Aaron and I were drinking one night and he was trying to explain to me that Motley Crue was his generation’s KISS. He’s 10 years younger than I am and this is probably a pretty defensible point. The way I heard it though, was that he was comparing KISS to Motley Crue in terms of their impact on the greater landscape of popular music and I not only rejected it, but I took it upon myself to change his mind. Starting the following morning, I sent him a KISS song and narrative once a week for 10 weeks.
These are not my favorite 10 KISS songs. Rather, the selections seek to illustrate a characteristic of the band and provide some historical context for the record from which they are drawn. Mostly the songs come from the first 6 studio records, though there are exceptions. Naturally, the later era(s) of the band are ignored if not ridiculed.
I don’t know if I was able to change his mind about the fact that he and his friends worshipped Motley Crue when they were 13 the same way me and my friends worshipped KISS at that age. But it was fun to write, and plus Motley Crue blows— KISS RULES!
It also definitely took longer than 10 weeks…
Hi Aaron— At the risk of coming off as a salty elitist or otherwise condescending, I would like to help expand your understanding of the music of the rock group KISS. I can’t magically transport us to 1977, but I can offer some enhanced perspective on some of their music that was being made around that time. There are a few good songs on Smashes, Trashes and Hits. But there are also some pretty bad songs on there and their best songs certainly are not included. We can do better.
Week 1: “Nothin’ to Lose” (KISS)
This isn’t necessarily a typical KISS song, but I include and in fact begin with it because it does show the band in a light in which they are often not seen. ‘NtL' is a playful song, showing a bit of humor that did not survive much past this record. The self-titled debut was recorded in 1973 and this song is in fact older than that even, as it was one that dated back to the pre-KISS Gene Simmons/Paul Stanley collaboration of Wicked Lester (no relation). It showcases one of the cornerstones of KISS’ music, that being the fact that all four members sang. While Ace Frehley did not sing a lead vocal until 1977’s Love Gun, lead duties for all songs leading up to that were divided amongst Simmons, Stanley and drummer Peter Criss. ‘NtL' features all three of them on lead vocal, with Simmons & Stanley splitting verses and Criss doing the scat-over on the choruses.
A lot of heavy metal persons like to slag Peter Criss for being a weak drummer, but I maintain that he was KISS’ secret weapon-- both behind the kit and on the microphone. He was a jazz drummer at heart and a great hard rock bar drummer. Did not necessarily translate to arenas, though. Single bass drum, small sticks.
He definitely had the best voice in the band, though— even if he wasn’t the best singer. There’s a difference...
Anyway, this song has everything, or at least a lot. A bit of boogie swing, great chorus w/ the Leon Redbone treatment, killer guitar solo and even some cowbell and ragtime piano thrown in. It was in fact the first single from the record, but was a total flop. The version on the first live album has the smokin’ extended guitar parts and the stuttering time sigs. Plenty of time for that later, however. For tonight we’ll just concentrate on the 3:26 studio version from the first record.
Plus, the song is about anal. How bad can it be?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYyO4pjRPXo&list=RDLYyO4pjRPXo&start_radio=1
Week 2: “Take Me” (Rock and Roll Over)
The fifth studio KISS album— like the second, Hotter than Hell— was a fairly rushed affair. Rock and Roll Over was recorded in 12 days in an abandoned theater in upstate New York by Eddie Kramer, with the goal of capturing the raw live KISS sound. I think this was achieved. RaRO is not my favorite batch of KISS songs, but it might be my favorite record sonically. It represents a stark departure from the over-wrought, self-conscious Ezrinmade Destroyer from eight months prior.
Nowhere is that live edge slab sound more evident than on the guitar intro to ‘Take Me.’ Though the song was not written or sung by Ace Frehley, I think of it as an Ace song. The intro, the spacey flyaway take me background vocal, and especially the signature staggering syncopated guitar solos all smack Ace for me. As on ‘Nothin to Lose’ the backing vocals are a big part of the song, with Gene super prominent on the extended ah-ahs before the outro.
It’s a pretty classic Paul Stanley peak era lead vocal. Again, about sex— this time with her head down in his lap, the moonlight shinin’ down on her head. Disposable lyrically, but the sound, structure, chorus and guitar work make this one of my favorite KISS songs.
