Geoff Barton | Team Rock

New York Groove is Ace Frehley’s very own personal anthem. The track is as synonymous with the ex-Kiss man as his silver superhero suit and smokin’ six-string.

Frehley was born and raised in the Bronx, so the Big Apple is his kinda town. And New York Groove is his kinda song – even though he didn’t actually write it. Nevertheless, when Ace barks the line ‘It’s gonna be ecstasy… this place was meant for me’ above that foot-stomping rhythm, you can sense the native pride shivering down his Spaceman spine.

“A lot of people think I wrote New York Groove. It’s not a myth that I’ve perpetuated, but that’s the way it is. I wish I would’ve wrote the song, though. I would’ve made a lot more cash out of it, ha-ha-hargh!” Frehley chuckles in his inimitable style.

In fact New York Groove was written by Russ Ballard and recorded originally by Hello, the glitter-popstrels who enjoyed a brief burst of fame in the mid-70s. Three years before Frehley included New York Groove on his self-titled 1978 solo album, Hello’s version was a hit all over Europe. It got to No.9 in the UK and No.7 in Germany.

Ballard takes up the story: “In 1975 I’d just finished producing Roger Daltrey’s solo album, Ride A Rock Horse. I got it cut in London but Roger said to me: ‘People say Bob Ludwig’s cuts are louder at Sterling Sound in New York. Do you fancy flying out and doing a cut there?’”

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Paul Elliott | Team Rock

Gene Simmons – bassist/vocalist for Kiss, TV personality, multi-millionaire entrepreneur – is the living embodiment of the American Dream. An only child, he was born Chaim Witz on August 25, 1949 in Haifa, Israel. Eight years later, after his parents separated, his mother Flora took him to live in New York City, where, in 1973, he and Paul Stanley co-founded Kiss. Simmons and Stanley have led the band throughout their career, selling more than 100 million albums.

Simmons now lives in California with his wife Shannon Tweed and their children Nick and Sophie – all stars of the hit US reality TV show Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

What are the best and worst things about being Gene Simmons?

Without sounding too cocky – although I’ve certainly been accused of that all my life – there is no negative to being Gene Simmons. You have to look at it relatively: it’s either this or flipping burgers. What’s the English equivalent, frying chips? What’s so bad about being rich and famous? I don’t understand what all the angst is all about. The only people who should have complaints are the unfortunate poor on the planet. But when you hear the ultra-rich saying: “Oh, it’s so lonely at the top,” what a load of shit. If you can’t deal with fame, don’t be famous. I have nothing to complain about.

What are your tips for pleasing a woman?

Well, the tip that God gave me is the most important one.

What’s your best lyrical innuendo?

‘When love rears its head I wanna get on your case/ I wanna put my log in your fireplace’ [Kiss’s Burn Bitch Burn].

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