CHAPTER 58 – Gene
Simmons extra-KISS
For the most part Gene’s
extra-KISS work has been limited to his role as the producer of projects where
he has contributed songs, either from his own catalog or as co-writes.
58.01. Virgin (Unreleased Album)
Gene Simmons’ first
extra-KISS musical activity resulted in failure when he agreed to produce the
debut album for the band Virgin in 1978/9. The band also happened to be managed
by Bill Aucoin. Unfortunately, while he and the band were in the studio Gene is
alleged to have found that the band were musically challenged and as a result
he pulled out of the project.
The five-piece band
included Dirk Etienne (vocals), Tom Moody (guitar), and Chuck Billings (drums),
and had some assistance from former KISS-producer Kenny Kerner. Kenny recalled,
“I used to look at the charts every week, and it dawned on me that every year
there’d be another teen phenomenon, but never a legitimate, self-contained teen
band that would record their own songs, play them in concerts, and play their
own instruments. I saw these guys rehearsing at Cherokee Studios, and they
looked incredible” (After Dark Magazine, 1979).
The suggestions, long used
as a reason the project fell apart, that Virgin were unable to play seems
unlikely since they had toured with Shaun Cassidy. Chuck also played drums on
some Gene Simmons demos at the time, one of which would be recorded by KISS for
the “Dynasty” album. At the same time Gene was producing Virgin, Paul was
working with
It is likely that the
Virgin album would have included the following tracks: “You Got Me By The
Heart,” “Tired Of Being Alone,” “I Love You Any Way,” “Get Out Of My Car,”
“Candy” (written by Kenny Kerner and Dirk Etienne), “All Over You,” and “Here
Comes My Baby” (a Cat Stevens cover). This is the sum total on material
copywritten by Rock Steady.
58.02. Git Down Guitar Groupie
It has long been rumored that Gene appeared on this
track, released on
Gene has commented that while he was in the studio
while
58.03. Easier Said Than Done
Written by Gene Simmons and
Mitch Weissman and originally intended for use on the KISS “Animalize” album,
this song was not used and was given to Keel to use on their Gene produced
album in 1984. The song was originally titled “Sooner Said Than Done.” Gene’s
involvement with Keel came about from his putting his name out offering
production services. Ron Keel noticed Gene’s name, when he was looking for a
producer for the second Keel album, and his record label got in touch for a
meeting. Ron would play Gene “The Right To Rock,” a vocal-less jam track the
band had recorded during the “Lay Down The Law” album sessions (the band’s
first album) the previous year. Singing the song live to Gene in a hotel, Gene
would be impressed enough to take command of the second Keel album which would
be released in January 1985.
58.04. So Many Girls, So Little Time
Written by Gene Simmons and
Howard Rice, the Keel version of the song would differ from Gene’s “Lick It Up”
demo. In the first verse “this ain’t no dream, I’m not Mr. Right / Baby, I
ain’t your shining knight” would become “Get a grip, she’s hot on my heels /
But you just can’t break this heart of steel.” Keel would also not use the “log
in your fireplace” lyric, instead singing “My coals in the fire, there’s no
excuse.” With the few lyrics of Gene’s original that the song retained it kept
more of the original attitude of Gene’s demo. By the time that Gene was
producing Keel he would offer them this and two other songs which would turn up
on the “Right To Rock” album in more polished form. With Gene’s assistance that
album would scrape into the top 100 reaching #99 in March 1985.
58.05. Get Down
Written by Gene Simmons and
Howard Rice this song was a finished version of a Gene demo that circulates as
“Keep Your Tail Between Your Legs.” The song, incidentally, is the only Keel
song that the band never performed live. Gene’s approach to working with Keel
resulted in his providing the band with three songs to record. He also had the
band redo three songs from their previous album, “Lay Down The Law,” which saw
“You’re The Victim (I’m The Crime)” be a re-titled recording of “Tonight You’re
Mine.”
