What will I cover? Anything and everything Kiss related. From the obvious (albums, costumes, members) to the obscure (Chelsea, the European Animalize stage, the 1989 version of "Partners In Crime", etc.). My compositions are here to entertain, spur thought, and help to further my personal crusade to change some commonly held misconceptions about Kiss (including ones held by fans), like the one you will read about in a moment. Ideas are always welcome, by the way.

This concept is not anything new, or much of a stretch for me. As an obsessed Kiss fan I have been doing this sort of thing for years, albeit on a smaller level. It happens all the time. I will be at work, or at home, and suddenly various thoughts will start running through my head. How many times was "Flamin'Youth"played live? Why were there three versions of the Asylum staging, and which do I prefer? Who the hell is Bob Halligan?* I usually end up calling other fans to discuss these and other random topics, like Gene's movie career, the Paul Lynde special, Peter's makeup, so on and so forth. And yet they do not hang up! I suspect I am not alone! These conversations are always fun and informative. You know how it is being a Kiss fan. We are not casual listeners, like Aerosmith fans, or whatever. We like to learn about everything about our group, because there is so much to know! I now want to prove my theory on an international level.

Where did all this zealousness begin? From a quite innocent place, actually. Mommy! In 1976 my mother took part in the '70's equivalent of getting ten compact discs for a penny- about a million 8-tracks for a dollar. Included in the bounty of poor-sounding magnetic tapes mailed to the house was Rock and Roll Over. Unlike most people my age at the time (I was six) my first attraction to the band was the music. I loved the songs. Once I saw a photo of the group (I purchased my first issue of 16 magazine about a year later- and stopped when they started featuring The Dukes of Hazard and Scott Baio more than the "masked marvels") I immediately began to learn just how special Kiss was. They were not just a band. I had found my superheroes. I drew the band's logo all over my schoolbooks, and defended them at the playground. In my teenage years Kiss became a source of inspiration and guidance for me. Songs like "Shout It Out Loud" and "Trial by Fire" helped me cope in learning to be myself, the best self I could ever be. Their presence in my life has never diminished; when I purchased the ill-fated Kissnation comic recently, and read the "Kiss Manifesto", I was moved. Right there in print (unfortunately in somewhat poor grammar) were many of the reasons why I have always loved this band. Corny but true! I have stood by the Kiss throughout every permutation, welcoming changes in musical style, image, and members with open arms. I always will.

This month- Far Off In The Distance: Ten great forgotten Kiss songs from the 1980's, Creatures Of The Night forward.

The 1980's are sorely overlooked as a decent time in the Kiss lifespan, especially after 1982's Creatures Of The Night album. I have often thought about why this time is so condemned, and have ended up with four major contributing reasons, which I will present in chronological order.

Reason number one: By 1983 the original lineup was reduced to just half of its original core. When Peter Criss left in 1980, it hurt the band, perhaps in ways that were not immediately felt by the band. The group stepped in you-know-what in finding a more than suitable replacement in Eric Carr. Also, while by 1980 Kiss had saturated the American rock and roll marketplace, they had not yet really tapped into the groundswell of fans rising all over the world, especially Europe and Australia. With a new member in tow, Kiss packed their bags and hit international shores that were dying for Kiss anyway they could get them. The Unmasked tour was big, and the momentum took the guys for a ride away from reality for the time being..

But it was not the same. Basking in the glow of an all-time height of success, Kiss probably could not sense what the hardcore fans felt: The foundation was shook. This dedicated legion of followers (300,000 strong in the U.S, judging by record sales of new Kiss albums at the time) ultimately was forgiving, but did not want to see any more changes in the lineup. To their dismay, after months of rumors Ace Freheley "officially" left Kiss in early 1983. A few different conditons were present this time around that prevented Kiss from covering up this major change. Between these two member departures the band released the ill-conceived (Music from) The Elder to fans who were pining for some hard-edged classic Kiss material to offset the impact of the unpleasant happenings of the last couple years (Peter's leaving, Gene's Unmasked costume, etc.). In addition, the band did not have as much luck filling Ace's shoes (sneakers) as they had the Cat's. As a result of this second changing of the Kiss guard, many fans felt that the group was through, and left the ranks for more happening bands, or at least ones that were not in a state of turmoil and upheaval.

