Issue #2:
1976 Detroit Dressed To Kill Pro Shot

Welcome to part 2 of my ongoing series on KISS videos. A big thank you goes out to all of you who made the 1st one a big success. If anyone had told me that I would've gotten as many responses as I did I would've said they were crazy. You the KISS Army never cease to amaze me. I am currently working on a new format to guide you, the reader, through these videos easier. The format will be done in 2 parts: The Facts Section & Various Comments Section. E-mail me and tell me what you think of it. Do you like this format or the way the other article was written? Now on with the show!

THE FACTS
Here are 20 facts having to do with the 1st & 2nd night in Detroit 1976 videos as well as some other tidbits of info for you!
1. Only KISS video to feature airport footage & the KISS Clipper
2. In the early days of KISS the you wanted the best intro was usually done by road manager Jr. Smalling. On Alive 2 it was done by Eddie Balandas.
3. On the video for the 1st night, during Strutter Paul bumps the mic while doing the arm raising routine and Gene sings the end of the 1st verse and chorus by himself.
4. Paul stated in an interview that Hotter Than Hell was basically him rewriting All Right Now by Free
5. The 3 seen on Paul's fire hat wasn't done without reason - it's Peter's lucky number.
6. On the Alive Tour Gene blew 2 fire blasts during Firehouse
7. On the 2nd night Gene's hair catches fire
8. Hair spray is flammable (that's for Gene in case he's reading this)
9. The "tag" riff from Let Me Know was moved to She for Ace's guitar solo
10. Ace was shooting rockets out of his guitar before Dynasty but it was a confetti rocket not the explosive ones used on Dynasty
11. Ace's volume controls used to be damaged by the smoke bombs for his solo causing him to add a "dummy" pick up to his Les Paul
12. Ace's Les Paul didn't have 3 pickups 'til 1977's Love Gun tour
13. Ladies in Waiting was done on the 1st night and was replaced on the 2nd night by Parasite
14. The 2nd night features 2 future Anthrax covers back to back - She followed by Parasite
15. During Parasite & Nothin' to Lose Paul plays a black Les Paul instead of his normal Flying V
16. Peter's solo from Alive 1 influenced more drummers than any solo in history
17. The candelabra was only used for the first 3 tours (KISS, Hotter Than Hell & Dressed to Kill)
18. The 2nd night shows KISS in an all around good mood joking with each other on stage
19. The encores from the 1st & 2nd night are the same footage on both videos
20. Gene messes up the 1st verse of Let Me Go R&R and is saved by Paul

VARIOUS COMMENTS
I'm trying to work all the bugs out with Chris to make the poll much easier to use. Many of you misunderstood the last poll which is why the tabulation is a bit off. Some people picked different songs that weren't on the video and 2 people even picked songs that weren't even written at that time. There was no problem on the 2nd question due to the menu Chris put up for it. Now the 3rd question was what song would you have liked to hear live on the video. I was reviewing off the specific album they were touring for. Many people chose songs that were played on the video already. For example, on the 80 Australia video they played Shandi, Is That You & Talk To Me and some of you picked those songs. Some also chose songs that weren't on the Unmasked CD. I take full blame for not wording the question properly and it will be corrected for future polls. Thanks to all that voted your voices were heard!

January Poll Results

Favorite Song From '80 Australia Video
Rank	Song	Votes
1.	Detroit Rock City	31
2.	Shandi	17
3.	NY Groove/Cold Gin	5
5.	Talk To Me/I Was Made For Loving You	4
7.	Black Diamond/God of Thunder/Is That You	3
10.	Calling Dr Love	2
11.	Strutter/King of the Nighttime World	1

Member Who Gave The Best Performance
Rank	Member	Votes
1.	Paul	34
2.	Eric	21
3.	Ace	17
4.	Gene	8

Song You Would've Liked To Seen Played Live
Rank	Song	Votes
1.	Tommorow	19
2.	Naked City	12
3.	Easy As It Seems	11
4.	2 Sides Of The Coin	8
5.	What Makes The World Go Round	7
5.	Torpedo Girl	6
7.	She's So European	4
8.	You're All That I Want *	2
*Was Played in England and at a few other Eurpoean shows and Eri'c First show at the Palladium

Detroit '76!
Now for some more information & my comments on Detroit 76! This show was recorded on Jan 25 & 26 1976 at Cobo Hall. I'm giving you both dates due to this being a cross-pollination of the 2 shows. Detroit was and still is, in my opinion, the rock & roll capital of America. I know this will make some people upset. Some will say why not Cleveland we have the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Some others will say how come not my state, country etc. If you want my opinion I'll give to you straight, Love is Like a Slap..... Whoops sorry! I'm listening to this awesome song while typing this. My opinion is Detroit spawned the best rock & roll of all time. Some examples: "The Motor City Madman" Ted Nugent & Bob Seger.

