In a recent interview on the Adam Carolla Show, KISS bassist Gene Simmons shared a story about the night he stumbled upon Van Halen back in 1976, with the actual intention of checking another band out.
Simmons helped Van Halen land their first recording contract, and even bought DLR his first heels and leather pants. “I buy Dave [Lee Roth] his first, I don’t know, high heels or whatever, leather pants and all that. Because I want them to audition for Aucoin, our manager and all that. But before then, decide to go into Electric Lady and do 15 songs, a 24-track demo using a guy named Dave Whitman who mixed Humble Pie and all that legitimate, y’know, stuff,” he explained.
“And one of the 15 songs was a song called ‘House of Pain.’ Now, for all you Van Halen fans, this is not the ‘House of Pain’ that they eventually wound up recording. This is the original version, which bears no resemblance,” Simmons revealed. “In fact, that song under the name ‘House of Pain’ was never recorded, and it’s a steamroller. I can’t believe that the band never used that. So that’s the version we do live. And I’m telling you, as soon as it starts, it’s like zero to 60.”
In Simmons’ words, Eddie Van Halen had a reputation for keeping some of his playing techniques secret during the band’s earlier days. Recognizing the band’s potential, Simmons took action and signed Van Halen to his production company, ‘Man of 1,000 Faces,’ and arranged for the band to fly to New York to record a demo at the famous Electric Lady Studios. Simmons was proud of the track ‘House of Pain,’ and even considered it Eddie’s defining moment.
“The version of House Of Pain they recorded with me is the most powerful thing they ever did. It erupts from zero to 60mph in a second. Play it loud; it’s like a steamroller over your face and the band performed it completely live in the studio,” he said previously on Classic Rock.
However, even the ‘quality of those tracks’ wasn’t enough to convince Bill Aucoin, his manager at the time, or his bandmate Paul Stanley. “And of course Ace Frehley and Peter Criss had bigger things on their minds, they were too busy making bad decisions about life,” he added.
While Simmons claimed that the demo was the band’s best work, the song was re-recorded years later for their 1984 album. The music in the 1984 version is quite similar to Simmons’ demo, but the lyrics are different.
