Thursday, February 28, 2019
Remembering That Time Paul Stanley Took My Picture
With the KISS show at the United Center a mere two days away, here is my final KISS-related post before the concert. This is another Throwback Thursday post, and it's about what is probably my greatest concert-going experience. You see, back in November 2014, I was lucky enough to go to Vegas to see KISS during their residency at The Joint at the Hard Rock. The seats that my friend got were amazing, and we were right next to one of the side wings of the stage. So close that, at one point, Paul Stanley grabbed one of my friend's phones and took a picture of us. Here is the link to my post about the trip, including the photo Paul snapped. Enjoy.
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Retro Video of the Week: "Radio Ga Ga" by Queen
Today is the 35th anniversary of the release of Queen's eleventh studio album, The Works. Of course, anyone who watched the Academy Awards this past Sunday knows is was a big night for Queen. Rami Malek won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Freddy Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and the film also won three other Oscars (for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Film Editing).
The biggest hit off of The Works was "Radio Ga Ga." It hit #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the UK charts, #1 on six charts in Europe (including the Eurochart Hot 100), and Top 10 on the charts in nine other countries.
While the studio version of the song is great, for many (myself included), this song will forever be linked with Queen's legendary performance at Wembley Stadium during Live Aid, a moment that was also captured in Bohemian Rhapsody. The band's entire set (linked in the previous sentence) is something that everyone should watch and enjoy. In particular, their performance of "Radio Ga Ga" stands out because of the power Mercury appeared to command over the audience, which apparently spontaneously, clapped in unison during the chorus, just like in the music video. It is arguably the most iconic moment of Live Aid. Because I love you, I'm going to give you both the original music video and the video of the performance from Live Aid.
Interesting tidbit: "Radio Ga Ga" was also the inspiration for the stage name of another winner at Sunday's Academy Awards, Lady Gaga.
The biggest hit off of The Works was "Radio Ga Ga." It hit #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the UK charts, #1 on six charts in Europe (including the Eurochart Hot 100), and Top 10 on the charts in nine other countries.
While the studio version of the song is great, for many (myself included), this song will forever be linked with Queen's legendary performance at Wembley Stadium during Live Aid, a moment that was also captured in Bohemian Rhapsody. The band's entire set (linked in the previous sentence) is something that everyone should watch and enjoy. In particular, their performance of "Radio Ga Ga" stands out because of the power Mercury appeared to command over the audience, which apparently spontaneously, clapped in unison during the chorus, just like in the music video. It is arguably the most iconic moment of Live Aid. Because I love you, I'm going to give you both the original music video and the video of the performance from Live Aid.
Interesting tidbit: "Radio Ga Ga" was also the inspiration for the stage name of another winner at Sunday's Academy Awards, Lady Gaga.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Tuesday Top Ten: Ranking KISS's Charting Singles
After the last two Tuesday Top Tens -- where we looked at KISS's "Love" songs and the non-charting KISS songs by album -- in my final KISS Tuesday Top Ten before Saturday's epic show, we're going to take a look at the KISS songs that did make the charts.
One of the allures of KISS is that, even for all of their success and longevity, they are still a band for the outsiders. You don't hear KISS on classic rock radio, except maybe every now and then. And, for the most part, you didn't hear them on Top 40 radio -- back when there was such a thing, where you could actually hear popular songs in a variety of genres all on the same station. They didn't have a ton of chart success, considering they've been selling out arenas for 40+ years.
Their anonymity made them seem like untouchable gods in the '70s. They rocked hard, and then succumbed to outside pressure and made some interesting choices in the late '70s and early '80s, before they took off their makeup in 1983 and exposed their hideous skin to the world just in time for the MTV era. In doing so, they embraced the hair band sound of the day, and some of the results were better than others. Then they attempted to turn grunge, post-grunge, and then the original lineup reunited and put the makeup back on for a huge tour and a pretty decent hard rock album. They've kept the makeup on since (though not with the original lineup), and been rocking and rolling.
KISS has gone through some personnel changes over the years. Here's a breakdown:
The Original Make-Up Years
First lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Ace Frehley: guitar, vocals
Peter Criss: drums, vocals
Albums: KISS (1974), Hotter Than Hell (1975), Dressed to Kill (1975), Destroyer (1976), Rock and Roll Over (1976), Love Gun (1977), Dynasty (1979) (although Anton Fig played drums on most of the studio tracks), Unmasked (1980) (Peter Criss was credited, but Anton Fig played the drums on all of the tracks)
Second lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Ace Frehley: guitar, vocals
The Unmasked Years
Ironically, the band released an album called Unmasked in 1980, two years before they literally unmasked.
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Mark St. John: guitar
The Second Make-Up Years
Seventh (First) lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Ace Frehley: guitar, vocals
Peter Criss: drums, vocals
Albums: Psycho Circus (1998)
Eighth lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Tommy Thayer: guitar, vocals
Eric Singer: drums, vocals
Albums: Sonic Boom (2009), Monster (2012)
26. "Shandi" (#47) (Unmasked, 1980)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia
This is probably the cheesiest KISS song of all-time. Paul Stanley sings what could very well be the theme song to an early '80s sitcom about a stripper with a heart of gold who's just trying to make ends meet. Thanks to her prudish roommate, her randy seventy-something female landlord, and Pavel, the vaguely Eastern European DJ at The Cheeky Beaver, the hijinx just never stop for young Shandi. It's no coincidence that since this song was released, not a single parent has named his or her child Shandi.
25. "Hold Me, Touch Me (Think of Me When We're Apart)" (#46) (Paul Stanley, 1978)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley
This was the only charting song from Paul's 1978 "solo" album, and it's pretty bad. Maybe you didn't know Paul Stanley had a yacht rock phase. Now you do.
24. "A World Without Heroes" (#56) (Music From "The Elder," 1981)
Singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Bob Ezrin, Lou Reed
This album -- Music From "The Elder" -- is pretty much conspicuously forgotten about by most KISS fans. It was an ill-conceived concept album that performed so poorly that the band didn't even tour to support it. Even though Lou Reed is credited as a co-writer, "A World Without Heroes" is a slow, trippy song that belongs nowhere on a KISS record. No wonder Ace Frehley quit.
23. "Sure Know Something" (#47) (Dynasty, 1979)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia
Singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Gene Simmons
This is a pretty catchy song off of Gene's 1978 "solo" album. Not particularly hard-hitting, but at least it's not disco or yacht rock.
21. "Reason to Live" (#64) (Crazy Nights, 1987)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Desmond Child
Co-written by wunderkind songwriter Desmond Child, "Reason to Live" sounds like it was made in 1987, but it should be on a Heart album, not a KISS album. And that's not a knock on Heart -- I love Heart -- but if you listen to this song, it doesn't sound like a KISS song.
20. "Rise to It" (#81) (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Bob Halligan, Jr.
This is another decent '80s era hard rock song. Nothing special, but not aurally offensive.
19. "Hide Your Heart" (#66) (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Desmond Child, Holly Knight
Another Desmond Child collaboration -- not to mention Holly Knight, another great songwriter -- this one has a little more oomph to it. It sounds like a solid hair band song.
18. "Tears Are Falling" (#51) (Asylum, 1985)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley
This wasn't a bad song. It's a decent mid-'80s hard rock effort. It's just not as good as what's ahead of it on this list.
17. "Kissin' Time" (#83) (KISS, 1974)
Singers: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss
Songwriter(s): Kal Mann, Bernie Lowe
After the band's debut album kind of stalled on the charts and didn't have what the record company thought was a hit single, so the record execs essentially forced the band to record their cover of '50s teen idol Bobby Rydell's 1959 hit "Kissin' Time." They changed some of the lyrics to better fit with the band's image, and the song was then added to pressings of their debut album. It ended up being their first charting single. It's catchy, but it's just not really a KISS song, even if it has a variation of "kiss" in the title.
16. "Let's Put the X in Sex" (#97) (Smashes, Thrashes & Hits, 1988)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Desmond Child
This was one of two new songs included on the 1988 compilation Smashes, Thrashes & Hits. There is already an "x" in "sex," so the title has always confused me. Had it been "Let's Put the Ex in Sex," I'd get it -- like, "hey, just because we're broken up doesn't mean we can't shag."