To my knowledge this is the first time the band included anything other than a booklet in their records. The prize on RaRO is a die-cut sticker of the album cover. I put mine on the outside of my cassette briefcase. It was stolen out of my car not long afterward, along with my Sparkomatic tape deck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_ASVd4p8Sc
Week 3: “Got Love for Sale” (Love Gun)
‘Got Love for Sale’ is the third rock and roll song I ever heard. Well, maybe not the third I ever heard, but for sure the third one I ever memorized. It is the third song on the first side of KISS Love Gun which was my first album.
I won’t torture you with the long, boring story of Christmas morning 1977. Suffice it to say that I was a completely different person at 11am that day than I had been at 10. After unwrapping presents and cleaning up, I discreetly retired to my room to listen to Love Gun (on my first stereo, a gift from Santa). And in some ways I never emerged.
Part of me is still in that small bedroom in Twin Lakes listening to Love Gun one side after another.
“Got Love for Sale” is not the best song on the record. It’s not even the best song on side 1. But it has a lot of the components that I value in a KISS song.
Total throw-away Gene lead vocal about being a worshipped magazine rock god. Probably wrote the lyrics in the john after jacking off, waiting for Ace to turn up a week late. But like ‘Take Me’ there’s something about the backing vocals that slays me. The ‘whoa no’ that turns into two ‘whoa no’s the second time around— genius in a can!
But it’s probably the guitar work, again, that sets this song apart. Maybe the most classic Ace Frehley lead with the long hold at the front and the staggering syncopation at the back. He was in top form on this album despite skipping most of the basics— most of which were executed by the sober and workmanlike Paul Stanley. Ace would contribute his first lead vocal to Love Gun, the surprisingly durable ‘Shock Me’ that would be an early sign of the success Ace would have as a singer when the band released their simultaneous solo records the following year. Where Love Gun is concerned, Ace is brilliant— every note in place and with the tone of a champion.
Another hallmark of the Love Gun record is the acoustic guitar chords that can be heard subtly ringing over key sections the songs. It’s a production theme throughout, but I think it’s most present on this song, on the kickers in the middle of the verses.
This is the last studio record where all four members of the band actually made meaningful contributions, and Peter Criss is very present on Love Gun also. I love the jazz fills on the transitions between the choruses and verses and that Love Gun snare sound delights me to this day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsHrS7ARRtQ
Week 4: “Ozone” (Ace Frehley)
I’m not big on home-made celebrity obits, waxing on social about how much the newly-dead influenced me as a guitarist or the time I met them and they were so nice. I had to stay off FB even more than I usually do last night in order to avoid hearing about everyone’s first KISS show or seeing photos of Tommy Thayer attached to a remembrance of the late Ace Frehley.
But I owe you a KISS song, so it seems logical to give you something by Ace.
The gifted yet aloof and often incapacitated guitarist shocked the KISS organization in 1978 by not only finishing his solo album but in fact mopping the motherfucking floor with the efforts of the other three. The joint venture-- conceived by manager Bill Aucoin as a way to keep the band together— worked fabulously. It kept the members musically active but out of each others’ faces after 5 years of tightly shared airspace. Plus, it gave Casablanca 4X as much new product to hawk than a new KISS record would have. The fact that Ace’s record was so brilliant was a surprise to everyone except maybe him and drummer Anton Fig. Gene & Paul just shook their heads and went back to counting money.
Ace had contributed material as far back as ‘Cold Gin’ on the first album. And he’d made his vocal debut on 77’s Love Gun. But a whole record of brand new material? Written, sang and recorded? Ace had the last cackle and the only hit— the cover of a Brit’s tribute to New York recorded only three years earlier. ‘New York Groove’ was a smash and established the Bronx-bred Frehley as a New York legend. Matt is in NYC this week and said the song was blaring from bars in mid-town in the wake of news of his death.