Reason number two: The Kiss of the 1980's lacked the clarity of vision and consistency of the Kiss of the 1970's. By late 1983 the group, realizing that they had to build a fanbase from square one, implemented yet another major change. They took the makeup off. Kiss played their trump card to get some attention from the rock world, and repackaged themselves as an easier sell: a typical hard rock band of the 1980's. That meant big rock, big hair, and some big (on purpose) stupidity. As a result of this metamorphosis, Kiss's music as a whole from 1983 to 1990 was not as strong as the decade before. That incarnation set its own pace, while in the '80's Kiss was more chamelon-like, changing for the sake of fitting in. Without a definitive vision or identity, good overall albums became less common. But that does not mean you can discount absolutely all of the music from the entire non-makeup era! Okay Ron, stay in control...

The third reason why the Kiss of the 1980's is ignored by fans: Gene told them to do it. Beginning in 1992, Simmons began unmercifully slagging the entire decade (of course excluding his beloved Creatures Of The Night) as a marketing ploy to separate the then-revenging Kiss from its poppier predecessor. This was clever, but bad! The sad truth is many fans just took his word for it, and now no longer bother to delve into Kiss's "non-classicc" catalog to decide for themselves the good and bad of it all.

The fourth, final and obvious reason: In these current days of original lineup hoopla and hullabaloo, the '80's have now apparently never even existed. Kiss has turned back time, and Paul Stanley seemingly has stopped it altogether. This reunion of the four guys who started it all, wearing makeup again and touring has been nothing short of amazing, a dream come true, and a jawdropper for millions of fans, myself included. Unfortunately, it also appears to have been the final nail in the coffin of the 1980's, forever burying some cool non-original members, a fair share of good music, and the Asylum stage outfits in its wake.

On a related note, I have noticed that journalists have not been of much service in telling the true history of the group. Read any reunion-era piece on the group, and chances are the writer will take the easy way out, and glide right by Kiss's middle decade. Worse yet, sometimes he/she will add insult to injury, and mention it in an unflattering, reductionist manner, writing that it was an uneventful downtime for the group. What? A time that began with an excellent addition to the group, introduced two new makeup characters (the Fox and the Egyptian Warrior), and saw the band make over seven tours with stops all over the world and sell a ton of records is hardly small time! I mean, if Foghat launched a mega-successful comeback then maybe, but come on! I do not think this is fair. Kiss, even in its "abrerrant" form, was always a major contender for the rock and roll crown.

I can live with certain things remaining in the past (the {You Make Me} Rock Hard video, my eigth grade picture), but I cannot tolate summarily dismissing all '80's Kiss music. This has never rested well with me, and I will explain in a Paul Stanley approved way: an analogy! To feel like Paul, follow my parenthetical instructions. (Read out loud) If you have always loved the Yankees, do you desert them if they trade away a player (Gestiulate with right hand now), or if they have a bad season or two? I mean (Gesticulate again and look to your left), you love the team because they play a certain type of ball you have come to respect. You know they are always trying to be their best, so is not every season worth checking out?

Seriously, one can glean a better overall understanding and appreciation of Kiss by checking out the 1980's. One can trace the evolution of Paul Stanley as a singer and songwriter. Read what Gene Simmons had to say lyrically when he stepped away from his demon persona. Hear the outstanding performances of Eric Carr on the drums, and to a lesser extent, vocals. And how about the other replacement members? Their contributions should not be ignored. Vinnie Vincent joined the fold during one of the band's toughest times, and co-wrote a bulk of Lick It Up, the album that inarguably recussitated Kiss's career. On the live front, I believe that he (along with Carr) lit a fire under the asses of Gene and Paul, who at that point (1982-83) began singing and playing like never before in concert. For the 1982-83 season, he was "Rookie Of The Year". And as for Bruce Kulick? His importance to the band is easily recognized by putting on any record he was involved in the recording of, or by watching any live video from the time. He was the all-important musical anchor of the band, the solid backbone of Kiss's front-line musical attack, handling classic and newer songs with ease. I consider him to be the "Most Valuable Player" of Kiss during his tenure.

I know what you are thinking. Isn't Mr. 1980's forgetting someone here? Not really. Even I cannot substansiate the fact that Mark St. John gets to say he was a member of Kiss. However, I can say thank god for Reiter's Syndrome (Writer's Syndrome?). Oh, come on! It is not like it was fatal or anything!