58.06. Easier Said Than Done (Remix)
Originally issued as a
promotional single in early 1985 this remix version of the Gene Simmons
co-written track is 0:03 shorter than the album version. It would be included
as a bonus track on the 2000 CD reissue of the “Right To Rock” album.
36.07. It Takes A Man Like Me To Be A Woman Like Me
Used in a concert scene in
the 1985 movie “Never Too Young To Die.” Gene stared (if one could say that) as
a schizophrenic hermaphrodite named Velvet Von Ragner. This song was based on
an old Wayne (later Jayne) County song “It Takes A Man Like Me To Find A Woman
Like Me,” which had been performed by
58.08. The Beat Goes On (Smashed Gladys)
58.09. 17 Goin’ On Crazy (Smashed Gladys)
58.10. Never Take No (Smashed Gladys)
58.11. Give It All You Got (Smashed Gladys)
Entry 58.11 is Smashed
Gladys’ version of Gene’s “It’s Gonna Be Alright.” Only three of these demos
ended up being included on Smashed Gladys’ debut album released on Heavy Metal
America Records in 1985. It was the strength of this Gene produced demo that
helped the band get a deal. The bass player on these tracks is likely Ken Fox.
According to Kurt Schefter, who was in the Androids with Sally Cato (vocals)
and Bart Lewis (guitars) in 1977, “he left the group to go do this other
project because they were doing a record with Gene Simmons and it would be a
dream of his to work with Gene Simmons. You know he wasn’t going to give up the
opportunity” (Ragingmojos). Ken wouldn’t be a part of Smashed Gladys by the
time they recorded their debut album in 1985 with J.D. Malo handling bass
duties.
There is also some debate
concerning Gene’s involvement with the band and its demo, with some sources
indicating that Gene simply helped the band get a deal. 58.09 became the band’s
first single. The band also had former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley jam with them
at on of their concerts when the performed “Cold Gin” and “Rip It Out.” Anton
Fig and Richie Scarlet also participated.
58.12. Dream Away Heartache (Smashed Gladys)
Gene had some limited
involvement with this female fronted
58.13. Nasty Nasty (Black ‘N Blue)
Apart from being co-written
by Gene, this song features him briefly as part of the “spit” at beginning of
the song. See also Tommy Thayer pre-KISS and Peter Criss post-KISS sections.
Gene would later use parts of this song as “Domino” for the “Revenge” album.
58.14. I Want It All (I Want It Now)
58.15. Does She Or Doesn’t She
Two additional songs from
the “Nasty Nasty” album released in 1986 that were written by Jeff Warner,
Jamie St. James, and Gene Simmons, and Tommy Thayer, Jamie St. James, and
Simmons respectively. See also Tommy Thayer pre-KISS.
58.16. Heart Beats Harder
58.17. Predictable
Both 58.16 and 58.17 are
Gene Simmons co-written tracks that would be recorded as instrumentals by EZO
during pre-production for the 1987 album Gene produced with Val Garay. During
his involvement in the project Gene would get Adam Mitchell and Jamie St. James
involved in EZO’s song-writing. Oddly enough, Gene would end up with no
co-writes when the full EZO album was released.
58.18. Rock On
58.19. Sight For Sore Eyes
58.20. Live It Up
58.21. Stranger
Entries 58.18-58.21 were songs co-written by Gene
Simmons for Black ‘N Blue’s “In Heat” album released in 1988. “In Heat” was the
second Black ‘N Blue album Gene produced and their final studio album before
calling it quits. See also Tommy Thayer pre-KISS section.
58.22. Only You
The recording of “Only You”
that Doro would perform is different than the version which KISS had originally
recorded for the “Elder” album in 1981. Track length is
58.23. Mirage
Written by Gene Simmons and
recorded by Doro in 1990. Nice and fluffy, this song is one of Gene’s softer
moments: “I begin and end my nights with you / I’m under your spell / You bare
my flesh, you strip my soul / Maybe you can tell / I hear your voice, I see
your face / But I need you to keep me company.”
