I used to watch MTV in the mid 80’s and it was pretty good at first. I remember sometimes in the late 80’s I turned it one night and their was some rap duo doing a cover of Aerosmiths Walk This Way. I turned it off and NEVER, not even once, tuned in to MTV even to this day.
BUT, you've got to give credit where credit is due. Aerosmith was hurting at that time due to Steven Tyler's and Joe Perry's drug use. They had ground their "brand" into the mud by the early 80's, but finally cleaned up their act.
If it weren't for that Run DMC cover and the hit it became, I'm not 100% certain that Aerosmith would have come back. That cover and video got them a "foot in the door", and they leveraged their way back to main event status.
The expression on Joe Perry’s face when he looked through the hole in the wall was priceless.