Now for my explaination for starting the '80's roughly two years late for this retrospective. I have decided on omitting Umasked (1980) and (Music From) The Elder (1981) for the following reasons. As previously noted, the Unmasked tour was an international success. Along with the million or so tickets sold for it were crateloads of the same-named record, and hopefully tourbooks (I still need to get one). Enough people heard this one. It's not forgotten (although "Easy As It Seems" is sometimes about as memorable as the liner notes to Best Of The Solo Albums). And as for the (Music From) The Elder, the council has long ago deemed it "The Official Half-Baked Kiss Album" due to its simple, yet unbelievably vague storyline about good fighting off evil. Nowadays, The Elder has a special place in the hearts of Kiss fans as botched experiment, what they point to as the band's ultimate recording mistake. As such, it gets listened to more than Peter Criss's demos for Kiss albums in the '70's, unlike the '80's stuff. I also feel that the record is deserving of an in-depth review as a whole. Maybe by an orphan boy. Or me.

Finally, just a few notes on why I decided to include 1982's Creatures Of The Night in my proclaimed "Never Seeing Daylight" era. while this album was designed to be a reaffirmation of the original Kiss spirit, an attempt by the band to reconnect themselves with the Kiss of the decade before, a loud, hungry, uncompromising entity that stood on its own, and alone, it didn't really sound like it. Between the grooves, Creatures heralded a new songwriting style for the band, one that carried over to the next two Kiss records, Lick It Up (1983) and Animalize (1984). The former I consider to be a companion album, similar in overall sound (Michael James Jackson was at the helm for both) and attitude. While produced very differently from its predecessors, Animalize found the group incorporating elements of the style pioneeered on Creatures Of The Night (Whatdya' get when you turn "Keep Me Comin'" inside out? "Get All You Can Take" Ha, ha). Also, while we all acknowledge the album, it's only for certain songs like the quasi-cool "I Love It Loud", and not the long-lost "Danger".

Through intense research, fan interviewing, and laughter I have devised the following list of ten essential forgotten Kiss songs from the 1980's, Creatures Of The Night Forward.

10. "Let's Put The X In Sex", Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits, 1988. This Paul Stanley/Desmond Child collaboration is a catchy little number that has suffered from the time of its release, and to an extent is is understandable: This song was not the one to lead off a greatest hits album with! The use of a drum machine and synth bass (either that or these are the most robotic performances of any musicians on any recording ever, William Shatner nonwitstanding) did water down the song's feel somewhat, but I do not care. Nothing in the world can keep down that supercool, simple-as-heck Paul Stanley-does-Keith Richards-doing-Chuck Berry main riff. I love the harmony vocal part in the middle- enough, in fact, to bear Paul sing the lyric "black lace panties".
I saw this song performed live on Paul's solo tour, and enjoyed it immensely. It was loose, and featured an extended ending. It was also played once or twice on the 1995 covention tour. There are remixes of this one that are worth hunting down. Great video, too.

9. "Dance All Over Your Face", Lick It Up, 1983. Written by Gene Simmons. Gene blues! This facet of his songwriting has only surfaced a couple of other times, ("Two Timer", "Love's A Slap In The Face") but it is always a welcome change of pace. This song is a slower-paced number with a great bassline that shows us a mellower, but definitely not kinder Gene, who here is saying "Listen bitch, I've got news" to a woman who has betrayed him. Eric Carr get a little more mileage out of his "I Love It Loud" drumbeat here to great effect. Dig that rap section in the middle!

8. "Secretly Cruel", Asylum, 1985. Written by Gene Simmons. Halfway through the '80's, Kiss holed themselves up for three months in Electric Lady Studios in New York and emerged with Asylum, an upbeat tell-all summary of what was then the Kiss philosophy: Believe in yourself, and get a lot of woman while doing it! Two points about the album cover of the release from whence "Secretly Cruel" came. Number one: contrary to general concensus, I do not think badly of it. It's striking art! I am sorry if it is not the side of a plane, or a ship, or a dumpster like Revenge is! Too bad! Also, as a remarkable nod to continuity, the band's colors (purple, red, blue, green) are displayed, albeit in shades of lipstick! But I digress...

"Secretly Cruel" is a classic Kiss rock and roll song, replete with memorable sing-a-long backup vocals from Eric Carr and Paul Stanley. The lyrics are toungue-in-cheek, recounting an encounter that our then-favorite movie star had where he got more than he bargained for. Such a cool song. I am still shocked that it wasn't done live.