15. "Rocket Ride" (#39) (Alive II, 1977)
Singer: Ace Frehley
Songwriter(s): Ace Frehley, Sean Delaney
Sexual innuendo smacks you in the face on this Ace contribution that was one of the five original songs on the otherwise live album Alive II. Peter played the drums on the track, but Ace played everything else and sung. I like the song, and I think it probably would have been better suited to have been on Love Gun (released four months before Alive II) than "Then She Kissed Me" had it been recorded a few months earlier.
14. "Heaven's On Fire" (#49) (Animalize, 1984)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Desmond Child
This was another Stanley-Child collaboration, and it's a pretty good mid-'80s rock song. It was definitely a better choice as an album single than, oh say, Gene's contribution called "Burn Bitch Burn." As an added bonus, the "Heaven's On Fire" video is the only one to feature guitarist Mark St. John.
13. "Crazy Crazy Nights" (#65) (Crazy Nights, 1987)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Adam Mitchell
This is Daughter's favorite KISS song, and it's actually a pretty catchy rock song. I think this holds up better than a lot of the band's hits in the '80s (as you can see from this list).
12. "Flaming Youth" (#74) (Destroyer, 1976)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Bob Ezrin
"Flaming Youth" was a one of three charting songs off of Destroyer. As with "King of the Night Time World" and "Shout It Out Loud" (also both on Destroyer), I think KISS did a good job here of capturing the trials and tribulations of teenagers in 1970s America.
11. "I Was Made For Lovin' You" (#11) (Dynasty, 1979)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia, Desmond Child
I couldn't, in good conscience, include a disco song in the top ten of this list. This was Child's first collaboration with the group, and you can't argue with success. But it's still disco rock.
10. "New York Groove" (#13) (Ace Frehley, 1978)
Singer: Ace Frehley
Songwriter(s): Russ Ballard
This was far and away the most successful song off of the group's four "solo" albums in 1978, and with good reason, as you heard the other two offerings above. Ace Frehley took a song by UK glam band Hello and made it his own. He was, after all, from New York City. Whenever I'm in New York, this song is in my head pretty much the entire time. I've always thought this would be a great song for a movie about a serial killer from New York. Like he winks at the camera at the end of the movie as this song starts playing, as he walks down a busy NYC street to talk to a woman who has no idea she's about to fall prey to a serial sexual sadist. If that doesn't make a hell of a rom com, I don't know what does.
9. "Forever" (#8) (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Michael Bolton
Yes, KISS's biggest hit since 1976 was co-written by Michael Bolton -- and not the Michael Bolton who worked at Initech. This is a great hair band power ballad, and it was a good example of the band showing that they could keep up with all the bands that they influenced.
8. "Hard Luck Woman" (#15) (Rock and Roll Over, 1976)
Singer: Peter Criss
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley
"Hard Luck Woman" is a great acoustic pop song sung by Peter Criss and his soulful and slightly gravely voice. It was "unplugged" more than a decade before Unplugged. All in all, it's a catchy song the crosses genres. It was also covered by another of my favorite bands, The Hold Steady, who put it on their 2014 covers EP, Rags -- a title inspired by the chorus of the song.
7. "Love Gun" (#61) (Love Gun, 1977)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley
The title track off of one of the band's best studio albums has been a live staple for the band for 40+ years. It's a fast-paced hard rock song that hits you with those machine-gun drums and guitars right off the bat, and then Paul sings about some strange device called a "love gun," which is kind of an oxymoron. Maybe it's like a modern-day Cupid's arrow -- like a ray gun that makes otherwise uninterested women fall in love with men who wear kabuki-style makeup and seven-inch, knee-high boots.
6. "Lick It Up" (#66) (Lick It Up, 1983)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Vinnie Vincent
Vinnie Vincent's stay in the band was short-lived, but I think he did a lot for the longevity of the band, breathing in some hard rock vibes that were more up with the times.
5. "Christine Sixteen" (#25) (Love Gun, 1977)
Singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Gene Simmons
Last week during my discussion of "All The Way," I discussed another song off of Hotter Than Hell, "Goin' Blind" -- a song sung from the point of view of a 93-year-old man to the object of his lust, who is a 16-year-old girl. It was written by Gene Simmons. Not wanting to let a good theme go to waste, several years later, he wrote "Christine Sixteen," which I suppose is slightly less creepy because we don't know whether the narrator in the song is a nonagenarian. The little spoken-word part a little more than a minute into the song is a sexually predatory monologue that only a man who vomits blood on stage could get away with. Seriously, he says, "I don't usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw you coming out of school that day. That day, I knew -- I knew -- I've got to have you. I've got to have you." So, for good reason, it was banned by some radio stations and limited to being played after 7 p.m. by others, but that didn't stop it from being a hit. Glammy piano, catchy riffs, and lines that rhyme with "Christine" like "she's been around, but she's not that clean" can apparently overcome potential statutory rape, depending on which state you're in. Anyway, it is a KISS classic and a solid rock song.
4. "Beth" (#7) (Destroyer, 1976)
Singer: Peter Criss
Songwriter(s): Peter Criss, Stan Penridge, Bob Ezrin
If you ever -- and I mean ever -- meet someone named Beth, it is imperative that you sing this to her. I've never met a Beth who didn't like that. But seriously, this is KISS's highest-charting song. It's a ballad (not a power ballad, however, as there is no power -- there aren't even guitars) about a guy in a band who is calling his wife (Beth) to let her know that he's gonna be rehearsing for a few more hours. He's torn, but he knows he has to stay with the guys until they get the song right. Sung beautifully by co-writer Peter Criss, the song is undoubtedly a departure for the band. Even so, I think it stands the test of time, and it's subject matter is timeless for any guy in a relationship -- the pull between your lady and your friends and/or your job. This one also has a special place in my heart because it's featured in a poignant scene in the very underrated '90s film Beautiful Girls.
3. "Calling Dr. Love" (#16) (Rock and Roll Over, 1976)
Singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Gene Simmons
Eight months after the band released Destroyer, they put out Rock and Roll Over -- a formidable follow-up that turned out to be the only KISS album with two Top 20 songs. We already discussed "Hard Luck Woman" above, and the other one is a true KISS classic: "Calling Dr. Love." Gene hit the ball out of the rock park with this one. It's a gritty rock song with a chorus that lends itself to singing along with 20,000 of your closest friends. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I did not know about this song when I was in high school where, I kid you not, one of the deans had a PhD in Education, and his last name was Love. Why this wasn't played on repeat whenever he was paged is a failing by all of us. All of us.
2. "Shout It Out Loud" (#31/#54 (live)) (Destroyer, 1976/Alive II, 1977)
Singers: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Bob Ezrin
As I mentioned above, "Shout It Out Loud" is one of two KISS songs that charted both as studio track and a live track. It's a fist pumper -- for me, anyway -- that basically became an instant KISS classic. It captures what makes KISS so great to so many people. It's simple, it's fun, it's rock and roll. It makes you want want to sing along, or shout it out loud, if you will. It's a nearly perfect rock and roll song.
1. "Rock and Roll All Nite" (#68/#12 (live)) (Dressed to Kill, 1975/Alive!, 1975)
One of the allures of KISS is that, even for all of their success and longevity, they are still a band for the outsiders. You don't hear KISS on classic rock radio, except maybe every now and then. And, for the most part, you didn't hear them on Top 40 radio -- back when there was such a thing, where you could actually hear popular songs in a variety of genres all on the same station. They didn't have a ton of chart success, considering they've been selling out arenas for 40+ years.
Their anonymity made them seem like untouchable gods in the '70s. They rocked hard, and then succumbed to outside pressure and made some interesting choices in the late '70s and early '80s, before they took off their makeup in 1983 and exposed their hideous skin to the world just in time for the MTV era. In doing so, they embraced the hair band sound of the day, and some of the results were better than others. Then they attempted to turn grunge, post-grunge, and then the original lineup reunited and put the makeup back on for a huge tour and a pretty decent hard rock album. They've kept the makeup on since (though not with the original lineup), and been rocking and rolling.
