Feature Song: “Rag Doll”
Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. Lead vocalist Steven Tyler is backed by Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums), Joey Perry and Brad Whitford (guitar). The have amassed a few “handles” over the years: They are sometimes referred to as “the Bad Boys from Boston” as well as “America’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band.” Also, the primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry have been called the “Toxic Twins.” You can make up your own mind as to whether or not that is flattery! While they can be considered a blues-based band, they have also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues into their music. They have had their share of ups and downs over the years, as is the case with any group starting out in that era, with their popularity soaring, then waning, and soaring again, as it did with Aerosmith, in particular after the release of their 1987 album, Permanent Vacation, which contains my featured song, “Rag Doll.”
The song was written by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Jim Vallance, and Holly Night. As one listener put it: “The filters the essence of Aerosmith’s funkiest moments through the boom-thwack beat of the hair-metal ‘80s.” I am listening to the song as I write this, and I could not come up with a better summary of this song if I tried. The official music video, as you will see below, screams: “Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll,” a phrase that first appeared in a 1969 LIFE magazine piece, which declared: “The counter culture has its sacraments in sex, drugs, and rock.” The use of the word “sacraments” here should not be overlooked! The phrase really gained momentum after British musician Ian Dury released a song using the expression in the song title (August 1977). In 2010, the movie, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, a biographical film about Ian Dury, was released with Andy Serkis as Dury.
The song’s lyrics were primarily written by Tyler and Vallance, with Perry contributing the guitar riff, and Vallance writing the bass line. The song was originally titled “Rag Time,” however producer John Kolodner did not like that title, so Holly Knight was called in to change that lyric and subsequently the song’s title.
My reason for choosing this particular cover by PMJ featuring Veronica Swift, is directly related to the phrase “sex, drugs, and rock & roll,” and how that ethos is somehow overshadowed by taking a rock anthem and transforming it into a 1920s “hot jazz” cover. This is further augmented by the, for the most part, “clean-cut” appearance of the musicians and Swift herself, in her white, dare I say, virginal dress! Swift (May 1994) hailing from Charlottesville, Virginia, is an American jazz and bebop singer. Her parents, late jazz pianist Hod O’Brien and singer Stephanie Nakasian, certainly provided the backdrop for her career. She got an early start, recording her first album, Veronica’s House of Jazz 2004), at the age of nine, which featured Richie Cole playing with her father’s rhythm section. She also began touring with her parents at this time. She appeared in the series Women in Jazz at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at eleven years old, and at the age of thirteen she released her second album, It’s Great to Be Alive (2007). She received her bachelor’s degree in jazz voice from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. While there, she composed a goth-rock opera entitled Vera Icon about a homicidal nun. Needless to say, I scoured the Internet trying to find a clip of this but could not. Yes, that’s a challenge! Her 2015 album, Lonely Woman, includes two songs with her father at the piano, representing the last recording by Hod O’Brien, who died of cancer in 2016. I have listened to this cover countless; times it is that good.
Enjoy!
Aerosmith. “Rag Doll” 1987.
PMJ featuring Veronica Swift. “Rag Doll” cover 2024
Los Angeles 2025
Brilliant cover. I have not heard of Veronica Swift before, perhaps that last name doesn’t help! Another stunner from PMJ buddy.
Thank you. Yes, the last name is a problem!
In general, I’ve always dug Aerosmith and regret not having seen them. I imagine they were great live. While it may not be favorite by Aerosmith, “Rag Doll” is not a bad song. That said, I think the great cover by PMJ featuring Veronica Swift beats the original hands down.
I’ve heard that song so many times before, and never really thought about it much. Seeing the video, well, I must be getting old in my old age! I found it pretty offensive, all the Lolita-esque images and implications. I know – the 80s were a different country, and I’m so glad we don’t live there anymore. Aerosmith is an incredible, enduring band, but the video ending where Tyler drives away, waving to all the “girls” who presumably have shared his sexual favors – it just hasn’t aged well for me.
Veronica Swift makes the song her own and turns the tables on who’s doing whom. She and that whole ensemble are genius. Thanks, Irwin!
Yup, definitely a different era, but hip-hop and rap certainly picked up the baton on that! She does make the song her own, which is one of the reasons I chose to do the cover. You’re welcome!
I like Aerosmith’s “Rag Doll”, despite hearing it played ad nauseum on the rock station the office radio was set to at a small Planning/Landcape Architectural firm I worked at in the late 80s. I think of that job every time I hear this song, that’s how often it got played!
The PMJ/Veronica Swift jazzy cover is terrific!