The record is solid through and through. The opener “Rip it Out” would have been the single had it not been for ‘NYG.’ The closer ‘Fractured Mirror’ is a staircase of an instrumental ala the extended acoustic intro to ‘Rock Bottom’ from Dressed to Kill. “What’s on Your Mind?” is a catchy pop romp closing side 1. But one thing that really stands out about Ace’s record is the fact that he was finally released to write and sing about his passions which at the time were drugs and alcohol. Gene & Paul worked very hard to keep the KISS image sleazy yet sober during the 6-album golden age of the band. But unsupervised, Ace wrote about champagne and cocaine on songs like ‘Wiped Out,’ ‘Snowblind’ and ‘Speedin’ Back to My Baby.’
‘Ozone’ too. “I’m the kind of guy who likes getting high.” It doesn’t get any more starkly told than that…
Long live the Space Ace!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-K8xyflWI0&list=RDy-K8xyflWI0&start_radio=1
Week 5: “Rock Bottom” (Dressed to Kill)
Speaking of ‘Rock Bottom,’ give this lil’ blip dit a spin next. It’s an illuminating example of the spartan atmosphere of the third record Dressed to Kill.
The band didn’t have much of a budget on this album, with Casablanca Records on the financial ropes. Label chief Neil Bogart actually acts as producer to save on costs. The album sounds like a demo, with panhandler guitar tones and short songs-- less than 30 total minutes of music. ‘Rock Bottom’ is one of only two songs on the album running longer than three minutes, and exactly half of its 3:54 is the afore-mentioned acoustic guitar intro. It’s a 1:57 song.
All this said, DtK may just be my favorite KISS album. And while it does have some great songs (‘She,’ ‘C’mon and Love Me’ and the Side 2 closer ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’) there’s also a considerable amount of filler. But what I treasure so much about the record is its gritty, littery, sidewalk sound. More than any other record in the catalog, to me, DtK is a New York record. It’s a Chelsea record. In its honest riffs and un-processed drums, you can almost hear the horns honking on 23rd Street as the members come and go from the loft rehearsal nest, carrying their own guitars and shaking off the cold.
And nowhere is that unwashed character more evident than in the vocal sound, particularly on the backing harmonies. KISS vocals are always an adventure, with eventually four lead singers and lots of featured backing vocals. But the blended leads of Paul & Gene on this record exemplify the essence of the shared lead vocal, definitely the spirit of KISS. The mix is perfect, and you can hear each voice distinctly without a bunch of processing to muddy matters up.
‘Rock Bottom’ is not the best song on this album, though it did make its way into the live set for the ensuing tour during which ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ became a hit. The surprise success of the live single saved not only Casablanca, but also the band, and maybe even Rock and Roll as we know it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mIIU7OfG6g
Day 6: “War Machine” (Creatures of the Night)
After the solo records came out, matters really lost focus for KISS. They’d already released the second live record, a greatest hits package and the first comic. But after the solo records a lot of noodles got tossed up on the wall in the form of the movie, the pinball machine, a concept record and endless television appearances on such marshmellow media as Dinah Shore, Mike Douglas, Kids are People Too and of course the famous Tom Snyder bloodbath. And even though the band managed to release two more records with original members (at least officially— Peter wasn’t around much on Dynasty or Unmasked and Ace was really only interested in his own songs on both) 79-82 was a period when the music definitely took a backseat to marketing and social distractions.
By the middle of 1982, the landscape at the back end of rock and roll was shifting. The mushroom cloud of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal could be seen from across the Atlantic and the fat cats of American hard rock were taking notice. KISS found themselves in the tricky position of trying to jump back on the stainless steel playground merry-go-round they’d installed the previous decade. They had to find a way to compete with these new heavy bands while still maintaining the appearance that none of them would ever have even started playing guitars in the first place if it hadn’t been for them.
And they did a pretty good job of walking this line on Creatures of the Night.
It’s a different band for one thing. Peter’s replacement Eric Carr is a much more contemporary hard rock drummer and of course Vinnie Vincent was Vinnie Vincent. The guitarist’s rhythm tones and confounding lead schematics couldn’t have been more different than Ace’s melodic, memorable solos. But fast & flashy lead guitar work was one of the hallmarks separating 70s hard rock from 80s lite metal, and KISS was probably wise to trudge in this new direction, as unlistenable as most of it was.
