The Kiss "Songwriter List" 1974-1996

A couple bits of Kiss song trivia that popped into my mind.
Ace's name was originally listed first in the credits for Flaming Youth on the Destroyer LP. I remember this because that was my first Kiss album, and it was very important to me at age 9 to have at least one song by each member, so I was really happy to see Ace's name up front on the label for that track. Many years later, I noticed he was listed 3rd on the 1997 Destroyer remaster CD. Politics!
Also, Paul is erroneously credited as the writer in place of Gene on the song I Love It Loud on some versions of the Creatures of the Night album. I just noticed that about month ago, and thought it was another God of Thunder role reversal between Paul and Gene.

 

Thx for the cool threads for this great band!!! It's nice to see and appreciated.

 

If I Can Dream_23, what do you think of Then She Kissed Me?

Personally, I've never had a problem with it. I was listening to a KISSFaq podcast where they were talking about changes they'd make to KISS albums. Not surprisingly they all said 'get rid of Then She Kissed Me' from Love Gun.

I got to thinking, if it were me, I would put Then She Kissed Me at the end of side one, in the Tomorrow and Tonight slot and move Tomorrow and Tonight to the last song on the album. Understanding that I also really like Tomorrow and Tonight where a lot of KISS fans don't like it. I think if it ended Love Gun I'd really want to turn the album over and start up I Stole Your Love again right away.

 

Thank you very much.

 

That's an interesting switch. I never thought of that before but it might just work.

I'm definitely in the "I love Then She Kissed Me" camp. It's a great Kiss-style cover in my opinion. It serves as a ballad yet moments such as Paul's solo and the overall guitar presentation of the song makes it a beautiful fitting to the band's peak album.

I suspect that it was chosen as the ending track to continue the trend of putting "the ballad" at or near the end of the record (Beth next to last on Destroyer and Hard Luck Woman next to last on Rock And Roll Over). It that sense it works beautifully to my ears. It's hard for me to imagine the album working as effectively with a different running order, but I do think your switch is an interesting one.

 

Another Kiss compilation for the day (for the pure fun of it, as always)...

Kiss's Greatest "Love" Songs

SIDE ONE
I Stole Your Love 1977
Got Love For Sale 1977
Do You Love Me 1976
Love's A Deadly Weapon 1985
Makin Love 1976

SIDE TWO
I Love It Loud 1982
I Was Made For Lovin You 1979
Radar For Love 1985
Calling Dr Love 1976
Love Her All I Can 1975

As the Beatles once said, "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make".

Sequence and enjoy!

 

Great list. I really enjoyed it. I have always loved Paul Stanley as a singer/songwriter and front man. Highly underated and IMO the best front man of the "Hard Rock" bands. Gotta go with Jagger overall or even Daltery. Even though I prefer Plant and Bon Scott a tad more vocally than Paul, his showmanship gives him the edge for "Hard Rock" front men.

 

Well said, and thank you.

It's hard for me to not be overly-smitten with Paul because he's my favorite member of my favorite band but, like you, I feel he is the best frontman in the history of rock and roll (from an ideal or stereotypical sort of model). And as is true with Kiss in general, many miss (or just don't acknowledge) his versatility in terms of writing, singing soft, singing spirited, playing rhythm, playing lead, his passion in terms of spear-heading Kiss's drive and general musical vision.

Definitely the likes of Jagger or Plant would have to be the all-time Kings, in terms of origin, influence and "legendary stature".

 

Get rid of Radar For Love and put on Tough Love- much better song IMHO!

 

Yeah, that would work as well. There's always enough "love" to go around. Especially when it comes to Kiss...

 

Oh, what the heck, why not do another one...

The "Kiss Anthems" Album

No band had as many memorable or as many signature ones. Most artists are lucky to write one that connects with their fan base. With Kiss, I count at least 10! Though some may differ on the use of my definition behind a few of these. Which is fine.

Many view "Rock And a Roll All Nite" as the band's first one, and while it was written as such and became the first to garner widespread success, I can think of two singles that preceded it which "I" would call Kiss anthems (pun unintended). One is a true Stanley / Simmons collaboration, a stage favorite, and well beloved. The other was a Neil Bogart "gimmick anthem" that the band didn't even want to record, yet it works very effectively.

Optimism oozes out of any Kiss album. It pours out of this one! Enjoy!

SIDE ONE
Kissin Time 1974
Let Me Go, Rock n Roll 1974
Rock And Roll All Nite 1975
Flaming Youth 1976
Shout It Out Loud 1976

SIDE TWO
Tomorrow And Tonight 1977
I 1981
I Love It Loud 1982
And On The 8th Day 1983
God Gave Rock n Roll To You II 1993 (Written by Russ Ballard)

 

Why did you stop there? Just curious.

 

Psycho Circus
Crazy Nights


There are some others but most are crap (Pledge of Allegiance, and the ones on the last 2 albums).

 

No particular reason really. I just have the most fondness for their material up through the Unplugged album and reunion. And, in my opinion, it kind of makes for a nice "full circle history" of the band if one uses the Unplugged album, and the temporary return of Ace and Peter, as a bookend of their "classic years" (1974-1996).

 

Yeah, "Crazy Nights" is an especially good one. I might have used that in place of "On The 8th Day" on my album, if I were making an alternate version. Maybe that will be the version that gets sold through a Best Buy exclusive...

 

Continuing with a few more "Custom Kiss Albums" sourced from the songwriting list I compiled...