7. "All Hell's Breakin' Loose", Lick It Up, 1983. Written by Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Carr, and Vinnie Vincent. In 1983 Rap music was still in its formative stages: friendly, innocent, and fun. Perhaps as a tribute, Kiss recorded their first rap-oriented song at this point in time. Opening with a guitar riff that sounds like a nephew to the beginning of "Watchin' You", the song proceeeds to take a left turn and develop into a tale of a "street hustler" accosting Paul in the street one day and asking him "What be this?" and "What be that?" and then "Why you gotta look like that?". In so many words our hero explains that simply that all hell is breaking loose. Comical for its vocal, quirky for the followup bassline in the verses, and unusual in that it features a somewhat subdued Vinnie Vincent guitar solo.

Fun fact: Besides "Love Theme From Kiss", "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" is the only other song to be written by all four members of Kiss during any lineup.

6. "Thief In The Night", Crazy Nights, 1987. Written by Gene Simmons and Mitch Weissman. This song, while a victim of Ron Navison hack production, is mighty cool, a for a couple of interesting reasons, my aricticl title not included. First off, Charles Luther's...Dammit! I'm sorry! I meant to write, Gene's lyrics are off his beaten path, telling a story worthy of any 1940's radio serial. The only other tune that has ever ended up in this league was "Murder In High Heels". Come to think of it, these two songs together would be a great soundtrack for a Heart To Heart reunion (My name is Max...footsteps in the twilight...it was murder in high heels). Don't let this suggestion sway you. Gene voice sounds smooth, as per the rest of the Crazy platter, but I like it anyway. Speaking of vocals, Paul is clearly audible it the chorus, which is always great on a Gene song and vice-versa. You know that they were in the studio when the song was worked on!

*For another great take of this one, refer to the Wendy O Williams solo album, WOW, produced by Simmons in 1983.

5. "Love's A Deadly Weapon", Asylum, 1985. Written by Gene Simmons, Rod Swenson, Paul Stanley, and Wes Beech. "Ooh, give it to me". Has everybody figured out that I really love Asylum? This Paul Stanley-titled number is my favorite in the '80's series of double bass drumming metal number ("No, No, No" is the distant second). Eric Carr put in one of his best performances ever on this one; his playing is frantic and intense. In the middle section there is a time change (4/4 steamrollin to ballroom waltzing) that I am sorry to say would have had Peter Criss scratching his head, even in his heyday. Although the album's production was not the best for this type of material, the song sounds fierce all around, from vocals to guitar. Listen for Velvet Van Ragnar's...oops, I mean Gene's high-note scream at the end, ala "She's So European" on Unmasked.

4. "Uh! All Night", Asylum, 1985. Written by Paul Satanley, Desmond Child, and Jean Beauvoir. Excuse me, would you like a piece of bubble gum? Hands down, "Uh!" is one of the best sexually-charged songs fun songs from Mr. Stanley. This is a total romp. And it is just as fun to watch its video, and hear perrformed live- check out any '85-'86 bootleg for proof. Why didn't this song do better than nothing as a single? Guitar-wise, the riffing revisits the "It's Alright" territory, and Bruce's guitar solo is one of his most memorable.

3. "Saint and Sinner", Creatures Of The Night, 1982. Written by Gene Simmons and Mikel Japp (who?). God, Cher must've really messed up Gene, I thought to myself when I first heard this one. The Demon was down, but apparently not out. This compostion is very atypical of Creatures, and Kiss in general. It was put in the wrong spot in the track listing: the eventual swapping of it with "Killer" on the non-makeup cover reissue was that release's only redeeming quality.

Where to begin...The sound on this song is excellent. There is no wall of sound or white noise here, just a rhythm section, and about three guitar tracks. The production allows the listener to listen all the way through and around the song; one can hear the drums and bass interact and then hear the guitar set up each vocal line. The guitars in the chorus are effective in underlining the singing. The drumming here is simply perfect, with Eric playing a seemingly tailor-made pattern. In fact, there is no other recorded Kiss drum part like it, save for "I've Had Enough" form Animalize.

Listen to the ending- the "No! I'm not gonna die! Cross my heart and hope to cry." Part is as emotional any anything Gene has ever put on a Kiss record. Vinnie Vincent's Jackson sound is fully audible in the mix, but did Paul have a hand in writing the solo?