There are some pretty good songs on the record and some stirring drum sequences. Check out Micheal (James) Jackson’s production on ‘I Still Love You’ for extra credit. It sounds like you’re totally inside the deep toms. Peter wasn’t this kind of drummer.
‘War Machine’ is a monster Gene song ala ‘God of Thunder’ as opposed to a molester song like ‘Calling Doctor Love.’ It’s got that kind of playful main riff but mostly it’s a song about laying waste. Welcome to the 1980s!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q08kDgsquOc
Day 7: “Sure Know Something” (Dynasty)
I have been known to blame myself for killing KISS because pretty much as soon as I got into them (Christmas Day 1977, 11a.m.) they began their long, slow descent to the sandy bottom of the cultural sea. Sure—there were still some thrills that lay ahead like Revenge (92), Alive II (78) and the first coffee table book (94). But mostly it would be endless disgraceful reunions & farewells, Crazy Nights and Music from the Elder from here on out.
And Dynasty.
My relationship with Dynasty is a complicated one, and there isn’t time or space here to explore it in detail.
OK, maybe just a little.
I had 4 teeth pulled in May of 1979 to make space for my braces which would be installed that summer. As I lay on my twin bed with a mouthful of gauze and a headful of anesthesia, my mother walked into my bedroom with Dynasty. I hadn’t received a push notification on my phone alerting me that record was even coming out that day. Yet here it was: the first album of new material by my favorite band (my only band) released since I’d become a fan 18 months earlier. My head swam with possibilities (and anesthesia). My mother put the record on and left the room.
I was horrified by ‘I Was Made for Loving You’ and Ace’s revisitation of the Stones’ ‘Two Thousand Man’ only confused me further.
I disliked ‘Sure Know Something’ at the time, but I was probably also choking on vomit, struggling to get off my bed to lift the needle off the record. So my perspective aint none too keen.
The record was being billed as The Return of KISS since it had been two full years since they’d released a new record. I don’t think I’m alone in having regarded it as The Death of KISS or The PISS of KISS or even the When Shit Gets on your Finger Through the Toilet Paper of KISS. At the time.
But I had little choice but to wear out the record and make the best of it. I didn’t even have Live at Budakon yet.
So there are some moments on Dynasty and ‘Sure Know Something’ is one that has grown into itself with time. It wouldn’t have blended in very well on Hotter than Hell or even Love Gun. But on Dynasty it sounded at home, and it’s a pretty good song for grownups looking to get fucked in a bar.
Suggested pairings: Sparkling Rosé, Frederick’s of Hollywood. Avoid: Halothane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m_cSmEWvUY
Day 8: “Aint None of Your Business” (Wendy O. Williams)
As for many, the 1980s were a messy time for KISS. In a relatively short time between Dynasty (79) and Creatures (82) they had bridged from disco to NWoBHM-inspired heavy metal. The Phyllis Diller hair period of the mid-80s was till a phase away. There just had to be one more trend to hump in 1983, as they were just killing time before taking the makeup off.
Enter Wendy O Williams. I mean, feel free to enter her and I assume Gene did just that. But for the sake of this essay, let’s just say she came on the scene. Gah! That doesn’t work either... How about simply ‘1983 was the year of the Wendy.’
The Plasmatics had opened some dates on the Creatures tour* and Gene had taken an interest. Not so much in the hot mess that was the band, but moreso in just the hot part, which was Wendy. Gene got her out of the band’s deal and took her under his leather wing to make her first solo record entitled W.O.W.
Gene allowed Wen to bring some of her Plasmopals, including her Svengali Rod Swenson. But also drifting in and out of the studio during those sessions was every member of KISS, and in fact more than every member. Newly-minted ancher Vinnie Vincent appeared on the record, but so did the disgraced and slovenly out-going Ace Frehley.
And it sounds like it. Gene had a pen in most of the songs and played bass on everything. All the other KISSers sat here or there. But the main thing that makes this record a KISS record is the backing vocals. They’re all KISS. You can hear Gene the best, but if you listen close they’re all in there.