Detroit is also the home of Motown, which by and large influenced most rock & rollers today. They also showed they know great rock & roll because they were the 1st city to open their arms to KISS. No other city can claim that. KISS themselves have claimed that in many interviews and Paul even went as far as to write Detroit, Rock City as a tribute to the Motor City. Detroit has also taught people in other parts of the world to listen to music with new ears hoping to find the next super-band and claim them as their own discovery. One other great point about this is no matter how huge KISS became they never forgot who was there first. Now on with the show!

TRACK BY TRACK ANALYSIS OF DETROIT 76 1st & 2ND NIGHT

DEUCE - Great opener full of energy, choreography and one hell of a solo by Ace!

STRUTTER - Paul showing that he can write a simple riff with a great hook and great counter bass line. Every time I hear the drum intro it still gives me goose bumps!

C'MON & LOVE ME - One of my all time favorite Paul tunes! For me this ranks up there with I StoleYour Love & Detroit, Rock City. Another solid rocker with a killer walking bass line by the Demon. I believe Paul may have played the bass on the CD.

HOTTER THAN HELL - Slow, grungy rocker sped up a bit on these videos unlike the studio version and in the old days. Hotter Than Hell into Firehouse was a great segue.

FIREHOUSE - This song also is sped up a bit. Filled with sirens, smoke, spotlights & burning hair. This kinda reminds me of something. If any of you reading this are Woody Woodpecker fans you'll follow this. Do you remember the cartoon where "If Woody had gone right to the police this would've never had happened?" Well if Gene had just read the hair spray can and seen an important word - FLAMMABLE - this would've never had happened.

SHE- One of KISS's heavier numbers, including an Ace Guitar solo. One can only imagine if the song had stayed like the original Wicked Lester incarnation! FLUTES ARE NOT HEAVY- good call Gene!

LADIES IN WAITING - Classic Gene rocker about what he loves more than money! Women & sex! Gene writes the best libido songs bar none. This is a very rare performance of this song, the 1st night only. I often wonder was tape rolling and is there a fully mixed version in the vaults. This performance has one shortcoming, after the solo instead of going back to the chorus it segues into the next song Nothin' To Lose.

PARASITE - One of my favorite Ace tunes ever! Great riffs, great drum break in the middle. This was the replacement in the set on the 2nd night for Ladies In Waiting.

NOTHIN' TO LOSE - A great soulful song, complete with a answer-back chorus by Peter that was different for every show - he never said the same lines, which is cool to see the Cat improvise. The answer-back chorus is a major tip of the hat to Motown. In my opinion with Peter back in the band last year I figured this to be a natural in the set list. Maybe next tour.

100,000 YEARS - Great title considering the length of the drum solo. HA! HA! Ok, all kidding aside this is a great song with Ace playing a counter rhythm to Paul's parts to create Paul's dream of "One Big Guitar".... let's all hope they remember that for the new CD. One thing I have to ask you to do that you may not have done before - when Paul comes out for the "Do You Feel Alright" section pay close attention to Peter's playing behind him. It's better than his solo. And in case you may be wondering, yes, I am a drummer which is why I'm pointing this out for those of you whom may not be drummers. After watching this most of you will agree with me that THE CAT RULES!!

BLACK DIAMOND - A rare live lead vocal by the Whiskered one. Peter for some reason didn't sing much on the earlier tours, but when he did he showed off his raspy, soulful, & powerful voice. I often wonder why didn't they let Peter sing more - here's my points: it could've given Gene & Paul a vocal break; they could've easily done Strange Ways, Getaway, or Mainline, all of which Peter sings....... what's the reason? Is it because 2 of them were written by Ace? Ok I know many people don't consider Ace a great songwriter, but Paul wrote Mainline so that can't be it. Only thing I can accept is maybe the songs weren't up to KISS standards. Now you're probably saying, "What the hell does this have to do with Black Diamond?" Absolutely nothing! I just felt like getting this off my chest while a few 1,000 KISS fans read this. Thanks, I feel better now! The song ends with 9 bombs (of course I counted), but here's the weird part...... only 1 spotlight on Peter as he goes up. Hmmm was it due to the fact of maybe the audience seeing the 6 or more roadies pulling the chain to hoist Peter in the air? There was actually one other light on stage, the "rare" yet infamous candelabra. What the hell was that for? Does anyone have any information? After the boom booms are over the house fades to black and one spotlight shines on Peter's bass drum.

