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Eye of the Burning Hunter

Eric Carr's Eyes of Love (1989) is one of those fan favorites that unfortunately didn't make it onto a Kiss album. The indignation about this should be all the greater because in this case we are talking about the completely overloaded and somewhat indecisive Hot in the Shade (1989) of all things.

What the exact reasons may have been within a hopefully objectively functioning exclusion procedure is something everyone is welcome to think about for themselves, but hopefully not without at least taking a closer look at the music first. And why should you do something like this alone when it works just as well together and in the best of company?

So, Eyes of Love sounds admittedly less like Kiss in itself, or rather its somewhat unwieldy overall picture doesn't quite, but the individual parts it contains all the more. For the intro and main riff, for example, I can think of two reference sources that can both easily be assigned to Animalize (1984), the album that probably best musically manifests Gene's estrangement from the band at the time.

If you were now to hybridize Burn Bitch Burn (1) and Lonely is the Hunter's riffs, we'd almost have it, the point is just that Eyes of Love does somehow sound better than the other two both together (2), with a little more vibrant swing, which, once it gets going, gives it something quite nasty and monstrous. Unusual when something like this doesn't come from Gene, but certainly not unwelcome on my part.

But if you want to give it a little extra thought, you could ask yourself whether Eyes of Love isn't rather based on Killers' (1982) Down On Your Knees and tries to make something better out of its riff, which itself wasn't really able to do. A certain additional proximity to Down On Your Knees' middle part (3) would certainly speak in favor of this. But let's just leave it at that.

Apart from that, I can think of a few isolated bits and pieces that are reused here and there, serving as pads or whatever. Something that sounds like a higher swinging Plaster Caster (1977) riff, a certain The Elder (1981) touch as we know it from Only You, or a fill segment of When Your Walls Come Down (1987) and one of those rock n' roll standard licks that usually ends Rock and Roll All Nite (1975) live (4).

And although all the segments seem polished, the transitions flow smoothly and interlock like clockwork, it's still the not-so-simple song structure that, from my perspective, perhaps refuses to fit into Kiss' much smoother arrangement ratio of the time, thus naturally standing out quite a bit; and thus in some people's eyes, one looks in the direction of the two HITS, uhm… producers, might seem unfinished, or even useless. For their purposes. And not just to my regret.

Anyway, perhaps Eyes of Love only got in the way of Gene's and Bruce's not entirely dissimilar but much, muuuch more polished Prisoner of Love, but I prefer to continue to harbor my very own doubts about this idea. Basically, I'm only surprised that Gene didn't take it on and that it didn't fall into his clutches.

Probably because of the too many song credits. You know, less dough to share.

Wink emoji?

Side Notes:

(1) I mean even Eric's verse vocal sounds like the Burn Bitch Burn riff, with a slight biker rock and a AC/DC Highway to Hell feel.

(2) And I say that even though I like those Gene songs, especially Burn Bitch Burn. And I guess so did Eric Carr, because I happen to know that he loved to play Burn Bitch Burn live with its pumping drums and bass.

(3) Who remembers this part of Down On Your Knees, which bears an unmistakable resemblance to a song from Destroyer (1976)? You can refresh your memory of it right here, by the way.

(4) And no, I'm not going to highlight any of the links. That's too much fiddly work for me today. I'll probably cobble together some detailed Reprise entries out of this some day, or something.

I've limited the links to Eyes of Love, Burn Bitch Burn, Lonely is the Hunter and Down On Your Knees for the love of simplicity. Trust me, nobody loves too many links:

Eyes of Love (1989)

Lonely is the Hunter (1984)

Burn Bitch Burn (1984)

Down On Your Knees (1982)

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Chance is King

This little self-reference could have actually formed magic, just instant magic as you must never forget, but who cares as long as you know what ground you are consciously on.

Anyway, unfortunately this one doesn't want to work properly (1), and that's a shame, because I love these little magical moments, simply because you often don't know exactly where you are with them at first, but mostly just that they function like a trigger for the inner process of recognizing an indeterminate but familiar element in a rather newly formed arrangement. Kiss' musical product literally screams and demands this, each time anew.

