CHAPTER 23 - Double Platinum (1978)

“Double Platinum” Album Notes:

Casablanca PR indicated that the purpose of this compilation was to collect material from KISS albums that had all sold “Double Platinum.” This smacks of typical Neil Bogart hype! Produced by KISS and Sean Delaney; executive producer, Jimmy Ienner. According to Dale Sherman, in his book “Black Diamond,” twenty-two tracks would be sent to England for remixing for the album, though only 21 would be used.

23.01. Strutter ‘78

This song was allegedly re-recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City in early 1978. The song would be given something of a light disco treatment at the request of Neil Bogart. Interestingly, the re-recording of the song was not something that Ace or Sean Delaney (who was working on the “Double Platinum” project and would produce the track) thought was necessary. In addition, attempting to give the song more of a disco feel may be something of a KISS legend, since the single didn’t see release as a 12-inch format that was most common for the dance halls.

There were really few changes to the song other than it having an additional solo, making the song more similar to the 1973 demo with softer production than the original KISS album version. There have also been allegations that Sean drummed on the track in place of Peter Criss, though these have not been substantiated. According to Paul, “We once re-recorded a song, it was ‘Strutter.’ And I thought it sucked.... It was bullshit. There was no reason to do it, it was pointless because we had no new point of view and no reason to re-cut something that came out so good the first time” (Jeff Schaller, Late Night Magazine).

23.02. Do You Love Me?

Apart from the production equalization, nothing is changed on this song.

23.03. Hard Luck Woman

The drums on the introduction are removed to place more emphasis on the guitars. Instead of starting at 0:16 they kick in at 0:31 and the song is shortened, with the ending fade out starting at 2:55 instead of 3:04, not to mention the enhanced echo on some guitar components. Essentially the song loses some 15 seconds.

23.04. Calling Dr. Love

Apart from an alternative effect and the beginning of the song making it more demonic, “Calling Dr. Love” loses nearly half a minute of its duration, notably the drum break section following the second chorus on the original recording. At 1:45 this originally continued into a break into the second verse. Instead, on the remix, the song heads straight into the solo rather than repeating the chorus prior to the solo and then heads into another break before continuing the chorus with a completely different drum fill for the transition.

23.05. Let Me Go, Rock ‘N Roll

23.06. Love Gun

23.07. God Of Thunder

Apart from the production equalization, nothing is changed on these songs.

23.08. Firehouse

The most noticeable change on this version of the song is the increased tempo of the piece rather than the somewhat plodding original. With the tempo increase, the track length is maintained as the same as the original by adding an additional repetition of “Get the firehouse / Whoo-hoo, yeah!” at the end of the song. Instead of ending with the famed fire siren of the original the track fades out over a repetition of the introduction riff.

23.09. Hotter Than Hell

23.10. I Want You

Apart from the production equalization, nothing is changed on these songs.

23.11. Deuce

Like other songs on the album this recording features only minor differences to the original version. In the chorus that follows the guitar solo, the original line of “And baby, if you’re feeling good” is replaced with “Baby, if you’re feeling good.”

23.12. 100,000 Years

The original version of this recording timed in at 3:22. On “Double Platinum” the song would remain essentially faithful to the original, with only the production equalization bringing up the clarity of the guitars and cymbals. One minor difference is the change to “For a hundred thousand years” in the third verse rather than “in a” on the original recording. There is also a minor change in the drum pattern at the end of the guitar solo.

23.13. Detroit Rock City

“Detroit Rock City” is another song that seems vastly different than the original album version with whole break sections removed. These are different to those in the adjusted 1976 single version of the song, which only took out the radio introduction “scene.” Some other effects are added, while parts not present in the original mix from “Destroyer” are made audible. The removal of the crash and introduction reduces the song to 3:35 versus its original length of 5:13.