KISS has gone through some personnel changes over the years. Here's a breakdown:
The Original Make-Up Years
First lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Ace Frehley: guitar, vocals
Peter Criss: drums, vocals
Albums: KISS (1974), Hotter Than Hell (1975), Dressed to Kill (1975), Destroyer (1976), Rock and Roll Over (1976), Love Gun (1977), Dynasty (1979) (although Anton Fig played drums on most of the studio tracks), Unmasked (1980) (Peter Criss was credited, but Anton Fig played the drums on all of the tracks)
Second lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Ace Frehley: guitar, vocals
Eric Carr: drums
Albums: Music From "The Elder" (1981), Creatures of the Night (1982) (Ace Frehley was credited, but Vinnie Vincent played guitar on most of the tracks)
Ironically, the band released an album called Unmasked in 1980, two years before they literally unmasked.
Third lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Vinnie Vincent: guitar
Eric Carr: drums
Albums: Lick It Up (1983)
Fourth lineup
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Mark St. John: guitar
Eric Carr: drums
Albums: Animalize (1984)
Fifth lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Bruce Kulick: guitar
Eric Carr: drums, vocals
Albums: Asylum (1985), Crazy Nights (1987), Hot in the Shade (1989)
Sixth lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Bruce Kulick: guitar
Eric Singer: drums
Albums: Revenge (1992) (Eric Carr played drums on one track), Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (1997)
Seventh (First) lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Ace Frehley: guitar, vocals
Peter Criss: drums, vocals
Albums: Psycho Circus (1998)
Eighth lineup
Gene Simmons: bass, vocals
Paul Stanley: guitar, vocals
Tommy Thayer: guitar, vocals
Eric Singer: drums, vocals
Albums: Sonic Boom (2009), Monster (2012)
The band has had 26 songs that have charted on the Billboard Hot 100 -- although two songs charted both as studio version and live versions ("Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Shout It Out Loud"), so I included both the studio and live versions as the same song for purposes of the list. I also included the charting songs from the "solo" albums each band member released in 1978.
Now, I'm not going to sit here and blow smoke up your ass and pretend that every KISS song that charted was gold. For the list, I ranked the songs using the following factors: (1) untimeliness (i.e., how the song has stood the test of time); (2) their classicism in the KISS pantheon (i.e., how the songs are viewed by KISS fans); (3) popularity; (4) loveability; and (5) my own personal preference.
With that, here's my ranking of the KISS songs that charted:
26. "Shandi" (#47) (Unmasked, 1980)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia
This is probably the cheesiest KISS song of all-time. Paul Stanley sings what could very well be the theme song to an early '80s sitcom about a stripper with a heart of gold who's just trying to make ends meet. Thanks to her prudish roommate, her randy seventy-something female landlord, and Pavel, the vaguely Eastern European DJ at The Cheeky Beaver, the hijinx just never stop for young Shandi. It's no coincidence that since this song was released, not a single parent has named his or her child Shandi.
25. "Hold Me, Touch Me (Think of Me When We're Apart)" (#46) (Paul Stanley, 1978)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley
This was the only charting song from Paul's 1978 "solo" album, and it's pretty bad. Maybe you didn't know Paul Stanley had a yacht rock phase. Now you do.
24. "A World Without Heroes" (#56) (Music From "The Elder," 1981)
Singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Bob Ezrin, Lou Reed
This album -- Music From "The Elder" -- is pretty much conspicuously forgotten about by most KISS fans. It was an ill-conceived concept album that performed so poorly that the band didn't even tour to support it. Even though Lou Reed is credited as a co-writer, "A World Without Heroes" is a slow, trippy song that belongs nowhere on a KISS record. No wonder Ace Frehley quit.
23. "Sure Know Something" (#47) (Dynasty, 1979)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia
This is another cheesy song -- one of the disco-fied songs on Dynasty. To the extent there could be something called a disco power ballad, I guess this would be it. The verses are loungey, and the chorus is the only thing that saves the song.
22. "Radioactive" (#47) (Gene Simmons, 1978)Singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Gene Simmons
This is a pretty catchy song off of Gene's 1978 "solo" album. Not particularly hard-hitting, but at least it's not disco or yacht rock.
21. "Reason to Live" (#64) (Crazy Nights, 1987)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Desmond Child
Co-written by wunderkind songwriter Desmond Child, "Reason to Live" sounds like it was made in 1987, but it should be on a Heart album, not a KISS album. And that's not a knock on Heart -- I love Heart -- but if you listen to this song, it doesn't sound like a KISS song.
20. "Rise to It" (#81) (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Bob Halligan, Jr.
This is another decent '80s era hard rock song. Nothing special, but not aurally offensive.
19. "Hide Your Heart" (#66) (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Desmond Child, Holly Knight
Another Desmond Child collaboration -- not to mention Holly Knight, another great songwriter -- this one has a little more oomph to it. It sounds like a solid hair band song.
18. "Tears Are Falling" (#51) (Asylum, 1985)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley
This wasn't a bad song. It's a decent mid-'80s hard rock effort. It's just not as good as what's ahead of it on this list.
17. "Kissin' Time" (#83) (KISS, 1974)
Singers: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss
Songwriter(s): Kal Mann, Bernie Lowe
After the band's debut album kind of stalled on the charts and didn't have what the record company thought was a hit single, so the record execs essentially forced the band to record their cover of '50s teen idol Bobby Rydell's 1959 hit "Kissin' Time." They changed some of the lyrics to better fit with the band's image, and the song was then added to pressings of their debut album. It ended up being their first charting single. It's catchy, but it's just not really a KISS song, even if it has a variation of "kiss" in the title.
16. "Let's Put the X in Sex" (#97) (Smashes, Thrashes & Hits, 1988)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Desmond Child
This was one of two new songs included on the 1988 compilation Smashes, Thrashes & Hits. There is already an "x" in "sex," so the title has always confused me. Had it been "Let's Put the Ex in Sex," I'd get it -- like, "hey, just because we're broken up doesn't mean we can't shag."
15. "Rocket Ride" (#39) (Alive II, 1977)
Singer: Ace Frehley
Songwriter(s): Ace Frehley, Sean Delaney
Sexual innuendo smacks you in the face on this Ace contribution that was one of the five original songs on the otherwise live album Alive II. Peter played the drums on the track, but Ace played everything else and sung. I like the song, and I think it probably would have been better suited to have been on Love Gun (released four months before Alive II) than "Then She Kissed Me" had it been recorded a few months earlier.
14. "Heaven's On Fire" (#49) (Animalize, 1984)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Desmond Child
This was another Stanley-Child collaboration, and it's a pretty good mid-'80s rock song. It was definitely a better choice as an album single than, oh say, Gene's contribution called "Burn Bitch Burn." As an added bonus, the "Heaven's On Fire" video is the only one to feature guitarist Mark St. John.
13. "Crazy Crazy Nights" (#65) (Crazy Nights, 1987)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Adam Mitchell
This is Daughter's favorite KISS song, and it's actually a pretty catchy rock song. I think this holds up better than a lot of the band's hits in the '80s (as you can see from this list).
12. "Flaming Youth" (#74) (Destroyer, 1976)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Bob Ezrin
"Flaming Youth" was a one of three charting songs off of Destroyer. As with "King of the Night Time World" and "Shout It Out Loud" (also both on Destroyer), I think KISS did a good job here of capturing the trials and tribulations of teenagers in 1970s America.
11. "I Was Made For Lovin' You" (#11) (Dynasty, 1979)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia, Desmond Child
I couldn't, in good conscience, include a disco song in the top ten of this list. This was Child's first collaboration with the group, and you can't argue with success. But it's still disco rock.
10. "New York Groove" (#13) (Ace Frehley, 1978)
Singer: Ace Frehley
Songwriter(s): Russ Ballard
This was far and away the most successful song off of the group's four "solo" albums in 1978, and with good reason, as you heard the other two offerings above. Ace Frehley took a song by UK glam band Hello and made it his own. He was, after all, from New York City. Whenever I'm in New York, this song is in my head pretty much the entire time. I've always thought this would be a great song for a movie about a serial killer from New York. Like he winks at the camera at the end of the movie as this song starts playing, as he walks down a busy NYC street to talk to a woman who has no idea she's about to fall prey to a serial sexual sadist. If that doesn't make a hell of a rom com, I don't know what does.