58.24. Jealous Woman (Demo, 1991)
Written by Gene Simmons and
Sleeze Beeze vocalist Andrew Elt, this demo, which was based on Gene’s riff
from “Daily Planet,” was not used by the Dutch band on their follow-up album to
the successful “Screwed, Blued, and Tattooed” (1989). There was a suggestion
that the song was too commercial. A
58.25. American Man
Produced, engineered and
mixed by Gilby Clarke. Recorded at Red Rum Studio,
Tuff had made a mark on the
58.26. Everybody Needs Somebody
Co-written by Jesse Damon
and Gene Simmons (BMI #6150917). This song was considered for use by KISS on
their “Psycho Circus” album, but not used. Instead Jesse recorded the song for
his 2002 album “The Hand That Rocks.” The song was originally written in the
era Gene Simmons was working with Jesse’s band Silent Rage, specifically for
“Revenge.” For more about Jesse’s writing with Gene refer to the “Revenge” and
“Carnival Of Souls” sections.
58.27. You’re My Reason For Living
Tracks 58.27 and 58.28 were
released only as a bonus CD with the lunch box version of the audio book for
“Sex Money KISS.” Gene included these two demos of songs which he didn’t
mention specific details about on the packaging. Both of these songs would be
included on the Japanese version of Gene’s 2004 solo album as bonus tracks.
“You’re My Reason For Living” was also released on a bonus CD with Gene
Simmons’ “Family Jewels” Collector’s Edition DVD in December 2006. Refer to the
“Revenge” section for further details.
58.28. Everybody Knows
This demo had been played
for audiences during Gene’s “Speaking In Tongues” lecture tour of
“Asshole” Album Notes:
Produced by Gene Simmons.
Also known as the Astrix-hole (A**hole) album.
58.29. Waiting for
the Morning Light
This track was once been known as “Laughing When You Want To Cry,” which
Gene co-wrote with the legendary Bob Dylan. According to Gene, “Bob came up
with the chords, most of them, and then I took it and wrote lyrics, melody, the
rest of it.... We understood each other right away. He picked up an acoustic
guitar, and we just tossed it back and forth, ‘How ‘bout this, how ‘bout that?’
And he started to strum, because he -- at least with me -- tended to talk and
strum guitar at the same time. And as soon as I heard the first three or four
chords, I went, ‘Wait, wait, what’s that? Do that again.’ So I went and started
to write a lyric around that” (Billboard.com).
The song would be recorded in Bag’s living room: “He basically took my
demo and arranged it. There’s nothing on there besides keyboards, keyboard bass
and sampled drums. There’s not a guitar lick on the whole thing. Those piano
melody lines were things that I came up with. It reminded me of a version of a
melody I heard while I was growing up, a song called ‘Black Orpheus’ and also,
‘Lara’s Theme’ from Doctor Zhivago and funnily enough the theme song from the
TV series, Lassie” (Gene Simmons PR).
58.30. Black
Tongue
A track based on an unused Frank Zappa riff and vocal which Gene wanted
Frank’s sons Dweezil and Ahmet to appear on. Gene would be the first licensee
for Frank material from Extraordinary Teamwork which was set up to manage the
licensing of Frank’s unreleased music. By the terms of the license Zappa will
have to be given a co-writing credit on the song. According to Gene, “it’s very
dark, very sort of King Crimson, ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’-kind of
sound, with 7/8 time” (Billboard.com). While Dweezil would play guitar on the
recording, both Gail and Ahmet would appear on backing vocals. Gene played bass
on the recording and wrote the lyrics while in the studio.