23.14. Rock Bottom (Intro)

This hatchet job is something of an oddity. The acoustic introduction from the beginning of “Rock Bottom” on the “Dressed To Kill” album is tacked on to the beginning of “She” on “Double Platinum.” However, the full introduction is not used, with only the last 52 seconds of the piece being pasted. The fade-in masks the odd starting point of the piece.

23.15. She

Even excluding the addition of the 52 seconds of the “Rock Bottom” (Intro) to the beginning of the song, the “Double Platinum” version of “She” is still some 25 seconds longer than the “Dressed To Kill” version. Instead of fading out over the third chorus and guitar work, the core riff and first two lines of the first verse are added on for the fade out.

23.16. Rock And Roll All Nite

23.17. Beth

23.18. Makin’ Love

Apart from the production equalization, nothing is changed on these songs.

23.19. C’mon And Love Me

This song loses some 5 seconds from the original version, with a slight tempo increase offset by a longer fade-out at the end of the song.

23.20. Cold Gin

Apart from the production equalization, nothing is changed on this song.

23.21. Black Diamond

Noticeable changes would be made to “Black Diamond,” in addition to the general remixing and sound equalization. The song starts off with a pure acoustic guitar introduction rather than beginning immediately with vocals as on the original version. This adds some 9 seconds to the beginning of the song before Paul yells “Hit it!” In the second verse Peter’s “no, no” is removed from the end of the “There’s nothin’ that you can do” lyric. The most noticeable change removes the extended outro section of the original version and replaces it with the acoustic/vocal section that starts the song. Following Paul singing the introduction, the fade out begins after Paul yells “Hit it!” As a result the song is reduced in length by nearly a minute.

23.22. Queen For A Day (Remix)

Sean Delaney has stated that 22 titles were remixed in 9 days for the “Double Platinum” album. Only 21 tracks were released on the album, including the intro to “Rock Bottom” tacked on to “She” and counted as one track on the album. According to Dale Sherman in his book “Black Diamond,” “a memorandum at the time of mixing of Double Platinum in 1978 which shows the list of the masters sent to England – including the masters for ‘Queen For A Day’” (Sharp, Ken), which had been recorded in 1976 without vocals but was intended for use as Ace’s vocal debut. It may have indicated that the song would be completed for the album, though it never did surface. There certainly would have been little point in remixing an unfinished track.

23.23. Strutter ‘78 (Radio Single Mix)

The difference between the single mix and album version of this recording is noticeable not only in the time lengths of the two versions. The single clocks in at 3:12, some 30 seconds shorter than the “Double Platinum” album version. More markedly, it features a strong echo on the beginning drum section rather than the rather staid sound on the album version. It also only has a single drum intro rather than the double version found on the album. The time differences between the two versions cannot simply be explained by compression, though that certainly does play a part. The first chorus is reduced from three repetitions of “Strutter” to two, saving a few seconds, yet in the middle of the guitar solo there is a call out of “Strutter,” unlike on the album version.

23.24. Rip And Destroy

Technically, this song is only the second full KISS recording done in 1978 (the other being the re-recording of “Strutter”). While the band had originally intended to record all new songs for the KISS NBC movie “KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park,” time limitations and other planned projects killed off the idea. Since some new material was needed for the script, Paul took 15 minutes in his trailer, on the movie set, to rewrite the lyrics to “Hotter Than Hell” (Sharp, Ken – Goldmine). The time spent on the song shows how quickly it was written.

With the condition that the band was in at the time, there was little choice but to take the easy road rather than trying to write a new song. One chorus, one verse, both would be repeated ad nauseum. The verse: “It’s time for everyone to listen good / We’ve taken all we can stand / You’ve got the power to rip down these walls / It’s in the palm of your hand.” The chorus: “Rip, rip, rip and destroy / You know the hour’s getting late / Rip, rip, rip and destroy / Break it down and seal your fate (whoa).” Never performed by the “Real KISS,” just the “Evil KISS.”