9. "Forever" (#8) (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Michael Bolton
Yes, KISS's biggest hit since 1976 was co-written by Michael Bolton -- and not the Michael Bolton who worked at Initech. This is a great hair band power ballad, and it was a good example of the band showing that they could keep up with all the bands that they influenced.
8. "Hard Luck Woman" (#15) (Rock and Roll Over, 1976)
Singer: Peter Criss
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley
"Hard Luck Woman" is a great acoustic pop song sung by Peter Criss and his soulful and slightly gravely voice. It was "unplugged" more than a decade before Unplugged. All in all, it's a catchy song the crosses genres. It was also covered by another of my favorite bands, The Hold Steady, who put it on their 2014 covers EP, Rags -- a title inspired by the chorus of the song.
7. "Love Gun" (#61) (Love Gun, 1977)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley
The title track off of one of the band's best studio albums has been a live staple for the band for 40+ years. It's a fast-paced hard rock song that hits you with those machine-gun drums and guitars right off the bat, and then Paul sings about some strange device called a "love gun," which is kind of an oxymoron. Maybe it's like a modern-day Cupid's arrow -- like a ray gun that makes otherwise uninterested women fall in love with men who wear kabuki-style makeup and seven-inch, knee-high boots.
6. "Lick It Up" (#66) (Lick It Up, 1983)
Singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Vinnie Vincent
Vinnie Vincent's stay in the band was short-lived, but I think he did a lot for the longevity of the band, breathing in some hard rock vibes that were more up with the times.
5. "Christine Sixteen" (#25) (Love Gun, 1977)
Singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Gene Simmons
Last week during my discussion of "All The Way," I discussed another song off of Hotter Than Hell, "Goin' Blind" -- a song sung from the point of view of a 93-year-old man to the object of his lust, who is a 16-year-old girl. It was written by Gene Simmons. Not wanting to let a good theme go to waste, several years later, he wrote "Christine Sixteen," which I suppose is slightly less creepy because we don't know whether the narrator in the song is a nonagenarian. The little spoken-word part a little more than a minute into the song is a sexually predatory monologue that only a man who vomits blood on stage could get away with. Seriously, he says, "I don't usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw you coming out of school that day. That day, I knew -- I knew -- I've got to have you. I've got to have you." So, for good reason, it was banned by some radio stations and limited to being played after 7 p.m. by others, but that didn't stop it from being a hit. Glammy piano, catchy riffs, and lines that rhyme with "Christine" like "she's been around, but she's not that clean" can apparently overcome potential statutory rape, depending on which state you're in. Anyway, it is a KISS classic and a solid rock song.
4. "Beth" (#7) (Destroyer, 1976)
Singer: Peter Criss
Songwriter(s): Peter Criss, Stan Penridge, Bob Ezrin
If you ever -- and I mean ever -- meet someone named Beth, it is imperative that you sing this to her. I've never met a Beth who didn't like that. But seriously, this is KISS's highest-charting song. It's a ballad (not a power ballad, however, as there is no power -- there aren't even guitars) about a guy in a band who is calling his wife (Beth) to let her know that he's gonna be rehearsing for a few more hours. He's torn, but he knows he has to stay with the guys until they get the song right. Sung beautifully by co-writer Peter Criss, the song is undoubtedly a departure for the band. Even so, I think it stands the test of time, and it's subject matter is timeless for any guy in a relationship -- the pull between your lady and your friends and/or your job. This one also has a special place in my heart because it's featured in a poignant scene in the very underrated '90s film Beautiful Girls.
3. "Calling Dr. Love" (#16) (Rock and Roll Over, 1976)
Singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Gene Simmons
Eight months after the band released Destroyer, they put out Rock and Roll Over -- a formidable follow-up that turned out to be the only KISS album with two Top 20 songs. We already discussed "Hard Luck Woman" above, and the other one is a true KISS classic: "Calling Dr. Love." Gene hit the ball out of the rock park with this one. It's a gritty rock song with a chorus that lends itself to singing along with 20,000 of your closest friends. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I did not know about this song when I was in high school where, I kid you not, one of the deans had a PhD in Education, and his last name was Love. Why this wasn't played on repeat whenever he was paged is a failing by all of us. All of us.
2. "Shout It Out Loud" (#31/#54 (live)) (Destroyer, 1976/Alive II, 1977)
Singers: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Bob Ezrin
As I mentioned above, "Shout It Out Loud" is one of two KISS songs that charted both as studio track and a live track. It's a fist pumper -- for me, anyway -- that basically became an instant KISS classic. It captures what makes KISS so great to so many people. It's simple, it's fun, it's rock and roll. It makes you want want to sing along, or shout it out loud, if you will. It's a nearly perfect rock and roll song.
1. "Rock and Roll All Nite" (#68/#12 (live)) (Dressed to Kill, 1975/Alive!, 1975)
Singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter(s): Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley
Simply put, this is one of the most iconic rock and roll songs off all-time. Truer words have never been spoken than "I wanna rock and roll all night / And party every day." Presumably, this will be the last song of the encore when I see them on Saturday. I might get emotional.
Songwriter(s): Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley
Simply put, this is one of the most iconic rock and roll songs off all-time. Truer words have never been spoken than "I wanna rock and roll all night / And party every day." Presumably, this will be the last song of the encore when I see them on Saturday. I might get emotional.
Friday, February 22, 2019
Hair Band Friday - 2/22/19
1. "Never Change Heart" by Great White
2. "Stagefright" by Def Leppard
3. "Keep Your Eye On the Money" (demo) by Mötley Crüe
4. "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" by Mr. Big
5. "Closer to My Heart" by Ratt
6. "Give Me All Your Love" by Whitesnake
7. "I Want Action" by Poison
8. "Rock & Roll" (live) by Various Artists (Moscow Music Peace Festival)
9. "For a Million Years" by Lynch Mob
10. "Mystery" by Dio
2. "Stagefright" by Def Leppard
3. "Keep Your Eye On the Money" (demo) by Mötley Crüe
4. "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" by Mr. Big
5. "Closer to My Heart" by Ratt
6. "Give Me All Your Love" by Whitesnake
7. "I Want Action" by Poison
8. "Rock & Roll" (live) by Various Artists (Moscow Music Peace Festival)
9. "For a Million Years" by Lynch Mob
10. "Mystery" by Dio
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Remembering That Time I Dressed Up as Ace Frehley
While I'm continuing my tributes to KISS leading up to their show in Chicago a week from Saturday, a KISS-related Throwback Thursday seems appropriate. And I have no better KISS-related adventure than when I turned 29 in Bloomington over Halloween weekend, dressed as Ace Frehley and accompanied by two others who were dressed as Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. From the very little Ace Frehley remembers about the evening, it was probably the greatest Halloween ever. Click on the link and enjoy a story that could have only happened before I had kids.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Retro Video of the Week: "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals
Thirty years ago today, British pop/rock trio Fine Young Cannibals released their second (and final) studio album, The Raw & The Cooked, in the US. It was an international success, hitting #1 on the album charts in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Austria, and charting in the top 5 in Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland (though only getting up to #19 in Norway).
A little over three years after the band recorded their self-titled debut, they released The Raw & The Cooked. They were massive for a year or so, and then they were gone just as quickly as they had appeared. The group had some success in their native UK prior to The Raw & The Cooked, with UK Top 10s in 1985 with "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of Elvis's "Suspicious Minds" -- both of which reached #8 -- and then in 1987 with their cover of The Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love," which hit #9. However, they hadn't really broken through on the other side of the pond.
And then "She Drives Me Crazy" was released in late December 1988, as the first single off of the soon-to-be-released The Raw & The Cooked, and it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1989. They followed that up with "Good Thing" (on which Jool Holland plays piano), which hit #1 in July 1989. The third, fourth, and fifth singles off the album also charted: "Don't Look Back" (#11), "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" (#54), and "I'm Not Satisfied" (#90). And then they were gone.