58.31. Dog
Written by Gene Simmons and Bag (who also arranged the piece), who just
happens to be signed to Simmons Records. Gene has commented, “‘Dog’ was mostly
written by Bag. It was recorded in bag’s living room. Bag played all of the
instruments. He’s also singing harmonies on the song. Bag also sings the Warren
Zevon sounding ‘Werewolves Of London’ vocal part. I wanted to make the song
longer and remembered the Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs song, ‘Little Red
Riding Hood.’ That’s where I came up with the howling part in the beginning. In
that song it struck me as the wolf talking to the little girl, it was very
sexual. So I did that spoken word interlude, ‘what a big tongue you got, the
better to eat you with, my dear.’ I was chuckling most of the way through”
(Gene Simmons PR).
58.32. Asshole
This is a song by the Norwegian band Shirley’s Temple, written by
guitarist/vocalist Frank Tostrup, which Gene purchased for use on his solo
album. The song was originally released as the title-track of the band’s
September 2002 EP on Capitol/EMI and would also become the title of Gene’s
album. The band were inspired by KISS and have recorded a cover of “God Of
Thunder” for a Norwegian KISS tribute due in 2004 while the rest of their
future seems undecided. Gene would make minor lyrical changes to the song
changing “But you got a personality / Just like a bucket of pee” in the first
verse to “But you’ve got a personality (yeah) / Just like a bucket full of
pee.” In the chorus “Dumb as a sheep... Asshole” would be changed to: “You look
like a sheep (ba-baah)... Asshole.” The second verse would be changed from “You’ve
really got no shame / You disrespect my name / Does lying make you feel
alright? / Then tell me, how do you sleep at night?” to “You know you’ve got no
shame / And you’ve got such a stupid name / And one day you’ll finally shut
your trap / ‘Cause you are the cream of the crap.” Additionally, a third verse
would be omitted completely: “Your humor value reeks / I’ll bet your
self-esteem is weak / One day you’ll get it in your life / ‘Cause you’re the
cream of the crop.” Shirley’s Temple provide the backing music for Gene’s
recording, so it is possible that he simply recorded his vocals over an
instrumental track and fiddled with the arrangement.
58.33. Carnival Of
Souls
Originally written by Scott Van Zen and Gene, this song dated from the
post-Revenge era, and may have been an offshoot of an earlier demo, “Island Of
Lost Souls.” Gene would play a demo of this song during his “Speaking In
Tongues” tour of Australia and re-record for the album. According to Gene, “I
ripped off the heavy instrumental part from the band, Love and their song, ‘7
& 7.’ The melody is reminiscent. ‘Carnival Of Souls’ is a commentary on
this crazy world that we live in. The chorus is sung by myself, my son, Nick,
his friend Chris Parrish and his father, Steve. That song was recorded by
myself on bass, Ritchie Kotzen on guitar and a drum machine” (Gene Simmons PR).
58.34. If I Had A
Gun
Written by Gene Simmons and Bag. According to Gene, “Bag, who’s the
first new artist on Simmons Records, wrote that. I reshaped the song a bit and
also added the bridge. I was struck by the poignancy of ‘look at me with my
makeup messed, I’m so ugly, I’ve never been kissed.’ We all feel that way,
sometimes” (Gene Simmons PR). Like the other songs involving Bag, this would be
recorded in Bag’s living room and features Bag on all instruments.
58.35. Weapons Of
Mass Destruction
Both Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick would participate in the recording of
this track. It is likely that this song also dates from at least 1997 with
Gene’s “Weapons (Of Mass Destruction)” having made it onto at least one
prospective song list for the recording of “Psycho Circus.” According to Gene,
“‘Weapons’ was written and recorded before we went off to Iraq. After President
Bush started talking about weapons of mass destruction over and over again it
became the cliché. I always thought the phrase ‘weapons of mass destruction’
had that vulgar display of power sound to it. Lyrically I took the unholy point
of view which is hell is what you make it and this notion that we think we’re
just here poking sharp sticks at each other, maybe there’s a grand jester who’s
playing on the cosmic chess board” (Gene Simmons PR).
In addition to vocals Gene would also play some guitar on the track.
