](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OK8iNBiO05M&t=82s), and Abbott and Costello [used it](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sVdJrkOpDps&t=562s) in the following year’s *In Society*. One of the earliest examples of it on film occurred in the 1936 William Powell mystery-comedy [*After the Thin Man*](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JoMmn31q-d0), but it was included in a Betty Boop short three years before that as well. Check it out for yourself below.","meta_canonical":null}

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Meta Title	An Old Joke Inspired One of Aerosmith's Biggest Hits
Meta Description	The members of Aerosmith came up with one of their biggest hits after watching a popular comedy movie one night.
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Boilerpipe Text	Aerosmith began recording their third studio album, Toys in the Attic , in early 1975. Midway through the process, the band found themselves struggling to come up with new material. They started building on a guitar riff that Joe Perry had been playing earlier, but the song didn’t have any lyrics yet, let alone a title. After a while, the other members decided to take a break and head to the movies. According to Perry, they went to check out Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein , which he’d already seen. “When the guys returned, they were throwing lines back and forth from the film,” Perry told The Wall Street Journal in 2014 . “They were laughing about Marty Feldman greeting Gene Wilder at the door of the castle and telling him to follow him. ‘Walk this way,’ he says, limping, giving his stick to Wilder so he can walk that way, too.” Producer Jack Douglas then reportedly suggested that “Walk This Way” was a good title for the song they were having trouble with, and singer Steven Tyler got to work writing the lyrics. The result was their top-10 hit of the same name, released as the second single from Toys in the Attic later that year: Although Tyler backed up the Young Frankenstein story in his 2004 autobiography, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? , he had a slightly different explanation for how “Walk This Way” came about in a 1984 interview with Bruce Pollock, saying, “The song title evolved from watching the Three Stooges on TV. They walked this way and that.” What’s particularly interesting about this alternate version of things is that the Stooges also used the “Walk This Way” gag in their 1951 short Don’t Throw That Knife : In fact, the joke is probably older than we’ll ever know, and Feldman and Brooks were well aware of that when they shot the iconic scene in Young Frankenstein . Feldman only threw the gag in to make the crew laugh, but Brooks insisted on using it. “Mel, you can’t, it’s an old joke!” Feldman told him . Wilder wasn’t happy with it, either, and neither of them were convinced that it belonged in the movie until the preview audiences gave it their stamp of approval. But whether it was Feldman or the Stooges who were the true inspiration, the consensus seems to be that the recycled gag they have in common was responsible for how the song turned out. Where Feldman or Brooks first saw it is anyone’s guess, however, as the joke is said to have originated in music halls and appears in a number of films that predate even the Stooges. The Ritz Brothers did it in Never a Dull Moment in 1943 , and Abbott and Costello used it in the following year’s In Society . One of the earliest examples of it on film occurred in the 1936 William Powell mystery-comedy After the Thin Man , but it was included in a Betty Boop short three years before that as well. Check it out for yourself below.
Markdown	![](https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=8568956&cj=1) ![close](https://www.vice.com/wp-content/plugins/savage-membership-chargebee/includes/assets/uploads/close.svg) ![VICE Logo](https://www.vice.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/vice-logo_white@2x.png) [Back to homepage](https://www.vice.com/) # Subscribe to VICE Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer. ![](https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=7004554&fmt=gif) \+ English Close ## VICE Editions - [English](https://www.vice.com/en) - [Bahasa Indonesia](https://www.vice.com/id) - [Czech](https://www.vice.com/cs) - [Danish](https://www.vice.com/da) - [Deutsch](https://www.vice.com/de) - [Español](https://www.vice.com/es) - [Français](https://www.vice.com/fr) - [Italiano](https://www.vice.com/it) - [Nederlands](https://www.vice.com/nl) - [Polish](https://www.vice.com/pl) - [Portuguese](https://www.vice.com/pt) - [Română](https://www.vice.com/ro) - [Russian](https://www.vice.com/ru) - [Srpski](https://www.vice.com/sr) - [Swedish](https://www.vice.com/sv) - [Ελληνικά](https://www.vice.com/el) - [عربي](https://www.vice.com/ar) - [日本語](https://www.vice.com/ja) - [한국어](https://www.vice.com/ko) Open Menu Close Menu [![VICE](https://www.vice.