CHAPTER 14 - “KISS” (1974)

 

“KISS” Album Notes:

Produced by Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise. Tracks 14.01-14.09 recorded at Bell Sound Studios, New York City in November, 1973. Engineered and mixed by Warren Dewey at Bell Sound Studios. Recordings were 16 tracks.

 

14.01. Strutter

For details, refer to the “KISS March 1973 Demo” section. “Strutter” would become a 3:09 powerhouse on the debut album and is far more polished than the original demo version. The loss of nearly 2 minutes of the song, in the transition between demo and album cut, essentially resulted in the ending extended solo and a section of verse music being cut out of the song. This would make the song something of an edit from its original form, though punchier and more compact.

 

14.02. Nothin’ To Lose

“Nothin’ To Lose” is most notable for being the first KISS song to feature an “extra” player, in this case Bruce Foster on piano. Although later extras would usually not be credited, Bruce’s contribution would be noted on the sleeve of the album. Bruce had been in the band Jacobs Creek, and he was more noted as a session musician though he would later sign to Millennium-Casablanca Records and release a solo album in 1977. What is most amusing about the song is its subtle subject matter, which Gene has admitted is about anal sex. This subtlety, or lack thereof, puts the song right in the same class as Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” Perhaps, though, KISS didn’t get away with it as the song was barely played on the radio when released as the band’s debut single. According to Gene, the song “was written actually on a bass guitar way early when I was still living in Bayside, actually in Flushing, Queens” (KISS Konfidential Radio Tapes).

 

14.03. Firehouse

The third of the core trio of pre-KISS songs that would become staples in the KISS catalog and live set. It, along with “Deuce” and “Strutter,” would be the three songs performed while the band were still nominally Wicked Lester, then a trio comprised of Gene, Paul, and Peter, at the A&R session for Don Ellis in November 1972. Refer to “Paul Stanley pre-KISS” section for further details. Ace would nail the guitar solo for the song in one take.

 

14.04. Cold Gin

For details, refer to the “KISS March 1973 Demo” section. The album version would lose nearly a minute of its original arrangement with the removal of the second guitar solo and shortening of the outro section. Other than that the arrangement is tightened up. Another difference is Paul’s shout following the guitar solo/break section in which “whoa yeah!” replaces the original “Whoa! Alright! C’mon!.”

 

14.05. Let Me Know

The lyrical modifications that transformed this song from “Sunday Driver” into “Let Me Know” simply saw the addition of the ending lyrics “It doesn’t matter what you wanna do / It doesn’t matter where you wanna go / You just gotta decide girl and then you let me know, oooo, whoa-oh.” The lyrical structure of the song begs the question as to whether there was, at one time, and additional lyrics incorporating the missing days of the week - Thursday through Saturday! Maybe not! Refer to “Paul Stanley pre-KISS” section for further details.

 

14.06. Deuce

For details, refer to the “KISS March 1973 Demo” section. “Deuce” would barely change when recorded for the first album from the demo that had been recorded months earlier. Essentially, the song had been polished up both in terms of arrangement and execution. However, for the first album, a longer version was recorded, nearly matching the original outro solo of the demo that would be shortened for inclusion on the album by having the fade begin just after Gene’s final scream. This resulted in the song being shortened by some 15 seconds. The full recording of the song would be released 15 years later on “Smashes, Thrashes & Hits” as a remix version.

 

14.07. Love Theme From KISS

The instrumental “Love Theme From KISS” was regularly a part of the band’s live set during the club era. Originally part of a larger piece called “Acrobat,” the “Love Theme From KISS” was the first distinct section of the instrumental that was often used as a jam piece during gigs. During the recording of the KISS album, the piece was split, simply retaining the instrumental rather than the jam commonly referred to as “Much Too Young.”

 

Producers and band members had refused to comment on whether the full piece was recorded during the album sessions and when the split actually took place. Gene has recently confirmed that the full song was recorded during the first album sessions, but that the producers cut the second part of the instrumental and suggested the change in name of the piece. This possibly helps explain the rather long (25 seconds) fade out of the piece, which would have originally been part of the transition into the jam.

 

14.08. 100,000 Years

This Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley composition was an attempt to create a New York version of the classic English band style from the 1960s, from which they had both been influenced. According to Paul, it is “A warped song about an intergalactic space traveler. To analyze it too deeply leaves me scratching my head, but it’s about time travel. It’s about space travel and the amount of time one spends going from one galaxy or planet to another and then returns 100,000 years later” (Box Set liners). While the song may make as much sense lyrically as Gene’s “Deuce,” it has one of the toughest solos Ace ever created. Even the very technically gifted Bruce Kulick agrees on the difficult aspects of the solo, “I’ve always been impressed by that one because I feel it’s where Ace made the most of his limited vocabulary. It’s a syncopated part that’s tough to play on stage” (Guitar World, 9/93).