Gene recalled, “I took off some of Bruce’s bed guitar, and replayed some of the
guitar because I thought I had a sloppier, greasier way of doing it” (Gene
Simmons PR). It should be noted that this song includes a lyric, “Born in the
ashes of ruin,” which was originally part of a pre-Wicked Lester song by Gene,
“I Am A New Man.” That song would later be performed live by Wicked Lester.
58.36. Whatever
Turns You On
A song from another band that submitted a demo to Simmons Records, this
recording features Gene’s partner Shannon Tweed and her mother on the gang
backing vocals. According to Gene, “When I first told people on my web site,
GENESIMMONS.COM to send in demos, I received close to 5,000 demos. ‘Whatever
Turns You On’ came to me as one of those demos. It didn’t have that title. I
contacted Dave Williams, the lead singer of the band who wrote it. I called
him, told him I was interested in the track, and changed it around a little,
changed the title, it was my chorus idea and I rewrote some of the lyrics. The
musical track is Dave and his band. Singing background is Miss Shannon Tweed,
and her mother, Louise and a friend of theirs” (Gene Simmons PR).
58.37. Sweet &
Dirty Love
“Sweet & Dirty Love” is the “Sweet & Dirty” that dated from
“Psycho Circus” (and before): “Sweet & Dirty” was the result of Gene recycling
an older demo, in this case, the core riff and some lyrics from the 1976 demo
“Jelly Roll,” for use on a then current song. Gene has kept part of the first
verse but changed the perspective: “Well alright... / As I’m walkin’ around the
Watts St. corner / I turned to see her comin’ my way... (Lookin’ so good) / You
look up, I see your eyes are burning / They’re burning right through my head
(so good) // If I’m built for speed, /You’re built for love... / Too much of a
good thing, / Honey’s, much too good / Sweet and dirty love...” Both Eric
Singer and Bruce Kulick would participate in the recording of this track.
58.38. Beautiful
Written by Nina Singh and Mark Addison from the band “Kitty Gordon” from
Austin, Texas. This song was originally released as “Somebody Beautiful” on the
band’s 1999 debut EP “Seven.” It was also included on the band’s full album
“Weather.” According to Gene, “this was one of those story songs, the lyrics
killed me. It had this kind of pan-sexual, ‘Lola’ (The Kinks) flavor to it, and
also a kind of pathos. He’s a poor guy, who’s six foot four in his six-inch
heels, a cupid tattoo behind his ear, ‘spends all his money on silicone honey,’
those lyrics are just classic” (Gene Simmons PR).
58.39. Now That
You’re Gone
Originally written in 1977 by Gene and Bob Kulick. Part’s of the song
would be updated while Gene was recording the song, “The song’s bridge came to
Gene when he was working on overdubs in the studio. His father had passed away
two years earlier, and the lyrics deal with his feelings towards his father’s
passing” (KISS Kollector). According to Gene, “Singing on that song is my
daughter, Sophie and two of her friends from school. I wanted kids to be
singing on the chorus, it’s kinda like Pink Floyd did on The Wall album. I
played bass on it. Jeff Diehl, a guy from Indiana, did the rest. He sent me a
tape of what Garth Brooks or the Beatles would sound like doing KISS songs. I
heard this, loved it, asked if he wanted to try a track. By phone I told him
how I wanted it to sound. Think of it as I’m Houston and there’s a lot of
satellites orbiting and I had to keep track of all of them. This record was put
together in a very bizarre way with a lot of different people, and tracks being
cut in a lot of different places with different musicians” (Gene Simmons PR).
58.40. 1,000
Dreams
Written by Gene, originally with a more country flavor, for Shania Twain
or the Dixie Chicks. According to Gene, “I demoed it and sent off a version to
Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks. The original version was much more of a
country song. I gave Bag the ideas I wanted on the song and he translated it
musically. Bag did all the keyboard stuff and we brought in a pedal steel
guitar player” (Gene Simmons PR).