But today, the little magic Kiss button that Paul tries to press on Monster's (2012) Last Chance seems a little stuck, perhaps because he only half-heartedly touches it in passing instead of pushing it all the way through. It wouldn't be the first time that overconfidence without the necessary drive had resulted in sloppiness.

At the very least, it doesn't quite live up to the magical moment on King of the Mountain from Asylum (1985), which it obviously tries to connect to, but a little too half-assed. A good moment nonetheless, but just as tarnished in a song that I otherwise consider to be a gem.

Doesn't Paul like to say that if you're going to steal, it's best to only steal diamonds? And well, what can I say, it's best to polish these diamonds well too, isn't it?

No matter how small they appear to be.

Side Note:

(1) In contrast to this small issue concerning two titles from Animalize (1984) and Killers (1982), which we recently covered right here.

The links are both polished:

Last Chance (2012)

King of the Mountain (1985)

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Fire to Nowhere

It's always a tricky thing when you write, finish and even release a mediocre song and there's still one or two outstanding elements on it that you think are good enough to regret having wasted it on this average construct just to meet a stupid deadline for another boring compilation.

Paul must surely have had this or a quite similar thought process during the production of Animalize (1984), of course with regard to the previous Best Of Killers (1982) and its new exclusive studio tracks.

While I've found that there may be those who consider some of these new tracks to be the pinnacle of Kiss' songwriting, I for one find them to be more of a light version of Paul's '78 solo album, and that they kinda relate like rice crackers with chicken seasoning salt to a roast chicken and french fries. It may evoke flavorful associations, and you can chew on it too, but there's just usually a considerable lack of substance. Especially when you consider that the band had a huge wild boar roast (1) in the oven at the same time. Animalize, to return to the actual subject, still managed it to emulate cevapcici with a tinglingly spicy side dish of rice (I guess I must be getting hungry).

So let's also say goodbye to the world of culinary sensuality and better get back to Killers, and when I say Killers, I mean Nowhere to Run, and when I mean Nowhere to Run, I'm talking about this little guitar section that builds up into a kind of moral climax after the end of the great Bob Kulick's last solo effort. You can find an almost identical passage on I've Had Enough (Into the Fire), after the extra-cheesy, dramatic vocal middle section, but within this framework it sounds more like Paul seizing the Holy Grail and holding it up to God himself in a glistening, growing ray of light in almost unbearable ecstasy.

More or less, of course. Anyway, it is always beautiful to see when a little pearl is rescued from the dust, polished up, and allowed to shine in the glow of the sun.

Sometimes this can also backfire.

Side Note:

(1) By which I can mean nothing other than Creatures of the Night (1982).

Click on the highlighted links to get some of this glow:

Nowhere to Run (1982)

I've Had Enough (Into the Fire) (1984)

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Do You Wanna Touch Me Now

What can you call something like this? A review of a Kiss song that was not recorded to completion and never officially released? If you ask me Phantom Entry doesn't sound too bad, and also kind of Kiss-like.

So, who among us Kissians doesn't inevitably think of the often mentioned Do You Wanna Touch Me Now, the only leftover from the Revenge (1992) sessions, which Paul had written with this Skid Row guy, but ultimately didn't make it onto the album. For a long time, even a very long time if you want to do yourself the displeasure of measuring your life in time, this one was considered pretty much a Holy Grail among ever-searching fans.

Until it was leaked on a mainstream platform, just like that. Out of the blue. After 30 years. (0) So, it's precisely this tiny blip that makes our little head trip here possible in the first place, so shhh, all this is top secret, of course. Let us therefore try to be gratefully and humbly accept what this may offer us.

Firstly, we have the long-range main riff that also opens the song, which can best be described as massive and anything but bad. If Take Me's (1976) chorus riff comes to mind, that would be pretty close. If you were to dance a few steps further and stop at the end with spread legs in a self-assured pose, then we would even have a bull's eye. On top of that, you get a Mr. Speed-style lick as a sort of calling card (1). This works in much the same way as the Roadrunner in the cartoons likes to stick out his tongue before he meeps and blasts off at the speed of light.

