The Who Was THE Major Musical Influence On KISS
By: Brian

Have you ever listened to a song and thought to yourself, "That sounds just like...." but you couldn't finish the thought? I've had that same problem in the past. It occurred to me that, when I listened once to "Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who that I could recognize one of the riffs from somewhere else. But where?

Enter KISS. I recognized the riff as hearing it, or one similar to it, within the music of KISS. Somewhere. And then I realized something that had once been beaten over my head, but somehow had been long forgotten: KISS had musical influences!!

Let me elaborate a little here. It's very true that KISS was influenced by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper. All have been self-identifed by the members of KISS as influencing their vision of what music should be. But one influence that seems to be forgotten is The Who. The Who attained the world's record for Loudest Rock Band in the mid-70's, and certainly KISS was right behind, billing themselves "The Loudest Band in The World" in 1983. Musically speaking, it's safe to say that KISS was America's answer to The Who, whether that was intentional or not. The power cords, the powerful vocals, the song structure...all point to The Who. The best example I can find of this is the studio version of "C'mon And Love Me" on "Dressed To Kill." One thing to note about The Who is Peter Townshend has an affection for acoustic guitar, and generally played most of The Who's rhythm tracks on acoustic guitar. "C'Mon and Love Me" follows this tradition in a more subtle hint to the influences of The Who. More proof comes from the riff in "Magic Bus," which sounds awfully KISS-like in its attack. The riffs to "She" and "Got To Choose" bear striking resemblance to this particular riff.

Perhaps as interesting as the musical similarities between KISS and The Who are the blatant uses of signature stage moves of Roger Daltrey and Peter Townshend by Paul Stanley. The smashing of the guitar (early on) and the twirling of the microphone (later in the game) symbolize the need to BE like The Who showing through. Even the conscious effort to cover "Won't Get Fooled Again" on the Asylum tour speaks volumes: The Who played an enormous role in the shaping of KISS, yet no one realizes it!

I would be so bold as to say KISS wants us to know this. Sure, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles have had more commercial success than The Who in America, and certainly KISS have paid homage to those two entities numerous times. But has there been a conscious effort by KISS to include them in their shows? Even on the Farewell Tour, "Won't Get Fooled Again" plays an important, yet overlooked part of the show: the song is played every night just before KISS hits the stage. But that's not what is remarkable about the song. It happens to be louder than all of the other music played in the house during final set up, and the lyrics "Greet the new boss/The same as the old boss" happen to be timed to the point when the KISS tapestry is unveiled before the crowd!! Of course, the prevailing sentiment lies in the lyrics themselves; KISS will always be the "bosses," new or old. But the fact remains, the words came from The Who.

I hope that I'm not the only one who sees these similarities between KISS and The Who, as well as the tone The Who set for KISS, to be loud, raucous, and just plain ass-kicking rockers! So not only is this a salute to KISS, but a thank you to Peter Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and the late, great Keith Moon for planting the seeds in the minds of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley to seek each other out, and form the greatest rock and roll band a fan could ever dream of.

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