NOTE: THESE ENCORES ARE THE SAME ON BOTH VIDEOS IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ABOVE!

COLD GIN - The first encore of the evening. This is kind of funny because right when Paul starts to do the "rap" for Cold Gin the camera pans to Peter behind the kit and he's poking & tickling Ace with his drumstick. Peter was really up for this gig and in great spirits. After that Paul then yells at few overexcited fans in the crowd telling them "Hey You, this is a rock & roll party not a rumble!" Arthur Fonzastanley to the rescue..... well minus the white T- shirt and leather jacket. The song itself, here and alway, is a hard rocker, from the crowd chant of Cold Gin to the solo & Peter playing 8th notes on his snare, to the end of the song. Oddly enough that drum part mentioned above wasn't used on the reunion tour. Maybe it was due to a timing problem for Peter and, like a lot of his drum parts on the reunion tour, it became watered down interpretations of what he played in the 70's.

ROCK & ROLL ALL NIGHT - The rock & roll national anthem is given a fine showing on this video, with the exception of a very sloppy ending on Peter's end just hitting the snare with no rhyme or reason. Paul's intro to the song also is very mind boggling to me. He says, "Here's a song for Detroit we wrote while we were in Detroit." Whoa!! Hold on a minute Starchild! Let's do some reviewing here:

PLACES WHERE ROCK & ROLL ALL NIGHT IS CLAIMED TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN
1. Detroit - from this video
2. Whatever Town/City "Drive Me Wild" was written (the original name for this song for this song)
3. Eugene, Oregon - The story I've always known is this was where it was written. I'm sure a lot of you out there have heard/read the same thing over the years.

SO WHAT'S THE DEAL? DOES ANYONE CARE?!

LET ME GO ROCK & ROLL - This is the last song of the tape, with Paul telling the crowd they need that old Detroit KISS rhythm section. The song is great here with Gene being very enthusiastic, so enthusiastic he forgets what song he supposed to sing and starts singing Rock & Roll All Night then realizes what he's doing and then mumbles something totally incoherent. An interesting thing happens next if you pay close attention - Gene nods to Paul as if to say "Get me outta this lyrical hell, take me far away!" Paul being the trooper, well Starchild, he is saves Gene from his own worst enemy - no, not Vinnie Vincent - his bad memory. Even back as early as '75 Gene had problems remembering lyrics. Then song continues with a very cool moment luckily captured on video, an all out KISS jam. Right after the solo they kick into a bluesy yet Chuck Berry 50's rock riff. They jam for a good 3-4 minutes, and it is very interesting to see them improvise on stage and take a chance like that seeing how the whole show was choreographed. Sean Delaney was the man behind that from the opener, to when Ace would fall to his knees in Black Diamond, to how many hairs Paul had on his chest.

After this wild jam they come out of it nicely into Gene's menacing solo bass part with Peter backing him up with drum fills. While all this is happening confetti is flying everywhere, spotlights are roaming the hall but the most incredible thing is about to happen. Well it's incredible to me. I have to ask all of you who have this show PLEASE go to this part in the video and when the camera pans back to Peter watch carefully for the most amazing one-handed drum fill around the tom-toms. If you're a drummer it should really make you take a step back. To add to all the rare happenings on this video, Gene does Peter's line of "Detroit KISS loves you, Rock & Roll!" How rare Gene speaking on stage! It's not often that happens. Paul then does his traditional breaking of the guitar & throws it into the crowd and almost gets dragged into the sea of fans only to be rescued by "Big" John Hart and other security. After being rescued, Paul runs to the mic to scream out "Good Night Detroit" bringing this show to an end.

OVERALL REVIEW
This is the part of the article where I rate the video for quality & performance. So here's my rating for the 2 shows:
1st Night: 9 - Perfect quality, great performance all around.
2nd Night: 8 - Quality is a little snowy & shaky at times, but for all the rare things that happen it's worth getting for your collection.

A big special thanks goes out to Ron Albanese author of the KISS Thought Vault & Union Thought Vault. Thanks for being my bud, biggest critic (I mean that in a good way) & helping me to come up with this format for my article. I owe ya one!

BIG DADDY "B"

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