Anyway, to my ears it seems as if, in the overall context of the song's structure, it harbors a certain short-sighted, extroverted attitude that is unwilling to take the final step and whose own unrequited expectations unfortunately become its undoing. In simple terms, it promises more than it means to deliver (2).

Kind of like a long-armed boxer with a handful of excellent swinging hooks in his repetoire, with which he is able to send his opponent to the mat very safely and quickly, only to make the fatal mistake of letting go of his opponent too early and using his additional light-footed skills just to put on a little extra show for the audience (and himself), which unfortunately has little to do with the fight. And with that, I've basically already given away the verses and the bridges.

And these sound like a continuously alternating vivid, but still somewhat unsatisfying mixture of The Elder's (1981) The Oath (3), Mr. Blackwell (4), and now dear people fasten your seatbelts, Welcome to the Jungle (1987) respectively its main riff. Which should come as no surprise once you consider that in 1991 Guns N' Roses were probably the biggest rock band on this planet alongside Metallica (5).

And so it goes back and forth until you eventually reach the mid-part section, which is not much more than a big brake pad, led by Detroit Rock City's (1976) cinematic widescreen riffs, those that follow its super iconic pulsating intro, and to which you literally have no choice but to imagine Paul leisurely and majestically swinging his arm out wide. Still, you're not supposed to enjoy it to the full, because after just one run-through, the fun is over again and it moves like a souped-up tractor at adle in the direction of Black Sabbath and Iron Butterfly. This is noticeable in a passage that sounds as if somewhere the beginning of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968) was stuck in a loop. On steroids, of course.

And somewhere in between a guitar solo must have been envisioned, although unfortunately it never materialized. Which is regrettable, but not necessarily essential for the sake of this cause.

But hey, since when can beggars be choosers?

Side Note:

(0) Hardcore Insiders not included, which in turn should include myself.

(1) And from the first refrain even a riff appendage in the guise of Plaster Caster's (1977) bridge melody, as well as another old buddy, this time from the future, who can be found on Sonic Boom from 2009 and beyond (which we can talk about another time).

(2) So much for the gratitude.

(3) I (1981) would also fit the bill, but The Oath even more so. Just think of its characteristic opening.

(4) That AC/DC Back in Black thing we already talked about here.

(5) On the other hand, I wouldn't necessarily accuse them of intent.

And no, Do Yo Wanna Touch Me Now is not a link, just a photo. All other links are real, by the way, and highlighted:

Do You Wanna Touch Me Now (1991/92)

Take Me (1976)

Mr. Blackwell (1981)

The Oath (1981)

Welcome to the Jungle (1987)

Plaster Caster (1977)

Detroit Rock City (1976)

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)

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Somewhere Between Only and You

Please be aware that the intersection of our two candidates today can easily slip through your fingers if you let your guard down for a moment. I therefore promise to make an appropriate effort to sift out said common ground in order to nail this vision down as well as possible.

Introductory drama aside, it's actually no big deal, because this is only about a chorus and a verse that share somewhat more than just a similar flow and structure, and somehow seem almost kindred at one point. At least it does for me.

And it's this very simile that has actually slipped out of my hands and literally jumped around my ears several times, so that to this day I have successfully avoided having to write anything more profound than the mere observation of it. But fortunately, all shirking must come to an end at some point, and my fingers consequently also finally finding their way to the keyboard.

So, after all the rant who should be surprised that, of all things, I have chosen two songs from Music from The Elder (1981) and Hot in the Shade (1989), as the central subject of the day, which should also be a first if I'm not very much mistaken (1). Therefore let's take a quick and painless look at the pleasantly varying vocal verse of Only You and compare it with the vocal refrain of Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell (2).

And hope that something will come of it. Fingers crossed!

Side Note:

(1) Holy, that would come pretty close to the level of a Hotter Than Hell (1974) and Crazy Nights (1987) pairing, which you can check out right here, and here, by the way.

(2) And yes, we already had played almost the same game a while ago with Only You and Always Near You/Nowhere to Hide (1978), only with a slightly different approach than today.