"She Drives Me Crazy" is their most famous song, so that's what I'm choosing for this week's Retro Video of the Week. It's a great pop rock song that is nearly impossible to dislike. Is it weird that I've always thought lead singer Roland Gift kind of resembles a bird?
A little over three years after the band recorded their self-titled debut, they released The Raw & The Cooked. They were massive for a year or so, and then they were gone just as quickly as they had appeared. The group had some success in their native UK prior to The Raw & The Cooked, with UK Top 10s in 1985 with "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of Elvis's "Suspicious Minds" -- both of which reached #8 -- and then in 1987 with their cover of The Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love," which hit #9. However, they hadn't really broken through on the other side of the pond.
And then "She Drives Me Crazy" was released in late December 1988, as the first single off of the soon-to-be-released The Raw & The Cooked, and it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1989. They followed that up with "Good Thing" (on which Jool Holland plays piano), which hit #1 in July 1989. The third, fourth, and fifth singles off the album also charted: "Don't Look Back" (#11), "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" (#54), and "I'm Not Satisfied" (#90). And then they were gone.
"She Drives Me Crazy" is their most famous song, so that's what I'm choosing for this week's Retro Video of the Week. It's a great pop rock song that is nearly impossible to dislike. Is it weird that I've always thought lead singer Roland Gift kind of resembles a bird?
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Tuesday Top Ten: Non-Charting KISS Songs By '70s Studio Album
As I mentioned last Tuesday, between now and the end of the month, my Tuesday Top Tens will be devoted to KISS, in honor of their last tour and the fact that I will be seeing them in Chicago on March 2. Last week, I ranked KISS's "love" songs, so that you and your special someone could make proper use of "I Love It Loud" on Valentine's Day. This week, I'm looking at the band's non-charting songs from the '70s.
I'm not the kind of guy who looks at setlist.fm before a show to see what songs a band has played in prior shows. I like to be surprised. There are songs I'm sure KISS is going to play, and there are many that I am certain there is no chance in hell they will play. It's the latter thought that kind of prompted me to make this list (even if some of these songs might end up being played live).
Yesterday was the 45th anniversary of the release of KISS's self-titled debut album. In the '70s, KISS put out 11 studio albums, which includes the four "solo KISS" albums that each band member released on the same day in September 1978. Every one of those albums (other than the "solo" albums) featured the original four members of the band: Peter Criss on drums; Ace Frehley on lead guitar; Gene Simmons on bass; Paul Stanley on rhythm guitar; and all four of them on vocals at one time or another. By the end of the '70s, Criss was on the way out, and he only ended up playing on one song on the band's last album of the '70s, Dynasty. Frehley would follow suit a few albums later.
For many, including me, the "real KISS" is the classic lineup. That's not to say I have anything against Eric Carr, Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John, Bruce Kulick, Eric Singer, or Tommy Thayer, or the music the band made when they were members. I have a good bit of '80s KISS in my collection, although I don't have everything the band released in the '80s. On the other hand, I do have all of their '70s releases, which brings us to the list.
For this Tuesday Top Ten, I decided to go with my favorite non-charting song from each of the 11 studio albums the band put out in the '70s. For this list, "charting" means making an appearance on the Billboard Hot 100. Some of the songs on this list are considered classic KISS songs by fans, so this list isn't necessarily meant to be a "deep cut" list in that sense. The hope is that you -- as perhaps a casual KISS fan or maybe someone who has never heard anything other than "Rock and Roll All Nite" or "I Was Made For Lovin' You" -- will discover some of the band's more hidden gems.
For each song, I'm going to give you the lead singer and the songwriter(s), and for each album, I'll give you the songs, if any, on the album that hit the Billboard Hot 100.
1. "Cold Gin" (KISS, 1974)
Lead singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter: Ace Frehley
Songs on album that charted: "Kissin' Time" (#83)
The band's self-titled debut album is full of KISS classics. "Strutter," "Deuce," "Nothin' to Lose," "Firehouse," "Black Diamond," and the one and only "Cold Gin." It was a tough choice. "Cold Gin" is one of my favorite KISS songs. Ace wrote it, but he wasn't comfortable singing at that point, so he asked Gene (who doesn't drink) to sing the song.
As someone who likes a stiff drink now and then, I appreciate the song. The first lyric grabs you: "My heater's broke and I'm so tired / I need some fuel to build a fire." You're thinking, Broken heater AND being tired? That's a bummer because it's really hard to fall asleep when you're shivering, but it sounds like he's going to get some logs, kindling, and matches, so everything should work out. Then he tells you the girl next door's lights are out, and his landlord is gone, too. Nowhere to go -- except the liquor store, that is. Enter the chorus: "It's cold gin time again / You know it'll always win / It's cold gin time again / You know it's the only thing that keeps us together."
Let me be clear about one thing: I hate gin. My sophomore year in college, I had a gincident, after which I cannot even smell gin without gagging a little. A relationship built solely on gin (no matter the temperature) is doomed to fail. Nonetheless, I love this song.
2. "All The Way" (Hotter Than Hell, 1974)
Lead singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter: Gene Simmons
Songs on album that charted: None
Hotter Than Hell is the only KISS album in the '70s (not counting Peter's solo KISS album) that didn't have a song that charted on the Billboard Hot 100. However, several of the songs have become live staples and are fan favorites ("Got to Choose," "Parasite," the title track). One of the strangest songs on the album is "Goin' Blind," which, I kid you not, is a song sung from the point of view of a 93-year-old man who is attempting to woo a 16-year-old female ("I'm ninety-three, you're sixteeeeen" is an actual lyric).
"All The Way," on the other hand, kicks off the second side of the album, and is not about unrequited love with a 77-year age gap. It's a nice, catchy rock song that I have apparently been mishearing this whole time. I just looked at the lyrics of "All The Way" for the first time, and now the song makes a lot more sense than the lyrics I had always heard in my head. The chorus is "You just keep talkin' louder / Complain to your mother and father / One of these days you'll push me all the way," and not "You just keep talking about her / Whoa no, 'til you're gonna get louder / One of these days you'll push me all the way."
3. "She" (Dressed to Kill, 1975)
Lead singers: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley
Songwriters: Gene Simmons and Stephen Coronel
Songs on album that charted: "Rock and Roll All Nite" (#68)
Dressed to Kill featured the band's most iconic song, "Rock and Roll All Nite," although the studio version only hit #68 on the charts before the live version (off of Alive!) hit #12 less than a year later. This is another album that has a lot of great options. I really like "Room Service," "Rock Bottom," and several others, but I'm going with "She" because I love the riff, and it's a gritty rock song. The first line -- inspired by a line from the movie Hondo -- is great: "She walks by moonlight / No one really knows." Fun fact: Ace's guitar solo starting at about the 2:48 mark was inspired by another one of my favorite bands (Robby Krieger's solos on The Doors' "Five to One") and was the inspiration for Mike McCready's solo in Pearl Jam's "Alive."
4. "King of the Night Time World" (Destroyer, 1976)
Lead singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriters: Paul Stanley, Kim Fowley, Mark Anthony, Bob Ezrin
Songs on album that charted: "Beth" (#7), "Shout It Out Loud" (#31), "Flaming Youth" (#74)
Destroyer is kind of the pinnacle of KISS studio albums, from its iconic album cover to the many great songs that have become beloved among KISS fans. It was the first KISS album to go platinum, and it also happens to be the first KISS album I ever bought. The obvious choice here would be "Detroit Rock City," but I'm assuming more people know that than some of the other non-charting songs on the album, so I'm going with the second track on the album, "King of the Night Time World." I can only imagine how many suburban teenagers considered this song an anthem in the late '70s on weekends when they roamed to and from whatever their town's equivalents were of the Top Notch, moon tower, and Emporium.