58.41. Firestarter
Yes, Gene covers the somewhat classic (for those of us who are European)
Prodigy track. Dave Navarro, guitarist for Jane’s Addiction, plays some lead on
the recording, which would be the last track recorded for the album, and the
first to be released as a single. The track is also the only song on the album
produced by Overseer. This song was originally released in March 1996, from the
Prodigy’s third album (written by Liam Howlett), and was a major European-wide
#1. There are some similarities, in style and structure (not content) between
the song and some versions of “Carnival Of Souls.” This song was written by
Liam Howlett and Keith Flint.
According to Liam, “With ‘Firestarter,’ me and Keith wrote the lyrics
together. I’d done the track and played it to him, and he said he’d really like
to get some lyrics on it. I was quite surprised, because he’s never done it
before” (SoundsOnSound, 9/96). According to Gene, “The idea for me to cover
‘Firestarter’ came from my partner at Sanctuary, Merck (Mercuriadas). It was an
interesting notion. ‘Firestarter’ really has more to do with me, about whom I
am and what I mean. Nothing more than it’s a chance to do something different
and I’m all about that” (Gene Simmons PR).
58.42. Asshole
(Radio Edit)
Simply the song with
the “Ass” in “Asshole” beeped out...
58.43. Asshole
(Sheep Edit)
Simply the song with the “Ass” in “Asshole” bleeped out with additional
sheep sounds... Both edits were issued on the early radio single for the song
that also includes the album version of the track.
58.44. Looking Out
The Window
The title of a track mentioned early on (June ‘03) for inclusion on
Gene’s solo album. It is not clear whether this track was not used or if the
title was simple changed.
58.45. You’re My
Reason For Living
An unused track dating from the “Revenge” era, this song would finally
be released in demo format as part of Gene’s audio CD lunch-box for “Sex Money
KISS” in 2003. According to Jesse Damon, the song demo was “recorded sometime
between 1991-93. Around 10 years ago. I absolutely thought it was a smash hit,
not our demo, I mean the song itself, the chorus ‘You’re My Reason For Livin,’
say’s it all” (JG).
Whatever the case the song is stylistically similar to material Gene
would later record, notably “Journey Of 1,000 Years” for the “Psycho Circus”
album and can be seen as being a latter-day “Great Expectations.” Running to
4:23 this very atmospheric piece is keyboard laden before becoming acoustic
with Silent Rage serving as Gene’s backing band. While the piece does become a
full blown electric piece it includes some great lyric lines: “Can’t feel the
pain / And that’s a start / But the first time I saw your face / Was the last
time I saw my heart.”
58.46. Everybody
Knows
Originally released only as a bonus CD in the lunch box version of the
audio book for “Sex Money KISS.” Gene didn’t mention specific recording details
this song on the packaging.
58.47. Carnival Of
Souls (Pre-release Mix)
The original pre-release mix of this song tracked in at 3:09. While Gene
was tinkering with the final versions of the songs he’d tack on the song’s
chorus and add to the introduction riff of the song for the album version of
this song. That work would add 17 seconds to the final version. Gene also
beefed up the bass sting pull between the chorus and verse.
58.48. Waiting for
the Morning Light (Pre-release Mix)
At 3:46 this pre-release mix of the song is over
twenty seconds longer than the album version. Gene would do some cutting and
pasting on the track: The first verse would be changed from “And here I’m all
alone / Sitting by the telephone / And I wonder why, I wonder why, I wonder why
/ I keep laughing when I wanna cry / And I wonder why” to “And here I’m all
alone / Sitting by the telephone / And I’m wide awake all through the night /
Keep waiting for the morning light.” Gene also tightens up the arrangement of
the song by removing 10 seconds of the harmonizing at the start of the song.
Both 58.47 and 58.48 were released on a European
sampler EP (Sanctuary/Simmons Records SANPX-245) along with the regular album
mixes of “Asshole,” “Sweet & Dirty Love,” and “Black Tongue.”
