MTV's Fanatic: Steven Tyler
MTV's "Fanatic" is a TV show in which America's greatest fans of America's greatest artists got their dream - to meet that special someone they only dreamed of meeting. Over a year, MTV collected thousands of submitted video tapes from fans across the country. The MTV executives and judges them began to watch each video and evaluate which fans got to meet their favorite singer, band, movie star or model. One such lucky guys was a 21 year-old college student named Chris Kobchezech. His video was chosen and a few weeks later, his best friend barged in on Chris in a lecture and took him away. Chris was flow, with one bag packed by his friend only hours earlier, to Boston, Massachusettes. He met Steven Tyler in Boston's Ma Kin Music Hall, a club dedicated to Aerosmith and rock n' roll.
| THE FACTS | |
| Chris | Steven |
| 1. Says his daily ritual is to wake up to an upbeat Aerosmith song and to go to sleep to a ballad . . . 2. Says he convinced a local pool hall to put Aerosmith CDs in the juke box . . . 3. As a tribute to Steven Tyler, his screen name is SteveTy5. |
1. Aerosmith's current album, Nine Lives, debuted on the album charts at #1 and has gone double platinum . . . 2. Steven started singing st a Presbyterian church in the Bronx . . . 3. His real name is Steven Tallarico. |
| CHRIS' VIDEO QUOTES |
| "I am the biggest Aerosmith fanatic! My name is Chris Kobchezech, 21 years old. I am, as you can see, the biggest Aerosmith fan you could ever imagine . . ." "This right here is gold, OK? (Opens cabinet and displays CDs) This is the first time I'm showing it in public, so be kind - I love it. These are all my Aerosmith CDs I own, OK, every one." "It would be...such an honor...I can't even describe to you because I would freak. I would just totally go nuts. Aerosmith are God to my feeling and I would just - I would love the opportunity. Please . . ." |
| The Interview |
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Chris: (To Steven, shaking his hand) I'm your biggest fan without a doubt. I've been waiting all my life to come here and talk to you and let you know how much you music has meant to me, and I just can't believe this is all happening so fast - I am just speachless - like this has all been so quick. Steven: One of the reasons I've stayed in this band all these years's 'cause I'm a big fan, too. I look over and I see Joe Perry and I think, Wow, I get to go do this again - we can go out and rip it up again? You know what I mean? So, I understand what you're saying. Chris: "Dream On," "Seasons Of Wither," "Pink," "Love In An Elevator" - they're all you, but they all sound so different, and so diversity is the biggest thing, ya' know? But it's amazing because it's all Aerosmith, and somebody's gonna be turned on by something - It's incredible. Steven: Thank you. You know, we sit in a room, and we come up with something, and we see it through, and...I take it home and I write some lyrics to it, and then the next day we come in and do something else. But, at the end of the day when you have a song like "Pink," and it's so tongue-in-cheek, and it works, you just go, Thank you Lord Jesus, and you put it down and there it is. Chris: What album best defines Aerosmith? Steven: (After a long pause) I would say "Toys In The Attic" and then I'd say "Pump." But I do think that one of the magic...quotients here, in staying a band for so long is writing the songs, being true to yourselves, keeping the same members and it not being a one-thing album. Have you "Pink"s, have your "Young Lust"s, have your "Dream On"s and "Train Kept A Rollin'"s and have it be like, something for everybody. Chris: I moved down to Florida - I was about 16 years old, and I was sitting at a party, and unfortunately the people I was hanging out with were people doing drugs and drinking and stuff, and I wanted too fit in. And I'm sitting at this party - and I' sitting there looking at all this stuff going on around me and Kimba, on Zeta, she premiered "Get A Grip" and "Amazing" was the first song that she played - "Kept the right ones out...," and I'm listening to the song and the lyrics were so profound - I though you were singing 'em to me, because everything you were saying was like, relating to what was going on - "Can't fly high with broken wings" - stuff like that. So from that point on I just like, I got up, left the party, and it's been you 24/7 ever since then and...it's just, it made such an impact on my life - I just, I can't thank you enough for that . . . Steven: Beautiful - beautiful. Chris: What's your favorite song to do live? Steven: "Sweet Emotion." Sometimes I ddon't have to sing it, I can just talk it. That's cool. Chris: When you were starting...in you bands back in the late 60s - Chain Reaction, stuuf like that - what were your idols, who were, who were you looking up to? Mick Jagger of course, I know you carried a picture around of him, in your wallet. Steven: No, it wasn't a picture of Mick. it was his autograph. I went to the beach once and I told everybody he was my brother (bad English accent) and I talked like this for about a day and a half and got me ass kicked (back to normal voice), and so, you know. I was just obsessed with it and you know, he was a frontman, and then Janis Joplin came along and - oh man, it's all about gettin' that down. Chris: You have so many fans - I mean fans dating back from the early 70s 'til now and, ah, recently for your birthday, they all made you a quilt, and when you got that, what was your reaction? 50 fans from around the country just taking the time to give you something for your birthday? Steven: I was so blown away - it's unreal. And each little square like this (picks up a piece of paper) is so ornate with...a little hat from the last tour and, you know, the cat from this tour and titles and . . . Chris: See I had the one on there - it was "You touch our haerts like angels do," that's the one I made - I don't know if you remember that though, but it was an angel . . . Steven: Down in the corner! Chris: That's right! Angel print with like, little silver and black writing. Steven: It means a lot, you know, when you stop for a minute and you think that this is a strong thing. And when other people pick up on it and put all that time and energy into a quilt for you...it just, touches your heart and it's so deep. . . Chris: I can only imagine. (Pause) What is it like to, like, not be able to go out in public? Being incognito, I mean, you won't be able to do that every day. Steven: Two-fold answer. One, it sucks, and two, it's what I always wanted (laughs). Oh boy, I can't wait to. You know, I'm one of those people, and two of my bandmates don't agree with me...I think that even though fans can be nuts sometimes, that I deserve...it's the least I can do to give them an autograph and when I get home and I look at my hous and my car, I'm really grateful. I'm really grateful for the fans - it's like Thank You. Chris: How do you want to be remembered? When everything's all said and done - what do you want to be known for? Steven: (Pause) Somebody that was like a musical doctor and made people feel good, and in trying to, you know...grief and life on life's terms...or someone, you know, just be a peice of their life. It just gets me off so big, gets me off so big. So I would say, if I could bring some joy . . . Chris: Well, you bring joy to millions. I can't thank you enough for that. I'm just so glad you took the time out to do this - Alright, thank you very much . . . Steven: Thank you very much. Chris: Now I feel like I'm goin' to cry, but I'm tryin' not to. I'm doing my best, man - drink to that. (They clink glasses) Steven: I cry all the time, man . . . |
Later, Chris and Steven play some music - Steven on a set of bongo drums and Chris playing harmonica. Steven smiles and jokingly says it'll be on the next record! Very tongue-in-cheek.
Then Chris is carried off in the MTV limo to an undisclosed location where "another surprise" awaits. In what looks like a recording studio lounge area, Chriss meets Drad Whiford ("Mr. Nobody's Fault), Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, and Joey Kramer. He's smiling from ear to ear and freaking out the entire time.
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"Fanatic" is a registered trademark of MTV Inc. and MTV Productions. Thank you to MTV for use of their name and transcription of their telecast.