5. "Ladies Room" (Rock and Roll Over, 1976)
Lead singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter: Gene Simmons
Songs on album that charted: "Hard Luck Woman" (#15), "Calling Dr. Love" (#16)
Rock and Roll Over is a solid album, and it's the only KISS album with two songs that reached the Top 20 on the Billboard charts. I had a couple choices, but I'm going with "Ladies Room" because it's a song that I think embodies Gene's persona more than most. Basically, it's an invitation to a somewhat coy woman to meet in the shitter, presumably for a quick raw dog.
6. "Shock Me" (Love Gun, 1977)
Lead singer: Ace Frehley
Songwriter: Ace Frehley
Songs on album that charted: "Christine Sixteen" (#25), "Love Gun" (#61)
Love Gun is a great album top to bottom (or at least top to the penultimate song, since the last song on the album is a seemingly out-of-place cover of "Then He Kissed Me"). For as many songs as Ace had written for the band, until the Love Gun album, he was too self-conscious to sing his own songs. That all changed with "Shock Me," which is the first song on which Ace sang lead vocals -- although he recorded his vocals lying on the floor because of his vocal insecurities. It's a somewhat tongue-in-cheek reference to a December 1976 concert in Florida where Ace was electrocuted during the band's first song when he touched an ungrounded metal railing. Luckily, he was only knocked to the ground, and the concert was only delayed for about 30 minutes. This is kind of Ace's theme song, and it's a great rocker.
7. "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes" (Peter Criss, 1978)
Lead singer: Peter Criss
Songwriters: Peter Criss and Stan Penridge
Songs on album that charted: None
Upon further reflection, it's quite possible that I like Peter Criss's voice the best out of the four original members. It has some grit to it, and perhaps it's not a coincidence that two of the band's biggest Billboard hits in the '70s ("Beth" and "Hard Luck Woman") were sung by Criss. His solo album is considered the weakest of the four solo efforts, and I don't disagree. The songs tend to be a little schmaltzy, and listening to them now, they are certainly dated. I'm going with "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes" because it's the best song title on the album, and it's not a bad song.
8. "Rip It Out" (Ace Frehley, 1978)
Lead singer: Ace Frehley
Songwriters: Ace Frehley, Larry Kelly, Sue Kelly
Songs on album that charted: "New York Groove" (#13)
Ace's solo album is the highest-selling of the four KISS solo albums, and it is widely regarded as the best of the four as well. This is probably my favorite KISS album, to the extent you can consider it a KISS album, since Ace is the only member of the band to play on it. Either way, it's a really good hard rock album and proved that Ace had come into his own in all three phases (singing, guitar playing, and songwriting). "Rip It Out" is the first track on the album, and it sets the hard-rocking tone for the entire album. The song is a fantastic hard rock song, with a driving beat and a message of scorned love to the narrator's former mate.
9. "Burning Up With Fever" (Gene Simmons, 1978)
Lead singer: Gene Simmons
Songwriter: Gene Simmons
Songs on album that charted: "Radioactive" (#47)
Gene's solo album was a star-studded affair, with the likes of Joe Perry, Bob Seger, Rick Nielsen, Helen Reddy, Janis Ian, Skunk Baxter, Donna Summer, and Cher (not to mention a young Katey Sagal, aka Peg Bundy) contributing to the album in one way or another. One of the more pathetic KISS moments is when Gene ends the album with "When You Wish Upon a Star." It's brutal. But most of the other songs on the album are pretty good. "Burning Up With Fever" is a solid rocker, with Baxter contributing guitar work and Summer contributing backing vocals.
10. "Wouldn't You Like to Know Me" (Paul Stanley, 1978)
Lead singer: Paul Stanley
Songwriter: Paul Stanley
Songs on album that charted: "Hold Me, Touch Me (Think of Me When We're Apart)" (#46)
Paul's solo album is probably the second-best of the bunch, behind Ace's. Like the Paul in the Beatles, this Paul also has a good pop sensibility, albeit with a more hard-rocking touch. "Wouldn't You Like to Know Me" is a power-pop gem that could have just as easily have fit on a Cheap Trick, Babys, or Nick Lowe album. I honestly don't know how this song wasn't chosen as a single from the album because it's catchy as hell.
11. "Hard Times" (Dynasty, 1979)
Lead singer: Ace Frehley
Songwriter: Ace Frehley
Songs on album that charted: "I Was Made For Lovin' You" (#11), "Sure Know Something" (#47)
On their last album of the '70s -- and their last album on which all four original members appeared -- the band (or at least some members) listened to outside forces. The result was disco KISS -- or would that be KISSco? "I Was Made For Lovin' You" was the big hit, which predictably alienated a lot of fans. Ace Frehley tried to counterbalance the disco rock with some hard rockers, and "Hard Times" was one of those songs. He may not be the best singer, but at least it wasn't disco. The Ace-sung cover of the Rolling Stones' "2,000 Man" is also good, but I wanted to stick with original songs.
I'm not the kind of guy who looks at setlist.fm before a show to see what songs a band has played in prior shows. I like to be surprised. There are songs I'm sure KISS is going to play, and there are many that I am certain there is no chance in hell they will play. It's the latter thought that kind of prompted me to make this list (even if some of these songs might end up being played live).
Yesterday was the 45th anniversary of the release of KISS's self-titled debut album. In the '70s, KISS put out 11 studio albums, which includes the four "solo KISS" albums that each band member released on the same day in September 1978. Every one of those albums (other than the "solo" albums) featured the original four members of the band: Peter Criss on drums; Ace Frehley on lead guitar; Gene Simmons on bass; Paul Stanley on rhythm guitar; and all four of them on vocals at one time or another. By the end of the '70s, Criss was on the way out, and he only ended up playing on one song on the band's last album of the '70s, Dynasty. Frehley would follow suit a few albums later.
For many, including me, the "real KISS" is the classic lineup. That's not to say I have anything against Eric Carr, Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John, Bruce Kulick, Eric Singer, or Tommy Thayer, or the music the band made when they were members. I have a good bit of '80s KISS in my collection, although I don't have everything the band released in the '80s. On the other hand, I do have all of their '70s releases, which brings us to the list.
For this Tuesday Top Ten, I decided to go with my favorite non-charting song from each of the 11 studio albums the band put out in the '70s. For this list, "charting" means making an appearance on the Billboard Hot 100. Some of the songs on this list are considered classic KISS songs by fans, so this list isn't necessarily meant to be a "deep cut" list in that sense. The hope is that you -- as perhaps a casual KISS fan or maybe someone who has never heard anything other than "Rock and Roll All Nite" or "I Was Made For Lovin' You" -- will discover some of the band's more hidden gems.
For each song, I'm going to give you the lead singer and the songwriter(s), and for each album, I'll give you the songs, if any, on the album that hit the Billboard Hot 100.
1. "Cold Gin" (KISS, 1974)
Songwriter: Ace Frehley
Songs on album that charted: "Kissin' Time" (#83)
The band's self-titled debut album is full of KISS classics. "Strutter," "Deuce," "Nothin' to Lose," "Firehouse," "Black Diamond," and the one and only "Cold Gin." It was a tough choice. "Cold Gin" is one of my favorite KISS songs. Ace wrote it, but he wasn't comfortable singing at that point, so he asked Gene (who doesn't drink) to sing the song.
As someone who likes a stiff drink now and then, I appreciate the song. The first lyric grabs you: "My heater's broke and I'm so tired / I need some fuel to build a fire." You're thinking, Broken heater AND being tired? That's a bummer because it's really hard to fall asleep when you're shivering, but it sounds like he's going to get some logs, kindling, and matches, so everything should work out. Then he tells you the girl next door's lights are out, and his landlord is gone, too. Nowhere to go -- except the liquor store, that is. Enter the chorus: "It's cold gin time again / You know it'll always win / It's cold gin time again / You know it's the only thing that keeps us together."
Let me be clear about one thing: I hate gin. My sophomore year in college, I had a gincident, after which I cannot even smell gin without gagging a little. A relationship built solely on gin (no matter the temperature) is doomed to fail. Nonetheless, I love this song.