Only You (1981)

Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell (1989)

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Sam Cash

Well, what can I say? Once again, I'm talking about this particular bridge, which fascinates me a little more since today since it has given me another insight into its origins from a, not completely unexpected, but different angle.

So what else would I want to chat about today but nothing other than… Samurai Son? Oh, my!

It wasn't too long ago when I felt obliged to point out Samurai Son's (2015) parallels to Spit from Kiss' exceptional studio album Revenge (1992), and today I'm standing here, determined to plunge headlong into a splits towards Led Zeppelin's Kashmir (1975).

Whereby I would like to point out explicitly that my focus here is on the Unledded Version from 1994. There you will find this wonderful rocking passage near the end, a kind of overlong live appendage that doesn't exist on the studio version (1), in which Robert Plant and Jimmy Page equally walk the tightrope between noble and wild, and graceful and exuberant, with pleasant ease (2).

All you have to do now is make the effort to compare Gene's rousing old man style bawling and Momoiro Clover Z's hyper-produced cybervocals, which for one memorable moment stretches across the digital bridges like an electric rainbow, with Plant And Page's congenially dignified outburst of rage.

A tiny squeaky voice inside me, it goes by the name of Little Paul, says that this won't be the last time I get to hear about Samurai Son.

Yes, with pleasure.

Side Note:

(1) If this is a snippet from another Led Zep song that I'm not aware of, please bear with me as I'm still polishing up my somewhat dusty Led Zeppelin socialization, but at least I can pretty much say that this appendage was not part of any other live presentation of this song even back in Led Zep's heyday, hey hey hey!

(2) Of course, I could just as boldly point out that this exact momentum can be found on Queen's Khashoggi's Ship from their 1989 album The Miracle, giving this song an orgiastic rocking finale.

Please click on the links personally highlighted by authentic samurai's to also hear what I am writing about:

Kashmir (1994)

Samurai Son (2015)

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Losing My Dangerousness

First of all, let's take a very factual approach to today's issue.

Gary Moore's Corridor's of Power was recorded in the spring of '82 and released in September of the same year. Kiss' Creatures of the Night was recorded with feverish deadline urgency in July-September '82 and was actually on store shelves the following October. These two albums, of course, include our songs of the day, Don't Take Me For a Loser and Danger, whose vocal bridges bear an almost outrageous resemblance to each other.

Nevertheless, in order to ensure that the lack of objectivity also has its fair place in the natural order of things, one could pose the fair question of whether this circumstance is due to chance to a greater or lesser extent.

The short time window between the release of these two albums would favour the former, but only at first glance, I think, because maybe Paul was just a big Gary Moore fan back then and bought his record on the day of release, internalized it super fast, and incorporated a part he particularly liked into the existing concept of Danger at the very last minute. This rendering would make Paul some kind of a superfan, plausible, kind of endearing, but rather unlikely because Kiss have been up to their ears in work on Creatures.

Or, perhaps Gary Moore and Paul both simply used the same template as a point of motivation, which would also be the least exciting version of my speculations. I simply can't tell, because I'm nowhere near as well versed in rock and blues music as many, many others, and a supposed source of inspiration could basically be anything.

Or, it could also have been quite possible that Paul was putting his newly acquired ability to receive music telepathically from a distance and directly during its creation process to the test and wanted to show off a little in order to puzzle mankind. Who knows, my mind surely is open.

Or, maybe maybe, Paul was just hanging out with a few chummy sound engineers during his breaks again, as was also the case when a certain track from Hotter Than Hell (1974) was being written (1), and thus secured a few certain and very exclusive insights into the actual recording process of other artists, befor the official release of their music. Who rings a bell when I casually mention that Jeff Glixman produced Corridors of Power? (2)

Or, Paul and Gary were simply buddies and shared their music anyway. But to let it go for today, I give up, and whatever the case may be, today everyone can choose the version they like best.

I only ask: What does Adam Mitchell actually say to all this?

Side Note:

(1) I'm definitely talking about Got to Choose, which I'll tell you more about in future, of course.