2. "Tears Are Falling", Asylum 1985. Written by Paul Stanley. According to Paul, "Tears" was written about the moment a realtionship is over. This song is a stellar songwriting achievement on his part, a subtly-texured composition that has an atmosphere unlike anything Kiss has ever recorded. The subject matter was quite possibly inspired by the ending of Paul's relationship with Lisa Hartman. His lead vocal is great: It is a high part, well within his range, but sounds strained. I believe this was done for effect, to convey a sense of sadness to the listener. In a spring 1986 issue of Guitar, Paul stated that he had recently written a couple of songs that were meant to be sung by a woman. Was this one of them? This one is certainly out of character. The arrangement and performances of the background vocals were nicely done. A lot of work must have been done to get them just right. There must be five overdubbed Pauls and Erics apiece.

The drumming on what was Asylum's first single is interesting. Eric reprised a drum part from the chorus of "Heaven's On Fire" in the chorus. This became a tradition of sorts: check out the next two record's leadoff singles, "Crazy Nights" and "Hide Your Heart". They too feature similar drumming in either their pre-choruses or choruses as well. Was this a psuedo-subliminal marketing ploy on the part of the Fox?

"Tears Are Falling" belong in the category of extra-mile Paul Stanley songs, right next to "Sure Know Something", "Do You Love Me", and "Goodbye". As great as it is, I feel that this song suffered a slight due to its video, which featured a fake volcano and a funnily-dressed Kiss, and its arena-rock style live version. Both formats changed the impact of the song, forsaking its nuances and emphasizing its catchy chorus. Perhaps it it were attemped in an acoutic format its original mood would stay intact. Hell, they played "Domino" acoustically...

And now, my number one great forgotten song of the 1980's, Creatures forward, is..........

1. "Fits like A Glove" , Lick It Up, 1983. Written by Gene Simmons. This has been an all-time favorite of mine since first hearing it. The first vocal part says it all: "UH!" Then, the opening of the first verse: "Ain't a cardinal sin, baby let me in, girl I'm gonna treat you right. For goodness sakes, my snake's alive, and it's ready to bite".

When Gene writes about his favorite topic (sex, not money!), he is sometimes hit and miss, a little auotpilot or a little to kitschy. However, here he was at his best, penning in his words "The Ultimate Kiss Sleaze" (Kerrang, fall 1983). From its motorcycle-revving main riff, through the previously quoted double-entendre, to the stop-on-a-dime ending, this song is a classic Simmons raunchfest.

Although the album version is great enough, the live version was even better; watch it on the Animalize-Live and Uncensored videotape (Musicvision, 1985). While "Tears are Falling" is brilliant for its complexity, "Fits Like A Glove" succeeds by virtue of its simplicity. Raw, primal, sexy, and you can dance to it! It was truly a crime that this was not on Alive III.

Honorable Mentions:

"King Of The Mountain", Asylum, 1985. Written by Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick and Desmond Child. It was hard not to put this in the top ten. Maybe I should've done a top eleven. This song features the best all-around performance by the group on record in any era. Enthusiasm, gusto, and Led Zep influence galore.

"It's My Life", From the album WOW by Wendy O Williams, 1983. Now here is something different, one of the best Kiss anthems ever written never appeared on one of their own records (or did it? Read next month). It does not matter where it turned up, just that it did, because this song is pure Kiss in spirit, written by Gene and Paul. They also sang on the choruses. Another incarnation of this one exists in demo form from around the time of Asylum, with Gene on lead vocals. They're both great- and essential.

In conclusion, from 1982 to 1989 Kiss contributed more than a few bright spots to their musical mosaic. Overall, it may be true that the band was not as cool as they were in the 1970's, but give Gene and Paul some credit: Like a balloon being pumped full of hot air, Kiss expanded and contracted, and nearly imploded during this period, but they made it. Say what you will, but throughout it all Kiss, in their finest tradition, marched forward with all their sights set on the present and the future. For example, can anyone really say this about the Revenge era? By that time, it seemed as though the band let the specter of yesteryear affect all of their music, sound, and attitude. It was like they were trying to go forward while looking back. The 1980's saw Kiss go with the flow, stretch out a little bit, and leave behind some good times, music, and humorous photos.

To all of the fans who do acknowledge this time in Kiss's existence: I hope you agree that this list serves as a suitable primer to some of the '80's lost songs. To everyone else: Do yourself a favor. Make a tape of these ten songs, put on a wristband, a piece of animal fur, or even a leg warmer (God! What was Paul thinking during the Lick It Up tour?) and catch up on this lost chapter in Kisstory. Trust me, the story is not the same without it.

Coming next month- WOW by Wendy O. Williams, a lost Kiss album?

Original work (C) 1997 Ron Albanese

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