2. "All The Way" (Hotter Than Hell, 1974)
Songwriter: Gene Simmons
Songs on album that charted: None
Hotter Than Hell is the only KISS album in the '70s (not counting Peter's solo KISS album) that didn't have a song that charted on the Billboard Hot 100. However, several of the songs have become live staples and are fan favorites ("Got to Choose," "Parasite," the title track). One of the strangest songs on the album is "Goin' Blind," which, I kid you not, is a song sung from the point of view of a 93-year-old man who is attempting to woo a 16-year-old female ("I'm ninety-three, you're sixteeeeen" is an actual lyric).
"All The Way," on the other hand, kicks off the second side of the album, and is not about unrequited love with a 77-year age gap. It's a nice, catchy rock song that I have apparently been mishearing this whole time. I just looked at the lyrics of "All The Way" for the first time, and now the song makes a lot more sense than the lyrics I had always heard in my head. The chorus is "You just keep talkin' louder / Complain to your mother and father / One of these days you'll push me all the way," and not "You just keep talking about her / Whoa no, 'til you're gonna get louder / One of these days you'll push me all the way."
3. "She" (Dressed to Kill, 1975)
Songwriters: Gene Simmons and Stephen Coronel
Songs on album that charted: "Rock and Roll All Nite" (#68)
Dressed to Kill featured the band's most iconic song, "Rock and Roll All Nite," although the studio version only hit #68 on the charts before the live version (off of Alive!) hit #12 less than a year later. This is another album that has a lot of great options. I really like "Room Service," "Rock Bottom," and several others, but I'm going with "She" because I love the riff, and it's a gritty rock song. The first line -- inspired by a line from the movie Hondo -- is great: "She walks by moonlight / No one really knows." Fun fact: Ace's guitar solo starting at about the 2:48 mark was inspired by another one of my favorite bands (Robby Krieger's solos on The Doors' "Five to One") and was the inspiration for Mike McCready's solo in Pearl Jam's "Alive."
4. "King of the Night Time World" (Destroyer, 1976)
Songwriters: Paul Stanley, Kim Fowley, Mark Anthony, Bob Ezrin
Songs on album that charted: "Beth" (#7), "Shout It Out Loud" (#31), "Flaming Youth" (#74)
Destroyer is kind of the pinnacle of KISS studio albums, from its iconic album cover to the many great songs that have become beloved among KISS fans. It was the first KISS album to go platinum, and it also happens to be the first KISS album I ever bought. The obvious choice here would be "Detroit Rock City," but I'm assuming more people know that than some of the other non-charting songs on the album, so I'm going with the second track on the album, "King of the Night Time World." I can only imagine how many suburban teenagers considered this song an anthem in the late '70s on weekends when they roamed to and from whatever their town's equivalents were of the Top Notch, moon tower, and Emporium.
5. "Ladies Room" (Rock and Roll Over, 1976)
Songwriter: Gene Simmons
Songs on album that charted: "Hard Luck Woman" (#15), "Calling Dr. Love" (#16)
Rock and Roll Over is a solid album, and it's the only KISS album with two songs that reached the Top 20 on the Billboard charts. I had a couple choices, but I'm going with "Ladies Room" because it's a song that I think embodies Gene's persona more than most. Basically, it's an invitation to a somewhat coy woman to meet in the shitter, presumably for a quick raw dog.
6. "Shock Me" (Love Gun, 1977)
Songwriter: Ace Frehley
Songs on album that charted: "Christine Sixteen" (#25), "Love Gun" (#61)
Love Gun is a great album top to bottom (or at least top to the penultimate song, since the last song on the album is a seemingly out-of-place cover of "Then He Kissed Me"). For as many songs as Ace had written for the band, until the Love Gun album, he was too self-conscious to sing his own songs. That all changed with "Shock Me," which is the first song on which Ace sang lead vocals -- although he recorded his vocals lying on the floor because of his vocal insecurities. It's a somewhat tongue-in-cheek reference to a December 1976 concert in Florida where Ace was electrocuted during the band's first song when he touched an ungrounded metal railing. Luckily, he was only knocked to the ground, and the concert was only delayed for about 30 minutes. This is kind of Ace's theme song, and it's a great rocker.
7. "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes" (Peter Criss, 1978)
Songwriters: Peter Criss and Stan Penridge
Songs on album that charted: None
Upon further reflection, it's quite possible that I like Peter Criss's voice the best out of the four original members. It has some grit to it, and perhaps it's not a coincidence that two of the band's biggest Billboard hits in the '70s ("Beth" and "Hard Luck Woman") were sung by Criss. His solo album is considered the weakest of the four solo efforts, and I don't disagree. The songs tend to be a little schmaltzy, and listening to them now, they are certainly dated. I'm going with "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes" because it's the best song title on the album, and it's not a bad song.
8. "Rip It Out" (Ace Frehley, 1978)
Songwriters: Ace Frehley, Larry Kelly, Sue Kelly
Songs on album that charted: "New York Groove" (#13)
Ace's solo album is the highest-selling of the four KISS solo albums, and it is widely regarded as the best of the four as well. This is probably my favorite KISS album, to the extent you can consider it a KISS album, since Ace is the only member of the band to play on it. Either way, it's a really good hard rock album and proved that Ace had come into his own in all three phases (singing, guitar playing, and songwriting). "Rip It Out" is the first track on the album, and it sets the hard-rocking tone for the entire album. The song is a fantastic hard rock song, with a driving beat and a message of scorned love to the narrator's former mate.
9. "Burning Up With Fever" (Gene Simmons, 1978)
Songwriter: Gene Simmons
Songs on album that charted: "Radioactive" (#47)
Gene's solo album was a star-studded affair, with the likes of Joe Perry, Bob Seger, Rick Nielsen, Helen Reddy, Janis Ian, Skunk Baxter, Donna Summer, and Cher (not to mention a young Katey Sagal, aka Peg Bundy) contributing to the album in one way or another. One of the more pathetic KISS moments is when Gene ends the album with "When You Wish Upon a Star." It's brutal. But most of the other songs on the album are pretty good. "Burning Up With Fever" is a solid rocker, with Baxter contributing guitar work and Summer contributing backing vocals.
10. "Wouldn't You Like to Know Me" (Paul Stanley, 1978)
Songwriter: Paul Stanley
Songs on album that charted: "Hold Me, Touch Me (Think of Me When We're Apart)" (#46)
Paul's solo album is probably the second-best of the bunch, behind Ace's. Like the Paul in the Beatles, this Paul also has a good pop sensibility, albeit with a more hard-rocking touch. "Wouldn't You Like to Know Me" is a power-pop gem that could have just as easily have fit on a Cheap Trick, Babys, or Nick Lowe album. I honestly don't know how this song wasn't chosen as a single from the album because it's catchy as hell.
11. "Hard Times" (Dynasty, 1979)
Songwriter: Ace Frehley
Songs on album that charted: "I Was Made For Lovin' You" (#11), "Sure Know Something" (#47)
On their last album of the '70s -- and their last album on which all four original members appeared -- the band (or at least some members) listened to outside forces. The result was disco KISS -- or would that be KISSco? "I Was Made For Lovin' You" was the big hit, which predictably alienated a lot of fans. Ace Frehley tried to counterbalance the disco rock with some hard rockers, and "Hard Times" was one of those songs. He may not be the best singer, but at least it wasn't disco. The Ace-sung cover of the Rolling Stones' "2,000 Man" is also good, but I wanted to stick with original songs.
Friday, February 15, 2019
Hair Band Friday - 2/15/19
1. "Sucker in a 3 Piece" by Van Halen
2. "Tonight" by Mötley Crüe
3. "Little Dolls" by Ozzy Osbourne
4. "One Way Ticket" by L.A. Guns
5. "Smoke Signals" by Extreme
6. "Tell the World" by Ratt
7. "Love of a Lifetime" by FireHouse
8. "Ride the Whip" by Trixter
9. "So Fine" by Guns N' Roses
10. "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Dangerous Toys
2. "Tonight" by Mötley Crüe
3. "Little Dolls" by Ozzy Osbourne
4. "One Way Ticket" by L.A. Guns
5. "Smoke Signals" by Extreme
6. "Tell the World" by Ratt
7. "Love of a Lifetime" by FireHouse
8. "Ride the Whip" by Trixter
9. "So Fine" by Guns N' Roses
10. "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Dangerous Toys
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Retro Video of the Week: "Hey Mr. D.J." by Zhané
Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the release of R&B duo Zhané's debut album, Pronounced Jah-Nay. The name of the group is a portmanteau of the French pronunciations of the two women in the group, Jean and Renée. I love a good word combination.