(2) Speaking of connections, isn't that the dude who (co-)produced Paul's 1978 solo album?

Don't Take Me For a Loser (1982)

Danger (1982)

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100,000 Man

No, this isn't some far-fetched sequel to Ace's Rolling Stones cover 2000 Man (1979) (1) , but rather something a little more far-reaching, by which for today's concern, I mean the debut album from 1974.

And to dwell a little longer in vast dimensions, what could possibly seem longer than 100,000 Years (1974)? At a certain point, I guess, you couldn't care less whether you spend 100,000 or 100,000,000 years in a presumably indeterminate state, could you? But well, who can speak from experience?

To trim the whole situation down to our kind of cultural framework, 50 years should seem quite appropriate, as it would be laughable to even consider to mention those two negligible extra years that have to be added on top to get to Budgie's Rocking Man (1972). And because we are in the middle of this universal event and cannot change it, or even want to try, we just go with the flow.

Once you've swum along, Rocking Man's self-contained little rhythm section with the soloing can only allow one conclusion as to where Kiss have derived their own extended head trip for 100,000 Years. Let the Budgie Link run for a while before comparing it with the Kiss one but not for too long, otherwise it might reveal what other Kiss songs from the early days are still hidden in it.

And for the love of God, I'd like to save those for other occasions.

Side Note:

(1) Just be patient, there are only 4-5 entries left until Kover It Up will indulge in this felicitous song.

Rocking Man (1972)

100,000 Years (1974)

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Simplisma

It seems that the floodgates to the subject of Wicked Lester have definitely been opened and not properly closed again. And you know how it goes with toothpaste, once it's out you can never get it back in the tube.

So why not continue with it right away and see what else comes out of it. It won't be too much new though, as the one with Paul's '78 solo album might have been an exception. But hey, you can't always hit the bull's eye. So let's make do today with Charisma from Dynasty (1979) and its somewhat simpler predecessor Simple Type (1972). Whose riff is of course 1:1 the one from Charisma, until it just won't budge after the first run through, and a little bit later mutates into something completely different.

If I'm not mistaken, Gene had even used this riff for another song before the Wicked Lester days, I mean, who can remember all that stuff, but obviously for years it just didn't seem significant enough for him to find a use for Kiss between 1974-77, or even his '78 solo album. And in those days neither he nor Paul were stingy with their recycling practices.

And here you can see how little Gene must have had up his sleeve in '79, taking the idea for the lyrics from his manager buddy and spinning them on, and taking the riff from a pre-pre-Kiss predecessor demo that had been omitted until then. But, at least he picked the most interesting, albeit catchiest part for Charisma.

Luckily for me, because I really love this song.

Charisma (1979)

Simple Type (1972)

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All For the N's and &'s

When I listen to All For the Love of Rock & Roll (2012), I honestly ask myself why Kiss, in the course of their prowl through music history didn't also write a song called We're Gonna Rock You. Or even better: We'll Rock You (1).

I'm willing to bet that the verse sequence of an almost identically titled song by a certain British rock band must have been virtually waiting in yearning anticipation for decades just to get into the eager hands of Gene or Paul and be processed by them one day. And if that had already happened, that would not surprise me at all.

As I recall a follow-up album for Monster (2012) was announced around 2015/16, which unfortunately never went into deeper studio production, but I guess at least some demos must have been made for it. If I were to ask a statistical physicist or a medium to calculate or predict the probability of a song called "We'll Rock You" appearing on one of Gene's demos, I for one would know exactly what I'd be betting my money on.

I can literally read the credits in my mind's eye: Written by Gene Simmons (2).

Side Note:

(1) In some interview in a magazine in the 90s Gene said that the main difference between Kiss and Queen was the point of view, and if Kiss had written a song like We Will Rock You (1977) they would have called it I Will Rock You. What this could have to do with I Love it Loud (1982) is, of course, a story for another time. But I guess you understand what I was getting at above anyway.

(2) I'm kind of sorry that the name Eric Singer hasn't been mentioned once, although this is one of the rare opportunities for him to sing an album track. Next time, and there will most definitively be a next time .