The songs are formulaic and patronizing—nothing like the avant garde thinkpieces the Plasmatics had become dreaded for. This new spoon-feed was a good formula for Wendy at a time when she needed some exposure. No, that’s not what I meant to say. She needed the publicity. She needed to sell a record or two, and I think this dance with Gene did the trick, drawing her in from the margins she had dwelt in for five years with the limiting Plasmatics.
I love this song. ‘Aint None of Your Business’ is the best of the dreck on this record and it wouldn’t have worked with either Gene or Paul singing it—so it’s where it belongs on W.O.W. Gene did also give Wendy ‘Legends Never Die’ which he later recorded himself. Definitely a song about living forever, though Wendy likely held a different view than Gene’s. I wonder if she was humming this song before she shot her head off in 1998. Rest easy, Wendy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvH75XSpH-c&list=RDqvH75XSpH-c&start_radio=1
* Also opening some dates on this tour was my favorite band of the whole movement, Riot. They came through the PNW in early 1983 supporting their recent release Restless Breed. Their booking agent had been good enough to get them on the KISS tour, but shitty enough to also book them into the Adlib Tavern in Kent. I couldn’t believe my good fortune and borrowed Mike Engan’s ID to get into the club. Marianne already had a high-functioning fake.
My credentials from KGRG (The Rock of the Valley) were good enough to get me on the bus with my tape recorder after the show. I had never seen a band in a bar, let alone been on a tour bus. I was thoroughly outside my body.
Anyway, Riot didn’t have anything nice to say about KISS. “They told us to stay off their tank,” said bassist Kip Leming, referring to the huge military tank prop that was the centerpiece of the KISS stage at the time. “Fuck KISS.”
I have a cassette of this interview somewhere. I had them record a station ID and I wrote the story up for Hartman’s Denim & Leather fanzine. In the background on the tape, you can hear Gerald Yoshida the British Columbian Inuit who didn’t miss much in those days.
“Fuck, you guys got cold cuts?!” he can be heard saying. “Fuck! Shit, man. Fuck!”
Day 9: "Watchin’ You” (Winterland 75)
Say what you want about Gene. I’ll get in on some of that too. But please believe there was a time before the eye-rolling coin-licker Saturday morning/ bigtime wrestling fake news bullshit Foghorn Leghorn Gene when he was truly terrible. And that whole act doesn’t come across on record as well as it does live.
So this entry is a video.
This is not my favorite KISS song, or my favorite Gene song even. But it might be my favorite song of this show.
KISS had been furiously humping their mediocre 1974 sophomore release Hotter than Hell all winter and the New Year found them ready to go back to Electric Lady to make their third record which would definitely be their last if they didn’t have a hit. It was get paid or go home for KISS in 1975.
This show was recorded at Bill Graham’s Winterland on January 31,1975-- a week before they would return home to begin working on Dressed to Kill. The new songs are presumably written and mostly ready to record-- yet none of them appear in this setlist. This might be the last time the band performed this batch of songs from the first two albums and they have to be so tired of them by this point. There is no reason they should be playing these songs with this amount of conviction and fire. Yet here is the footage.
Bill had all those shows filmed. Super high-quality documentation of the choice bookings in the best rooms— all of them locked in a case and never made available for public enjoyment. At least at the time. I don’t know how widely-available that whole catalog is now. But I remember Toni handing me a VHS copy of the last Sex Pistols show and saying ‘you didn’t get this from me.’ This was in 1990 when you just couldn’t find certain shit even in the trade routes and there certainly weren’t no internets to search into.
This 3-camera black/white footage is my favorite of all times. Of course Mike Douglas is classic, and Midnight Special. Houston, duh. But this era, this room, these songs and Gene’s leer on this particular song— he’s so menacing yet his humor is still intact. The more kind of Kabuki Groucho Marx Gene with the straightened hair & towering top-knot, the low scoop top and metalflake Grabber. Still, it’s really all in his eyes, how they seem to be seeing everything. His makeup is kind of smeared, early in the set. He just looks insane...
Anyway, I recommend you watch this whole show some time soon— even if you’re only obligated to watch this one clip today. The whole tape is awesome. Not enough Ace footage is the common knock on this mix, and some of the Paul Stanley raps are pretty tiresome. The band is still growing up, but for my money this is peak Gene.