You may have forgotten about Zhané. I know I did, until I came across their name today, and it sparked my memory. "Oh yeah, the bald chicks!" is what I yelled out to my very confused four-year-old son. Turns out, they had a few hits on their debut album, much of which was co-written by Naughty by Nature. "Hey Mr. D.J." was their biggest hit, going to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, "Groove Thang" went to #17, and "Sending My Love," which hit #40. I'm going with "Hey Mr. D.J." because it's the song I most associate with the group, and it's a damn catchy '90s R&B tune. Plus Ashley sang it once on the Fresh Prince, and Tatiana Ali could do no wrong.
You may have forgotten about Zhané. I know I did, until I came across their name today, and it sparked my memory. "Oh yeah, the bald chicks!" is what I yelled out to my very confused four-year-old son. Turns out, they had a few hits on their debut album, much of which was co-written by Naughty by Nature. "Hey Mr. D.J." was their biggest hit, going to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, "Groove Thang" went to #17, and "Sending My Love," which hit #40. I'm going with "Hey Mr. D.J." because it's the song I most associate with the group, and it's a damn catchy '90s R&B tune. Plus Ashley sang it once on the Fresh Prince, and Tatiana Ali could do no wrong.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Tuesday Top Ten: Ranking KISS's "Love" Songs
A couple weeks ago, KISS embarked on the One Last KISS: End of the Road World Tour -- which they are claiming is going to be their last tour ever. It started in Vancouver on January 31, and is scheduled to end in Auckland, New Zealand on December 3.
We all know how much Gene Simmons loves adulation, money, and marketing the band, so whether this will truly be KISS's last tour remains to be seen. But that doesn't mean we can't celebrate one of the true iconic bands of rock and roll history.
Of course, I'm going to see them when they come to Chicago in early March, and I'm taking all three of my kids because, well, this may be their first and only chance to see KISS live in concert, which is something everyone should do at least once in his or her life.
Over the next three Tuesdays, each Tuesday Top Ten will be devoted to KISS. Since Valentine's Day is this Thursday, I decided to go with "love" songs by KISS for this week's Tuesday Top Ten. There are 20 songs by KISS that have the word "love" or some variation of "love" in the title. Here is how I rank them, along with the album on which they appeared, the year they were released, and a one- or two-sentence blurb about each song. (For purposes of this list, I'm not including songs on the four "solo" KISS albums released in 1978.)
20. "You Love Me to Hate You" (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
You can tell this is a "Paul" song, mostly because he is singing. But also because it's a little more pop-oriented than a Gene song. It's not bad.
19. "Radar For Love" (Asylum, 1985)
As KISS trended toward the hair band sound in the mid to late '80s, some of the results were good, and some not so much. This isn't a terrible song, but it's not one of their best efforts.
18. "Prisoner of Love" (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
This is actually a pretty decent late '80s rock song.
17. "All For the Love of Rock & Roll" (Monster, 2012)
This song has the sound of '70s KISS, and it features drummer Eric Singer on lead vocals. The chorus leaves a little to be desired, but overall, the song is pretty good.
16. "Love's a Slap in the Face" (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
Yes, this is KISS bowing to the pressure of the era and putting out a disco-fied song, but it's still a good song.
8. "Save Your Love" (Dynasty, 1979)
A solid rock song by Ace Frehley on an album that otherwise pandered to the disco era.
The first track on Love Gun, this is a fast-paced song about stealing something intangible.
3. "I Love It Loud" (Creatures of the Night, 1982)
This is a rock anthem that showed KISS hadn't lost its power in the early '80s.
We all know how much Gene Simmons loves adulation, money, and marketing the band, so whether this will truly be KISS's last tour remains to be seen. But that doesn't mean we can't celebrate one of the true iconic bands of rock and roll history.
Of course, I'm going to see them when they come to Chicago in early March, and I'm taking all three of my kids because, well, this may be their first and only chance to see KISS live in concert, which is something everyone should do at least once in his or her life.
Over the next three Tuesdays, each Tuesday Top Ten will be devoted to KISS. Since Valentine's Day is this Thursday, I decided to go with "love" songs by KISS for this week's Tuesday Top Ten. There are 20 songs by KISS that have the word "love" or some variation of "love" in the title. Here is how I rank them, along with the album on which they appeared, the year they were released, and a one- or two-sentence blurb about each song. (For purposes of this list, I'm not including songs on the four "solo" KISS albums released in 1978.)
20. "You Love Me to Hate You" (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
You can tell this is a "Paul" song, mostly because he is singing. But also because it's a little more pop-oriented than a Gene song. It's not bad.
19. "Radar For Love" (Asylum, 1985)
As KISS trended toward the hair band sound in the mid to late '80s, some of the results were good, and some not so much. This isn't a terrible song, but it's not one of their best efforts.
18. "Prisoner of Love" (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
This is actually a pretty decent late '80s rock song.
17. "All For the Love of Rock & Roll" (Monster, 2012)
This song has the sound of '70s KISS, and it features drummer Eric Singer on lead vocals. The chorus leaves a little to be desired, but overall, the song is pretty good.
I could see this on a number of hair bands' albums, and I don't mean that negatively. It sounds very 1989 rock.
15. "Tough Love" (Revenge, 1992)
As the rock world moved into the grunge era, KISS's sound between 1989's Hot in the Shade and 1992's Revenge got a little heavier. This is a good example, as well as a nice, gritty rock song.
14. "Love Theme from KISS" (KISS, 1974)
An instrumental written by all four members of the band that appeared on their debut album.
13. "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" (Rock and Roll Over, 1976)
A Gene contribution that is good, but not great, but certainly sums up his attitude toward women for much of the '70s.
15. "Tough Love" (Revenge, 1992)
As the rock world moved into the grunge era, KISS's sound between 1989's Hot in the Shade and 1992's Revenge got a little heavier. This is a good example, as well as a nice, gritty rock song.
An instrumental written by all four members of the band that appeared on their debut album.
A Gene contribution that is good, but not great, but certainly sums up his attitude toward women for much of the '70s.
12. "I Still Love You" (Creatures of the Night, 1982)
A dark, brooding 6-minute song sung by Paul with passion.
11. "Got Love For Sale" (Love Gun, 1977)
A good song that gets lost on an album of better songs.
A dark, brooding 6-minute song sung by Paul with passion.
11. "Got Love For Sale" (Love Gun, 1977)
A good song that gets lost on an album of better songs.
10. "C'mon and Love Me" (Dressed to Kill, 1975)
9. "I Was Made For Lovin' You" (Dynasty, 1979)
A solid rock song with a few good lines, but it's not their best work. It's not their worst, either.
Yes, this is KISS bowing to the pressure of the era and putting out a disco-fied song, but it's still a good song.
8. "Save Your Love" (Dynasty, 1979)
A solid rock song by Ace Frehley on an album that otherwise pandered to the disco era.
7. "Makin' Love" (Rock and Roll Over, 1976)
6. "Love Her All I Can" (Dressed to Kill, 1975)
4. "I Stole Your Love" (Love Gun, 1977)
A great uptempo rock song that became a live staple for the band.
6. "Love Her All I Can" (Dressed to Kill, 1975)
An underrated gem on Dressed to Kill.
5. "Do You Love Me" (Destroyer, 1976)
I've always liked this song, which is about groupies. Only KISS can seriously sing a line like "You like my seven-inch leather heels / And going to all of the shows, but / Do you love me?" The bridge is solid as well.
The first track on Love Gun, this is a fast-paced song about stealing something intangible.
This is a rock anthem that showed KISS hadn't lost its power in the early '80s.
2. "Love Gun" (Love Gun, 1977)
The title track to one of the band's best albums.
1. "Calling Dr. Love" (Rock and Roll Over, 1976)
A classic KISS staple. It pains me that I wasn't familiar with this song when I was in high school because there was, in fact, an administrator at my school named Dr. Love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