I decided to use the Ram Jam version for this one. The links are both highlighted at their similar verses. Jesus, they even start at exactly the same second:

All For the Love of Rock & Roll (2012)

All For the Love of Rock N' Roll (1977)

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You Shook Me All Crazy, Crazy Night Long

I could tell you several stories about Crazy Nights (1987), and I'm sure all of them would undoubtedly start with my initial dislike of the album, for which I still hold the title track Crazy, Crazy Nights largely responsible.

But since time does indeed tell, and as an inveterate Kiss fan I have of course discovered ways to appreciate this Paul song, and every now and then I even warble it to myself while doing the dishes or whatever other domestic duty, depending on when I last heard it.

And sometimes even the craziest things come to mind, in order to stay true to the adjective of its title. I therefor ask you to please put yourselves in my position and imagine yourselves standing in the kitchen in front of your dishes with your sleeves rolled up and giving Crazy, Crazy Nights' verses your best shot with a big heart.

And while its mood continues to swell and the chorus is in the air and close enough to touch and, literally just waiting to burst out of its enthusiastic bridges, well then, just imagine Brian Johnson singing the chorus of AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long (1980) instead.

In Paul's Crazy Nights-era 80's aerobics gear (1). You know what I mean?

Side Note:

(1) Personally, I think that a pink leather suit would have suited Paul and the album much better back then, but that is of course purely a matter of opinion.

By the way, the choruses are highlighted. If you insist you can click on the links all night long:

Crazy, Crazy Nights (1987)

You Shook Me All Night Long (1980)

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Working For Me Seems Too Easy

Today we come to a song that must have given a few old fans from the very beginning a digestive problem or two. And that's no wonder, because it's a track from Unmasked (1980), and as we all know, this album only contains light fare. Which means less meat and potatoes, and more sausage rolls and lamingtons, if you know what I mean.

Whether you like it or not, Paul makes every effort and shows the love of a mother bird to gently feed the predigested, filling porridge into willing beaks. But not everyone would want that, and hey, honestly, who can blame those, especially when, of all things, the R&B influence seeps through.

And where does that come from? The attentive reader of kissographies or other Kiss secondary literature will of course already have guessed that I'm gently alluding to The Spinners with their hit grenade Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me Girl from 1979/80, which itself is more or less a slightly modified cover version of Working My Way Back to You (1966) by the Four Seasons.

Paul had actually only revealed in general terms that he had been inspired a little by The Spinners, but that he must have had exactly this song in mind should be unmistakable if you take the trouble to look up which Spinners track Youtube spits out first and briefly compare the corresponding result with Easy As It Seems.

And of course both choruses catch the eye, or rather, the ear, because apart from the fact that both tracks pretty much start with their choruses and Easy As It Seems verses virtually merge with its bridges and the chorus and can hardly be kept apart from each other, it is precisely these elements of both songs that bear a clear similarity to each other, both in melody, flow and in pointed emphasis. The result is a not really demanding, but rather groovy little song that may not necessarily shake the Rock world to its core, but one must not forget that it doesn't want to hurt anyone either.

Yes, life can be pretty hard and unfair, especially when you're a fan of a rock band that not only produced music that's easy to understand, but also dared to make it so varied.

Somehow I now have an insane desire to bake a cake.

Easy As It Seems (1980)

Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me Girl (1979)

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Murder Sex

*Twilight Zone theme plays in the background.

I think I've finally arrived in the parallel universe or even the multiverse department (1) as of today at the latest, namely in the one in which Ian Dury was inspired by Aerosmith's Get the Lead Out (1976) instead of Gene (2) to create a nice flippant riff for a lovely supple song. And all those who didn't miss my last entry on Murder in High Heels should now know exactly what I'm talking about.

I recommend everyone else to click on every link you can find... or to simply scroll down.

Side Note:

(1) If you enjoy this kind of concept, you might not be in the wrong place with this link, because it contains a wild speculation about Tommy's When Lightning Strikes (2009) and Ace's Trouble Walkin' (1989).

(2) Or Mitch Weissman.