Short Kisses
Here is an album I made featuring ten of my favorite Kiss songs with short titles:

SIDE ONE
Strutter (Stanley / Simmons) 8 letters
Shandi (Stanley / Poncia) 6 letters
Beth (Criss / Penridge / Ezrin) 4 letters
Take Me (Stanley / Delaney) 6 letters
I (Simmons / Ezrin) 1 letter

SIDE TWO
Exciter (Stanley / Vincent) 7 letters
Tomorrow (Stanley / Poncia) 8 letters
Forever (Stanley / Bolton) 7 letters
She (Simmons / Coronel) 3 letters
Goodbye (Stanley) 7 letters

 

Here's an eclectic little EP that features the four Kiss songs with alternate titles (songs with either a subtitle or an extended title)...

The Kiss "Subtitle EP"
1. I've Had Enough (Into The Fire) Stanley / Child
2. Hold Me, Touch Me (Think Of Me When We're Apart) Stanley
3. Always Near You / Nowhere To Hide (Simmons)
4. Take Me Away (Together As One) Stanley / Japp

Curiously, two of the four are from Paul's 1978 solo album.

 

Oh, and I nearly forgot...there are actually five subtitle songs...I forgot "(You Make Me) Rock Hard." The cynical might say I forgot about it for good reason...

 

And here is an album of personal favorites that feature "unique" or one-time writing collaborations within the 1973-1996
discography...

SIDE ONE
1. Living In Sin (Simmons / Delaney / Marks)
2. King Of The Nighttime World (Stanley / Fowley / Ezrin / Anthony)
3. You Matter To Me (Poncia / Vanstano)
4. Thrills In The Night (Stanley / Beauvoir)
5. A World Without Heroes (Stanley / Simmons / Ezrin / Reed) Unplugged Version

SIDE TWO
6. Love's A Deadly Weapon (Simmons / Stanley / Swenson / Beech)
7. Forever (Stanley / Bolton)
8. Speedin Back To My Baby (Ace Frehley / Jeanette Frehley)
9. Escape From The Island (Frehley / Carr / Ezrin)
10. I Was Made For Lovin You (Stanley / Poncia / Child)

It may also shock many to know that "Stanley/Simmons/Frehley/Criss" is actually a one-time collaboration! At least from their joining through the 1996 Unplugged reunion. The lone song that all four original members shared credit on???

Love Theme From Kiss

 

Here's an album of some unique or "signpost" songs within the Kiss catalogue...

SIDE ONE

1. Kissin Time
The first cover song officially released by the band (although they are loosely credited with re-arranging the song), and the band's first charting single.

2. Let Me Know
One of the earliest songs Paul Stanley wrote prior to Kiss, and the first song that he reportedly played for Gene when they met. Then called "Sunday Driver".

3. Love Theme From Kiss
The one song from Kiss" "first act" that bears writing credit of all four original members.

4. Let Me Go, Rock n Roll
The first true self-penned anthem by the band, an important early song in the Kiss repetoire, and the first anthem written by the band's two founders - Stanley and Simmons.

5. Comin Home
The first of only two Kiss songs written exclusively by the band's two guitarists - Stanley and Frehley.

SIDE TWO

6. Beth
The first major writing contribution by drummer Peter Criss, and Kiss' first widespread, top ten smash. It was really the song that propelled them from new success to long term "immortality".

7. Shock Me
Ace Frehley's debut lead vocal in Kiss.

8. I Was Made For Lovin You
A milestone track for the band. Although the band were on uncertain terms internally, this song became the band's next biggest smash next to "Beth", and was their first charting single to capitalize on the stylistic popularity of disco and dance that was dominant at the time.

9. I Love It Loud
A song that was a first of sorts in highlighting the band's two newer members (Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent) and a catchy anthem that brought a more direct, visual, and over the top style back to the Kiss forefront. Complete with a great and campy-macabre music video.

10. Forever
This poignant ballad was penned by Paul Stanley and Michael Bolton, no less, and was a very successful single. It became a Top 10 hit for Kiss and, retrospectively, sort of served as a fitting nightcap statement to their "golden period".

 

Fun thread ... thanks!

 

Thanks for reading through it! It was fun putting it together.

 

Here is an album I made highlighting the versatility of Paul. These ten songs not only feature him as a writer (in all but two), or rhythm guitarist, or vocalist, but also feature him either playing lead guitar or all guitars. Or even bass!

SIDE ONE
1. I Stole Your Love
2. Shandi
3. Sure Know Something
4. A World Without Heroes (Unplugged)
5. Then She Kissed Me

SIDE TWO
6. Is That You?
7. Hold Me, Touch Me (Think Of Me When We're Apart)
8. I Want You
9. Hard Luck Woman
10. Magic Touch

 

And an album with my favorite Ace solos. Sequenced from "favorite to top favorite"...

SIDE ONE
1. Kissin Time
2. Let Me Know
3. I Was Made For Lovin You (Short but fits like a glove)
4. I Want You (Shared with Paul)
5. Got Love For Sale

SIDE TWO
6. Snow Blind
7. Shock Me
8. Rocket Ride
9. Strange Ways
10. 100,000 Years

This is the kind of thing that really requires a triple album. At a minimum...

 

Here's an album of my all-time favorite Kiss "Album Openers", sequenced from favorite to top favorite. Although this stuff is like trying to rank the best pieces from a favorite pan of pizza.

SIDE ONE
1. Is That You?
2. Strutter
3. Tonight You Belong To Me
4. Radioactive
5. The Oath (Original Sequence)

SIDE TWO
6. I Was Made For Lovin You
7. Got To Choose
8. I Want You
9. I Stole Your Love
10. Room Service