Song:Rock and Roll All Nite
Album:The Very Best Of Kiss
Rock and Roll All Nite was the breakthrough hit for Kiss. Their music was standard hard rock. But what made them was glam rock costumes and makeup and stage antics. Sometimes it's difficult to capture a band's stage appeal on record and that was true of Kiss until the 1975 album Alive!. Kiss were from New York City. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were in the band Wicked Lester. They recorded an album for Epic Records that was never released. They played a few live shows but Simmons and Stanley thought the band needed to be more flamboyant. They found drummer Peter Criss through an ad he had placed in Rolling Stone and guitarist Ace Frehley came through auditions. They were going to keep the name Wicked Lester. But after a failed audition for Epic, the name Kiss was because Criss once was in a band called Lips. They sent a demo to producer Eddie Kramer and he got them a deal with Neil Bogart's new Casablanca label. Bogart had previously been with Buddah Records. Kiss went on the road with the glam look and comic book characters. They were popular live but record sales for their first three albums were disappointing. Bogart was having financial problems and Casablanca was close to closing. He decided the only way to capture Kiss was to release a live album. Alive! was recorded in various places and crowd noise was added to enhance the band's live experience. There was probably more studio dubbing on the album. This was common on live albums from the 70s. But it was successful as Rock and Roll All Nite was Kiss's first big hit. Alive! was certified Gold. Their next album Destroyer was certified 2XPlatinum and Beth was their first top ten hit. The success has continued ever since. Rock and Roll All Nite first appeared on the 1975 album Dressed To Kill. But the hit version was from Alive! and that's the version on this budget comp. Attempts by Kiss to change their music or remove the stage makeup have been unsuccessful. It seems fans only want to see the Kiss from the 70s. Simmons and Stanley still lead Kiss today. Here's the video for Rock and Roll All Nite by Kiss.
They were big in Michigan during the 70's. A lot of people thought of them as hometown hero's. They all came from Detroit, I believe could be wrong on that one, and their song Detroit Rocks was an unofficial anthem for that city. When they came and played at Traverse City my hometown, the small stadium was sold out and the air was thick with Marijuana! It was a wild time. I could not go, I was not old enough but heard all about it.
ReplyDeleteKiss were from New York City. They all grew up there. Detroit Rock City was a hit only in Michigan. It flopped everywhere else. It was released as a single and DJs flipped it over and Beth turned out to be the hit.
ReplyDeleteFrank, thanks for the information. I had a feeling I was wrong on that one. I do remember Kiss's popularity in Michigan at the time.
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