 

14.09. Black Diamond

For details, refer to the “KISS March 1973 Demo” section. The transition from the March 1973 version to the November 1973 recording for the debut album saw the introduction being developed with more pronounced acoustic guitar. The lead into the song, also changed from a cymbal to Peter counting off time with his sticks. The guitar solo is shortened, being replaced with another repetition of the verse, and while the song is nearly 1:30 longer than the demo, the final 1:45 of the song is the extended outro with a decreasing tempo fade. According to Paul, “The tag at the end of the song reminds me of early Neil Young or ‘Stairway To Heaven.’ It needed something extra, because we just didn’t think the song was over” (Guitar World, 8/92).

 

14.10. Kissin’ Time

This recording was not included on the original release of KISS’ debut album. “Kissin’ Time” was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in April 1974 with Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise again producing. It has long been known that part of Neil Bogart’s early music career was at Cameo/Parkway records, both as a recording artist and later as a vice-president. Bobby Rydell had originally recorded “Kissin’ Time,” a Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe composition, in 1959, on the same label with which Bogart would later be involved. The song was released both as a single, backed with “You’ll Never Tame Me,” and peaked at #11 on the singles charts, becoming the single that introduced the then 17-year-old Rydell to the world and becoming one of his signature pieces. The song also saw release on his debut album, “We Got Love” (Cameo C-1006, 1959). Unlike often rumored, this song was never originally titled “Twistin’ Time.”

 

KISS, along with Kenny Kerner, Richie Wise, and Neil Bogart, had to drastically rework the song from its original form that included such un-Rock ‘N Roll lyrics such as : “They’re smoochin’ all over, even in St. Lou,” “So treat me right, a-don’t-a make-a me fight,” and “They’re kissin’ in drive-ins, you too, Baltimore.” Pure bubble-gum and steeped in the time that it was originally recorded, it would have clashed too much with KISS’ leather-clad style. KISS’ rework of the song took some 20 minutes and was built around what was then the band’s stage introduction: “Put your two lips together and KISS.” That Neil Bogart had a promotional tie-in had very little to do with the song. Promotion and hype were king, and that is what Neil Bogart was extremely talented at. Paul, Gene, and Peter shared the lead-vocals on the verses.

 

On release the song didn’t reach anywhere near the success of the original song hitting only #83. To the annoyance of the band, who hadn’t liked the idea in the first place and were really just pressured into doing the song, the song was included on later pressings of the debut KISS album. The song fared somewhat better on the Cashbox charts, reaching #79 on June 22 after five weeks on the charts. The band performed the song live for a short period while the single and promotion were active, and then dropped it from the set.

 

14.11. Mistake

According to Ken Sharp’s interview (Goldmine Magazine, 11/20/98) with Gene this song was written by Gene for the debut album, but was not used. The song had a style similar to “Hard Luck Woman.” A demo for this song turns up on a tape that includes a session recorded at Larabee Studios in Los Angeles in January 1975 (Jeff Suhs).

 

14.12. From Where You Belong

14.13. Two Bits

14.14. Girl Who Makes People Smile

14.15. All It Takes

14.16. Dreamer

14.17. Got To Give Me More

14.18. She’ll Do It Again

Tracks 14.12-14.18 were written by Gene Simmons, probably earlier than 1974, but further details are currently not clear. It is not known whether either of these songs were demoed, or processed through Gene’s recycling machine, but it is clear that they had reached a basic structural stage lyrically.

 

Television Session Notes:

Tracks 14.19-14.22 would be KISS’ first nationally broadcast television appearance on Dick Clark’s “In Concert.” That performance gave the audience, and public in general, what could not translate from the limited radio play the band had received – a visual reference between the name and sound of the band. During rehearsals the band had not appeared in makeup and somewhat surprised the staff by coming on stage for the broadcast dressed in makeup and costumes. The band’s performance was recorded at Aquarius Theatre in Los Angeles on February 21, 1974. “Deuce” was not broadcast (Gooch, Suhs – KISS Alive Forever).

 

14.19. Deuce

14.20. Nothin’ To Lose

14.21. Firehouse

14.22. Black Diamond

Songs 14.20-14.22 would be broadcast on ABC television on March 29, 1974.

 

Television Session Notes:

Track 14.23 was recorded at KYW-TV studios in Philadelphia on April 29, 1974 (Gooch, Suhs – KISS Alive Forever) for the Mike Douglas Show. This show would include the notorious Gene run-in with Totie Fields. This television appearance would be released in late-2003 on the somewhat hard to find “KISS: The Lost Concert ‘76” DVD. An unofficial release, the DVD also includes part of a 1976 concert. For details, refer to the “Destroyer” section.

 

14.23. Firehouse

This would be the only song recorded for the television appearance and would be broadcast on May 21.