Murder in High Heels (1984)

Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll (1977)

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Get Out the High Emotions

Whether Gene wore high heels while writing Murder in High Heels I can't say, but it's no secret that he was rather busy with other things, like preparing for film roles for example, while more or less writing songs for Animalize (1984). Who knows, maybe he was already practicing some method acting in advance for Never Too Young Too Die (1986) in parallel to Runaway (1984).

Well, and what is there to say about the music, except that we already know the title of the song we are talking about today?

For example, that this track makes little secret of its two 70's Aerosmith references. One more obvious than the other, and of course, this doesn't really make me doubt the probability of my speculation either. But since speculation is speculation, let's take a quick look at the similarities as I perceive them.

Firstly, there's the intro and verse riff of Aerosmith's Get the Lead Out (1976), from which I think it's safe to assume that the slightly varied and somewhat catchier intro and verse riff of Murder in High Heels was inspired. I mean, who can say for sure, but after all, what do I have a second Aerosmith reference in my luggage for?

Which brings me happily to Sweet Emotion (1975) and its middle section in the middle of its verses. If you listen to the chorus riff and outro of Murder in High Heels, apart from a slight rhythmic variation, you can recognize an even greater similarity than was already the case with Get the Lead Out.

All you have to do now is play a game of Eeny, meeny, miny, moe to decide whether to pin the whole thing on Gene or Mitch Weissman.

It's never too late to click on the sweet links, or just get out and run away for my sake. Be that as it may, the last two of the four links are highlighted:

Murder in High Heels (1984) (1)

Get the Lead Out (1976)

Murder in High Heels (1984) (2)

Sweet Emotion (1975)

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To Tear Uptight

Some, ahem, might hear a discontinued version of Kiss' own God of Thunder (1976) in the opening and main riff of Tears are Falling (1985), and others, well, the bass line from Stevie Wonder's Uptight (Everything's Alright) (1965).

Paul Stanley claims to have heard and recognized the latter from a Eurythmics song in the mid-80s, which is how he got the idea for Tears are Falling's main riff in the first place (1). But to follow the current he has set, one would not want to doubt this at all, because the Eurythmics have in all probability used Uptight's little motif just as surely as they have appropriated and further developed Lipps Inc.'s Funky Town (1979).

By the way, the Eurythmics song that Paul cites with a pure heart is Would I Lie to You (1985). The factor that good old Paul doesn't come out with, of course, is that the layered harmonies of the vocal arrangements of Would I Lie to You must obviously have been a key source of inspiration for the chorus of Tears are Falling. And nothing else but exactly that, and, of course, only the Stevie Wonder element in it appealed to him.

I wish Soul Station Paul and the above-mentioned Statement Paul would one day cross paths through some cosmic coincidence and be forced to discuss this matter calmly with each other in public, under the observation of all their fans.

I mean, you could almost assume he wanted to get caught. Like in a not quite 100% psychological sophisticated crime thriller with a cat and mouse game between perpetrator and investigator. Except that the investigator would be an old and worn-out, unshaven, 3rd class investigator smelling of booze and would kinda catch him with ease.

And that should not necessarily be a compliment to my values.

Side Note:

(1) Which doesn't rule out the possibility that Stevie Wonder might have had a small but not insignificant influence on God of Thunder (1976) nine years earlier. I'll save what else The Beatles might have to do with it for another entry. Or maybe even two.

Tears Are Falling (1985)

Would I Lie to You (1985)

Uptight (1965)

[rolandrockover]

Take That?

Let's just have a relaxing day today and enjoy it a little, make ourselves comfortable on a deck chair in a warm, cozy spot in the sun, perhaps, and while we're doing that, why don't we just listen to the break from Is That You? (1980) that I often talk about, and let things slide a little?

If Gene has made the effort of recycling this break not just once, on Asylum (1985), but also a second time, on Sonic Boom (2009), then it shouldn't be quite as insignificant as you might think, and that alone should be incentive enough to do him the favor of taking a closer look at it. But of course in a completely relaxed manner, because after all we don't want to put anyone, not least me, out of their well-earned rest.