23.25. Beth (Acoustic)

The timeline for the recording of the acoustic version of “Beth” is not clear. The track would be used in “KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park.” Dick Wagner, who performed some guitar duties on the “Destroyer” album, has claimed to have performed on “Beth.” It would seem likely that he or some other session player recorded this acoustic version. Vocally, the performance seems more labored than the original studio version, indicating that it may have been recorded later or taken from a performance recording. The construction of the song could have taken a 1976 guitar track and coupled it with a “new” or performance vocal. Like Bob Ezrin’s piano playing on “Detroit Rock City,” it is possible that the guitars on the studio recording are lost in the mix with the orchestra.

23.26. Love Gun

23.27. Rock And Roll All Nite

23.28. Black Diamond

Tracks 23.26-23.28 are the three live performance pieces from “KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park.” These songs were part of the set filmed at Magic Mountain in Valencia, California on May 19, 1978, at a free concert staged especially to capture live footage of the band for the movie. This would be KISS’ last live show until June 1979. “Rip And Destroy” was not performed during the night show but had been done during the day.

23.29. Vampire Of Love

A companion piece to “Howling For Your Love,” perhaps, though certainly in the same vein, this song kept some of the imagery of Gene’s writing very much in line with his appreciation of the horror movies of the past. What better way for Gene to be inspired to write than by combining two of his favorite pastimes: sex and horror flicks! Whether or not this song was ever demoed is not clear, but it can easily be dated; the lyrics appeared on a solo album promo calendar in “KISStory.” The lyrics seem undeveloped: “Dark shadows of love slithering / Closer tonight / And I’m waiting for your love / Waiting by the moonlight / Surrender me your love / Before the sunlight.”

23.30. Heartthrob (Demo)

The 5:13 demo that circulates is more of a bass line and musical attitude workout with Gene singing and differs vastly from the lyrics he’d originally written: “Honey let me take you away / From all of this / Baby, let’s start this romance / With just one kiss / Maybe this could be something / We both can’t miss // The look in your eyes / Is my indication / Every beat of your heart / Is cause for celebration / I want to love you to / Every beat of your heart / I want to hold you / They’ll never tear us apart / I want to touch you / Won’t you let me start” (KISStory). On the recorded version, although there are a couple of segments that could be considered verses the majority of the piece revolves around, “Feel the sensation / Feel the vibration / Feel the pulsation / Of my heartthrob.” One must wonder whether Gene’s relationship with Cher had any impact on the original lyrics of the song resulting in a smitten “Demon.”

23.31. One Hump Or Two

The romantic side of Gene showing through! This lyrical idea, as noted in KISStory: “You look so good from your head to your feet / When you want lovin’ that’s just so sweet / Is it love so true, is it one hump or two.”

23.32. Doin’ The Do

Gene’s sexual philosophy is summarized in a lyrical concept: “You can’t fool me, you can’t fool you / I know you’re dyin’ for me to be doin’ the do to you / You say, “Honey please go slow, don’t go too fast” / I know you want my love to last / When you first looked at me / I saw right through you / I know you were dying for me / To be doin’ the do to you // Because when you do the do / It doesn’t really matter who you do it to / And when you think you’ve had it / And when you think you’re through / You’ll just be starting to do the do.” For more on Gene and his views on life, sex and groupies, one should really read his books, “KISS And Make-up” and “Sex, Money, KISS.” They’re well worth reading and are very entertaining.

23.33. Tease You Please You

A very basic lyrical idea, which seems at the beginning stages of creation: “You want me to tease you / You want me to please you / Tease you, please you // I know what you want / I know what you need / I know that you want / Me to plant my seed.” Hmmm, OK Gene.

23.34. Sacrifice

23.35. Love By Invitation

Further basic lyrical concepts from Gene: “I hold you in my power / It’s growing by the hour / Before the night is through / I’m gonna give you / More love than you can stand // But there’s just one price / I want your sacrifice.” Queue Austin Powers’ commentary, “Oh you sexy beast”!