58.49. Weapons
58.50. Am I Losing My Mind
58.51. It 2
58.52. You Kill Me
58.53. Rock It Hard
58.54. Rotten II
58.55. Son Of 7th
58.56. Too Hot Too Cold
In 2003 Gene would release his “Speaking In Tongues”
DVD and CD. Featuring a mix of material recorded during his Australian
“speaking” tour, the material included samples and incidental music composed of
previously unreleased material. The full list of material that was supposed to
be included on a “Gene Simmons 100 Boxset” also included material noted
elsewhere throughout this book. Entries 58.49-58.56 are previously unknown.
Whether Gene’s boxset ever sees the light is another matter.
58.57. I Am Indy (Bag, 2005)
Co-written by Gene and Bag (Alexander Benedict
Chuaqui) as a theme song for the Indy Racing League. Bag would record the short
piece on his own. According to Bag, “Gene first approached me in September 2005
with the concept for the tune. The idea was to write something that was
self-empowering. Something to promote one's individuality. He gave me some
parameters as to how he heard it should sound: Big - Chant - Anthem - Huge
drums, etc. He gave me the title 'I Am Indy' and the concept behind some of the
other lyrics. Then by the end of September I knew I'd nailed it. All the
instruments and vocals were done by me in my home studio. It turned out that
Gene and the Indy people loved it. I'm very happy about the whole thing” (KISS
Kollector).
58.58. Sexercise
(Gene Simmons, 2006)
"Sexercise" is simply the backing track Gene created for the auditions of the project of the same title which essentially revolves around loops of "do it," "I like it," "so fine," and "show me what you've got," etc.
58.59. Family
Jewels Theme Song (Gene Simmons, 2006)
It might seem strange, but it took six people to
write the music and lyrics for the short theme song for Gene’s “Family Jewels”
television show: Composed by Philip W. Gough, Mark Fontana, and Tom Maxwell;
with lyrics by Gene Simmons, Philip W. Gough, Leslie Greif, and Adam Reed.
58.60. Narcissism (Gene Simmons, 2006)
58.61. Marriage (Gene Simmons, 2006)
58.62. Relationship With Shannon (Gene Simmons, 2006)
58.63. Pets (Gene Simmons, 2006)
58.64. Domesticity (Gene Simmons, 2006)
58.65. Himself (Gene Simmons, 2006)
58.66. Parenting (Gene Simmons, 2006)
58.67. The Rock God (Gene Simmons, 2006)
58.68. Arrogance (Gene Simmons, 2006)
58.69. Confidence (Gene Simmons, 2006)
Entries 58.60-69 are not songs, but short audio clips
of less than 30-seconds duration each that were released on a promotional CD-R
that was part of the promotional package for Gene’s “Family Jewels” TV show.
This spoken word snippet CD has Gene talking about a variety of subjects from
his TV show.
58.70. Rain Keeps Fallin’
58.71. You're My Reason For Living
Tracks 58.70 & 71 were released on the deluxe
“Gene Simmons Family Jewels” Season 1 DVD package. Both songs are expected to
be featured on Gene’s “MONSTER: THE GENE SIMMONS BOX SET.” The version of Track
58.61 varies slightly from that released in 2003 on Gene's “Sex Money KISS”
audio book lunch box and Japanese version of “Asshole.” While it has more
prominent drums, it lacks some of the electric guitar over-dubs and is 17
seconds longer, though most of that is the result of a longer fade-out.
Track 58.60 is previously known as a song Gene demoed
with members of Silent Rage around 1991. Several different lyrical versions of
the song exist. Most interesting, perhaps, the riff at the start of this song
can also be heard in a studio jam session with Dutch rockers Sleeze Beeze from
around 1990/1 where Gene was working with the band on using his “Daily Planet”
riff. They’d come up with the song “Jealous Woman” from the efforts, though the
band didn't use it. This is a great example of Gene and his creativity and the
song was being actively developed during the