Don't believe me? Call 617-262-TOUR (8687), then press 1 to hear a free preview of the Talking Street cell phone tour of Boston from Candide Media Works, Inc. You can also listen to the free preview online.
Yup--that's Steven Tyler alright, sharing some historical tidbits and screeching "Walk this way" as he coaxes Boston visitors to join him on a walking tour of city landmarks. The tour takes about two hours to walk but only requires 40 minutes of cell phone time.
In a press release announcing the fall 2004 debut of the Talking Street cell phone tour of Boston, Tyler, who still lives in Massachusetts with his family, said, "This tour is a total trip! It shot me right back in time to when I first moved to Boston with four other equally broke musicians, living off of brown rice and Big Dreams. Aerosmith was born in Boston, and I'm blown away that I was chosen to represent my city on this Talking Street walking tour. Then again, who better to talk about Boston than the guy with the biggest mouth in the city!"
The tour route begins at the Boston Public Garden, although you can actually choose your own starting place and visit as many of the 17 stops as you'd like over the course of a day or more. If you're curious about where Tyler will take you, a printable map of the tour is available in .pdf format. The final bonus stop is Fenway park, where cell phone callers can listen to a special interview with Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski.
As of March 2008, the cost of the tour is $5.95 (in addition to your cell phone air time), with a portion of the proceeds going to the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. The tour can be pre-ordered online, or wait until you get to Boston, then dial 617-262-TOUR (8687) and pay with a credit card.
Talking Street cell phone tours are also available for New York's Lower East Side (Jerry Stiller narrates), Lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center site (Sigourney Weaver narrates) and Washington, D.C. (Larry King narrates).