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/vice-logo_white@2x.png)](https://www.vice.com/en) - [Magazine](https://www.vice.com/en/article/vice-magazine-is-coming-back/) - [Pulse](https://www.vice.com/en/category/news/) - [Life](https://www.vice.com/en/category/life/) - [Tech](https://www.vice.com/en/section/tech/) - [Munchies](https://www.vice.com/en/section/munchies/) - [Music](https://www.vice.com/en/section/music) - [Waypoint](https://www.vice.com/en/section/waypoint/) - [Shop](https://vice-shop.com/) - [Members](https://www.vice.com/en/section/membership/) [Subscribe](https://www.vice.com/en/memberships) [Newsletter](https://newsletter.vice.com/) - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/vice) - [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@vice) - [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/vice) - [Google Discover](https://profile.google.com/cp/CgkvbS8wMzR2Zmg) - [Google Top Posts](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=vice.com) - [Video](https://video.vice.com/) - [Shop](https://vice-shop.com/) - [Members](https://www.vice.com/en/section/membership/) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/vice) - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/vice) - [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@vice) - [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/user/vice) - [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/vice) - [Google Discover](https://profile.google.com/cp/CgkvbS8wMzR2Zmg) - [Google Top Posts](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=vice.com) - [Culture](https://www.vice.com/en/section/life/) - [Pulse](https://www.vice.com/en/category/news/) - [Tech](https://www.vice.com/en/section/tech/) - [Munchies](https://www.vice.com/en/section/munchies/) - [Drugs](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/drugs/) - [Music](https://www.vice.com/en/section/music/) - [Waypoint](https://www.vice.com/en/section/waypoint/) - [Photography](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/photography) - [Sex](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/sex) - [Travel](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/travel) - [via](https://www.vice.com/en/section/via-vice/) - [Comedy](https://www.vice.com/en/category/comedy/) - [Entertainment](https://www.vice.com/en/category/entertainment/) [Comedy](https://www.vice.com/en/category/comedy/) # The Iconic Aerosmith Song That Was Inspired by One of the Most Recycled Gags in Comedy History Everyone from Abbott and Costello to the Three Stooges put their spin on the joke before Steven Tyler worked it into a top-10 hit By [Tony Alpsen](https://www.vice.com/en/contributor/tony-alpsen/ "Posts by Tony Alpsen") March 19, 2026, 9:31am Share: - [Share on X (Opens in new window)X](https://www.vice.com/en/article/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy/?share=x&nb=1) - [Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook](https://www.vice.com/en/article/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy/?share=facebook&nb=1) - [Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard](https://www.vice.com/en/article/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy/) Aerosmith began recording their third studio album, Toys in the Attic, in early 1975. Midway through the process, the band found themselves struggling to come up with new material. They started building on a guitar riff that Joe Perry had been playing earlier, but the song didn’t have any lyrics yet, let alone a title. After a while, the other members decided to take a break and head to the movies. According to Perry, they went to check out Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein, which he’d already seen. “When the guys returned, they were throwing lines back and forth from the film,” Perry told The Wall Street Journal [in 2014](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-aerosmith-created-walk-this-way-1410275586). “They were laughing about Marty Feldman greeting Gene Wilder at the door of the castle and telling him to follow him. ‘Walk this way,’ he says, limping, giving his stick to Wilder so he can walk that way, too.” ## Videos by VICE Play video ![Play](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6wchqfLA5d0/hqdefault.jpg) Producer Jack Douglas then reportedly suggested that “Walk This Way” was a good title for the song they were having trouble with, and singer Steven Tyler got to work writing the lyrics. The result was their top-10 hit of the same name, released as the second single from Toys in the Attic later that year: Play video ![Play](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4c8O2n1Gfto/hqdefault.jpg) Although Tyler [backed up](https://archive.org/details/doesnoiseinmyhea00stev/page/158/mode/2up?q=frankenstein) the Young Frankenstein story in his 2004 autobiography, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?, he had a slightly different explanation for how “Walk This Way” came about in a [1984 interview](https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/steven-tyler-of-aerosmith) with Bruce Pollock, saying, “The song title evolved from watching the Three Stooges on TV. They walked this way and that.” What’s particularly interesting about this alternate version of things is that the Stooges also used the “Walk This Way” gag in their 1951 short Don’t Throw That Knife: Play video ![Play](https://img.youtube.com/vi/stJsPmGcGcw/hqdefault.jpg) In fact, the joke is probably older than we’ll ever know, and Feldman and Brooks were well aware of that when they shot the iconic scene in Young Frankenstein. Feldman only threw the gag in to make the crew laugh, but Brooks insisted on using it. “Mel, you can’t, it’s an old joke!” Feldman [told him](https://web.archive.org/web/20171115083449/https://www.thebookseller.com/feature/marty-feldman-walk-way-339163). Wilder wasn’t happy with it, either, and neither of them were convinced that it belonged in the movie until the preview audiences gave it their stamp of approval. But whether it was Feldman or the Stooges who were the true inspiration, the consensus seems to be that the recycled gag they have in common was responsible for how the song turned out. Where Feldman or Brooks first saw it is anyone’s guess, however, as the joke is said to have