These little rock and rollers aren’t scared of Santa, they can’t believe what they are seeing across the way at the mall convenient store…

Who’s that Red Sox fan with his mom?

Dig those nice retro Hollywood shades.

Is that Bono bringing back the Fly look?

There is NO way that is a dude.

It is NOT our Great Aunt Agnes, you moron.

It Is STEVEN TYLER!

Yes, music lovers, believe it or not, this is the modern day rock star on location in the Boston area earlier this year.

As you can see from the top photo, Santa’s not even sure what to make of it all.

Unlike Santa, Father Time is not always kind to those who cheat death and live longer than expected, particularly those scofflaw rock star types.

Today’s installment of the 12 Boots of Christmas harkens back to a time when Mr. Tyler was a full-on rock star tending to the ashes of the first incarnation of Aerosmith.

It is December 3, 1980 in the band’s hometown of Boston.  WBCN is bringing joy to the masses with a live broadcast and the anticipation is spilling out of the speakers.

It’s a little over one year since Joe Perry left the band due to an argument over spilled milk following Aerosmith’s performance on July 28, 1979 at the World Series of Rock at Cleveland Stadium.

In early 1981, Brad Whitford would leave to form Whitford-St. Holmes with former Ted Nugent vocalist Derek St. Holmes, leaving Aerosmith without both of its original guitarists.

Perry’s replacement, Jimmy Crespo, brought some fire to the group while he could and really pushes everyone here, doing a very nice job with the older material.

The setlist is classic in that it features a few hits (“Walk This Way,” Train Kept a Rollin”), some great album cuts (“Rats in the Cellar,” “Seasons of Wither,” Lick and a Promise”) and a good bit of Night in the Ruts (“Think About It,” “Three Mile Smile,” Milk Cow Blues”).

The recording is in your face and crunchy with a lot of top end just like in the good old analog days.

If you are of a certain vintage, this show will take you back to the snowy nights in front of your stereo when you carefully tuned in your favorite FM station, loaded your 90 minute Maxell XLIIS tape and precisely adjusted the levels on your cassette deck to be sure you captured a quality recording.

Thankfully, one of Santa’s elves, Creepy the train designer, did just that and saw fit to share this piece of holiday gold with all of us.

Hey gang, with today’s installment of the Stereo Dictator’s 12 Boots of Christmas, we are now one- third of the way to filling our ATV Christmas stocking.

It’s hard to believe, but the time does fly when you’re spanning the globe spreading the musical cheer.

AEROSMITH SETLIST

complete zipped download

Rats in the Cellar

Walkin the Dog

Lord of the Thighs

Three Mile Smile-Reefer Headed Woman

Mother Popcorn

Think About It

Seasons of Wither

I Wanna Know Why

Big Ten Inch Record

Walk This Way

Lick & a Promise

Milk Cow Blues

Come Together

Train Kept a Rollin