The album, ‘Nine Lives’ saw the light of day on March 18, 1997. Aerosmith released 5 singles off the album, it went all the way to #1, they won a Grammy and the album sold over 2 million copies. It is not quite as good as their last album did, but I would say it is still pretty damn good. The third single off the ‘Nine Lives’ album was for the song “Pink” and was released on November 18, 1997. The song was written by Steven Tyler, Glen Ballard and Richard Supa. It went all the to #1 on the Mainstream Rock Charts and it made the Top 40 hitting #27 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single went Gold selling over 500,000 copies. A time when rock wasn’t at the top of it’s game, Aerosmith was still going strong.

The song itself is a very suggestive and dirty. The word “Pink” is referencing a certain part of the girls anatomy. Every line in the song starts with the word “Pink” as well and if you listen you quickly understand what they are talking about. The music video for this song was just as suggestive and pushed things to where they were eventually censored if they wanted the video shown. This song definitely hits the “Sex” part of “Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll”.

There are two versions of “Pink” on this single. The first is a non-album version called “The South Beach Mix” which was produced and mixed by Glen Ballard along with help on the mix by Christopher Fogel. This mix still opens with Tyler on harmonica, but it feels less bluesy then the original. They’ve taken it a brightened it up giving it a more pop feel to it. It isn’t a bad version, but I prefer the original album version.

The next version of “Pink” is the original album version and it is a blues-filled masterpiece with Tyler strutting through the lyrics. It has a little something for everyone and will appeal to a lot of people despite the very suggestive topic. I like the groove and the pacing as it shows a confidence of a band that has been doing this for awhile. The song is a bit darker sounding and I prefer that to the bright sunny feeling I get from the other version. But both are still great as the song is fantastic.

For the final song on the single, we see a band go all experimental with “Taste of India” which is another Ballard co-write. This is one example of experimenting that actually worked out better than expected. With “India” in the title you would expect the song to have that Indian feel and it does with some excellent playing of the sarangi by Ramesh Mishra. It also feels very 60’s with a whole psychedelic vibe to it which I love. Joe Perry and Brad Whitford whip out their Stratocasters for this one and really shine adding some great textures. Joey Kramer’s drum sound is immense and Tom Hamilton’s bass groove lays the foundation. Steven Tyler’s vocals blend well with the sarangi and it is all just a little magical. It sounds like nothing else they’ve done and amen to that fact.

And there you have it, the CD single for the song “Pink”. The South Beach Mix of “Pink” can be found on the compilation album called “O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits” which came out in 2002. So, the song is no longer exclusive to this CD single. That being said, there is no reason to buy this other than if you are a collector and if you something that says “Aerosmith” you buy it…like me. I hope you enjoyed the walk through the single and maybe we will have more Aerosmith coming for you…okay, we will as I have two other pieces I’ve picked up recently that need to be highlighted. Even after the series has been done awhile, I still find things I’m missing.

THE AEROSMITH COLLECTION SERIES:

1. ‘Aerosmith’ (1973)
2. ‘Get Your Wings’ (1974)
3. ‘Toys in the Attic’ (1975)
4. ‘Rocks’ (1976)
5. ‘Draw the Line’ (1977)
6. ‘Live! Bootleg’ (1978)
7. ‘Night in the Ruts’ (1979)
8. ‘Greatest Hits’ (1980)
9. ‘Rock in a Hard Place’ (1982)
10. ‘Done With Mirrors’ (1985)
11. Run DMC – “Walk This Way” 12″ Single (1986)
12. ‘Classics Live!’ (1986)
13. ‘Classics Live! II’ (1987)
14. ‘Permanent Vacation’ (1987)
15. “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” (1987) – 7″ Single & 12″ Maxi-Single (Bonus Edition)
16. “Angel” (1988) – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
17. “Rag Doll” (1988) – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
18. ‘Gems’ (1988)
19. ‘Pump’ (1989)
20. ‘Pandora’s Box’ (1991)
21. ‘Get a Grip’ (1993)
22. ‘Nine Lives’ (1997)
23. ‘Made in America’ (1997)
24. ‘A Little South of Sanity’ (1998)
25. ‘Just Push Play’ (2001)
26. ‘Honkin on Bobo’ (2004)
27. ‘Rockin’ The Joint (2005)
28. ‘Music From Another Dimension’ (2012)
29. ‘1971: The Road Starts Hear’ (2021)
30. The Albums Ranked Worst To First