originated in music halls and appears in a number of films that predate even the Stooges. The Ritz Brothers did it in Never a Dull Moment [in 1943](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK8iNBiO05M&t=82s), and Abbott and Costello [used it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVdJrkOpDps&t=562s) in the following year’s In Society. One of the earliest examples of it on film occurred in the 1936 William Powell mystery-comedy [After the Thin Man](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoMmn31q-d0), but it was included in a Betty Boop short three years before that as well. Check it out for yourself below. Play video ![Play](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WzBqPXRaWVE/hqdefault.jpg) *** Tagged: [abbott and costello](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/abbott-and-costello/), [aerosmith](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/aerosmith/), [Betty Boop](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/betty-boop/), [Gene Wilder](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/gene-wilder/), [Joe Perry](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/joe-perry/), [marty feldman](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/marty-feldman/), [Mel Brooks](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/mel-brooks/), [steven tyler](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/steven-tyler/), [the ritz brothers](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/the-ritz-brothers/), [the three stooges](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/the-three-stooges/), [william powell](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/william-powell/), [Young Frankenstein](https://www.vice.com/en/tag/young-frankenstein/) [Follow Us On Discover](https://profile.google.com/cp/CgkvbS8wMzR2Zmg) [Make Us Preferred In Top Stories](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=vice.com) Share: - [Share on X (Opens in new window)X](https://www.vice.com/en/article/aerosmith-song-that-was-inspired-by-comedy/?share=x&nb=1) - 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Readable Markdown	Aerosmith began recording their third studio album, Toys in the Attic, in early 1975. Midway through the process, the band found themselves struggling to come up with new material. They started building on a guitar riff that Joe Perry had been playing earlier, but the song didn’t have any lyrics yet, let alone a title. After a while, the other members decided to take a break and head to the movies. According to Perry, they went to check out Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein, which he’d already seen. “When the guys returned, they were throwing lines back and forth from the film,” Perry told The Wall Street Journal [in 2014](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-aerosmith-created-walk-this-way-1410275586). “They were laughing about Marty Feldman greeting Gene Wilder at the door of the castle and telling him to follow him. ‘Walk this way,’ he says, limping, giving his stick to Wilder so he can walk that way, too.” Producer Jack Douglas then reportedly suggested that “Walk This Way” was a good title for the song they were having trouble with, and singer Steven Tyler got to work writing the lyrics. The result was their top-10 hit of the same name, released as the second single from Toys in the Attic later that year: Although Tyler [backed up](https://archive.org/details/doesnoiseinmyhea00stev/page/158/mode/2up?q=frankenstein) the Young Frankenstein story in his 2004 autobiography, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?, he had a slightly different explanation for how “Walk This Way” came about in a [1984 interview](https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/steven-tyler-of-aerosmith) with Bruce Pollock, saying, “The song title evolved from watching the Three Stooges on TV. They walked this way and that.” What’s particularly interesting about this alternate version of things is that the Stooges also used the “Walk This Way” gag in their 1951 short Don’t Throw That Knife: In fact, the joke is probably older than we’ll ever know, and Feldman and Brooks were well aware of that when they shot the iconic scene in Young Frankenstein. Feldman only threw the gag in to make the crew laugh, but Brooks insisted on using it. “Mel, you can’t, it’s an old joke!” Feldman [told him](https://web.archive.org/web/20171115083449/https://www.thebookseller.com/feature/marty-feldman-walk-way-339163). Wilder wasn’t happy with it, either, and neither of them were convinced that it belonged in the movie until the preview audiences gave it their stamp of approval. But whether it was Feldman or the Stooges who were the true inspiration, the consensus seems to be that the recycled gag they have in common was responsible for how the song turned out. Where Feldman or Brooks first saw it is anyone’s guess, however, as the joke is said to have originated in music halls and appears in a number of films that predate even the Stooges. The Ritz Brothers did it in Never a Dull Moment [in 1943](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK8iNBiO05M&t=82s), and Abbott and Costello [used it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVdJrkOpDps&t=562s) in the following year’s In Society. One of the earliest examples of it on film occurred in the 1936 William Powell mystery-comedy [After the Thin Man](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoMmn31q-d0), but it was included in a Betty Boop short three years before that as well. Check it out for yourself below.
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