*stretches out

So if you listen to Gerard McMahon's original demo version of Is That You? from 1979 for a direct comparison, you'll immediately notice that this break doesn't appear in it at all.

And if you ask yourself in addition where this little bugger actually comes from and what is so special about it that it is considered memorable and character-building enough within the band to have established itself for years and even decades?

So for me it would be as sure as chickens like to cluck that only the riff from Rock and Roll Over's (1976) Take Me (1) would come into question for its origin. And I don't even mean the main riff, but the one that also functions as a break in the middle of its verses and is underlaid with those Ah-Ah! Ah-Ah-Ahh-Yeah!'s.

And since Is That You? was presumably under Paul's direct responsibility during the recording of Unmasked (1980), this would hardly be surprising, and thus the mystery surrounding the legendary breaks of Is That You? finally solved. What a klassik!

*waves his index finger pompously in the air

Waiter, please bring me another slice of the delicious honeydew melon!

Side Note:

(1) If anyone is wondering where the Take Me riff might have come from, this link will give you the answer.

Well, the links appear to have highlighted themselves all by themselves. How convenient:

Is That You? (1980)

Take Me (1976)

Is That You? (Demo, 1979)

[rolandrockover]

Klassik Vs. Vol. 1 - Young and Wasted

Album Version '83 vs. Animalize Live Uncensored '84

Originally, I really wanted to title this one Woung and Yasted, but since it fits much better conceptually in my brand new rubric, let's just leave it at an honorable mention, which I simply can't resist.

Anyway, in order to live out a little impulse of unreasonableness, but hopefully not to become irrational in the process, let me say a few words about Eric Carr and Gene Simmons in light of this new kind of Kiss song (1).

I mean, sure, I know it was written by Gene and Vinnie Vincent, and that Gene sings it on the studio version of Lick It Up (1983). And of course I am fully aware that it sounds pretty fantastic on the album, and that Gene's insane continuous scream over the top performance on it has to be considered nothing short of phenomenal.

But as it happens I heard Lick It Up in its entirety for the first time after watching Animalize Live Uncensored (1985), so I'm pretty much influenced by Eric Carr's vocals when it comes to this song. And it's not just my mind that remains pretty stubborn, but also my emotional intelligence, because I actually don't think the live version of Young and Wasted is as good as you might think. I mean Eric sings it pretty well, plays uptempo drums at the same time, and I love his voice, but it just doesn't come close to Gene's interpretation.

To delve a little deeper into the intricate background to this situation. After my re-entry as a fan in (pre-internet) 1992, the only 80s Kiss music I'd come across that I hadn't explored before was Hot in the Shade (1989) and Smashes, Thrashes & Hits (1988) (2). Both albums on which Eric Carr sings studio tracks.

But when I held my Lick It Up CD in my hands for the first time, I simply assumed that Eric would also sing Young and Wasted on the album version, regardless of what was obviously noted in the credits. After all, Peter Criss had also regularly sung on songs like Hard Luck Woman, Mainline or Getaway, none of which he had written himself (2).

Up to this point, I was still trying to paint an unfinished picture, simply and always assuming that Eric would sing at least one song on every studio album after Music from The Elder (1981). In fact, according to Kiss tradition, he absolutely and irrevocably had to. I mean, who in blazes would ever assume otherwise, because the drummer in Kiss had always sung at least one song on pretty much all the klassik 70's Make Up albums!

How should I put it? Is it all just misfortunate kissocialization, or is there a tiny bit of justified criticism of Paul and Gene shining through here? But be that as it may, I hereby and for once and for all time officially declare Young and Wasted to be an Eric Carr song.

And that's that!

Side Note:

(1) Young and Wasted, from '83-'86, by the way, an Eric Carr vocal live standard with a focus between '84 and '85 on the Animalize tour.

(2) Eric had also (co-)written two tracks on Music from The Elder without singing either of them himself. Gene sings Paul's God of Thunder on Destroyer (1976) and Peter sang some of Ace's Paul's songs, Eric Singer singing Paul's etc, after all, that's how it goes with Kiss from time to time.

Young and Wasted (Live, 1984)

Young and Wasted (1983)