CHAPTER 39 - Hot In
The Shade (1989)
“Hot In The Shade” Album Notes:
Produced by Gene Simmons
and Paul Stanley. Recorded at The Fortress,
39.01. Rise To It
Written by Paul Stanley and
Bob Halligan, Jr. Bob’s writing/co-writing credits stretched back to his song
“(Take These) Chains” being recorded by Judas Priest on their landmark
“Screaming For Vengeance” album, but by the late-1980s he was writing with the
likes of Michael Bolton. Like Ken Tamplin, with whom KISS would later write,
Bob’s personal religious side might seem at odds with some of his co-writing
partners: “There was certainly some stuff with questionable social merit. But
people didn’t really listen to the lyrics. They heard ‘Some Heads Are Gonna
Roll’ and thought about violence. It was really a warning about future
holocausts. It was funny. I would do Christian gigs and we really had to soft
pedal around the Judas Priest mentions. I would get into some awkward circumstances.
People would tell me what a scumbag I was and stuff like that. But that’s all
over. I’m not someone who believes the intellect is something that should be
feared and avoided” (PressOfAtlanticCity).
This song would be the
final single issued in support of “Hot In The Shade,” as a remix called the
“Full Guitar Power Mix” backed with “Silver Spoon.” More important would be the
video shot for the single. The video saw Gene and Paul donning make-up for the
first time in nearly 8 years causing all sorts of reunion rumors. Even Ace felt
that Gene and Paul were “testing the water” (KISS Crazy #6). Initially planned
to be the album’s second single the video was filmed on November 21 and 22,
1989 at SIR Studios in
In late May 1990, the
single would finally be released, though it bombed during a short six-week run
on the charts where it only managed to reach #81. Paul Stanley plays the slide
guitar introduction to the song. This incongruous introduction is highly
reminiscent of Cinderella’s “Bad Seemstress Blues” intro to “Falling Apart At
The Seems” from their 1988 “Long Cold Winter” album.
39.02. Betrayed
Originally titled “Another
Betrayed” Gene would start this song with the chorus riff. As circulating demos
suggest, this song had a strong acoustic emphasis during its writing. According
to Gene, “Tommy Thayer helped on this one.... About a guy who thinks life has
betrayed him.... My point of view is: ‘Hey you ain’t crucified, so what’s so
bad’” (FKLL Liners). Eric’s drum style would be inspired by Metallica.
According to Eric, “I was thinking of something that Lars (Ulrich) might do”
(Dark Light, Spring ‘90).
39.03. Hide Your Heart
During the writing sessions
for the “Crazy Nights” album Paul worked with two female writers who were
having major successes on the airwaves. While only the collaboration with Diane
Warren (“Turn On The Night”) would be used on the album, “Hide Your Heart,”
co-written with Holly Knight and Desmond Child would be demoed and rejected by
the band at the time. Holly had been a member of the band Spider, with drummer
Anton Fig, who had been managed by Bill Aucoin. Her introduction to Paul, and
specifically KISS, came when Bill enlisted her keyboard services (and Anton on
drums for that matter) while KISS were recording “Unmasked” in 1980. With the
song rejected in 1987 Paul offered it out to other artists to record, and
numerous artists did pick up the song including Robin Beck, Molly Hatchet, and,
Bonnie Tyler, and Ace Frehley.
Paul would also perform the
song on his 1989 solo tour and get a good enough response to it to suggest that
the song would indeed be on the next KISS album. It is likely that an
over-saturation of the use of “Hide Your Heart” damaged the public reception to
the song. KISS single’s highest chart position was #59 in the
39.04. Prisoner Of Love
This song would undergo a
drastic change of style during its development. According to Bruce, “We
originally did a different version, like a more mid-tempo version and I really
loved the way that one was – we didn’t actually totally finish it. It was done
between my house and then we took it into the studio for a little bit and then
we just totally switched direction because Gene desperately wanted to make it a
shuffle.... You wouldn’t think it was the same song although it had the same
chorus” (KISS Crazy #8). According to Gene the lyrics were the most difficult
part of the song to come up with and required a couple of re-writes, “and at
one point the songs was called ‘Here Comes That Fellin’ Again’” (FKLL Liners).
Written by Gene Simmons and Bruce Kulick, this song would be one of the first
to feature Jesse Damon on backing vocals.
39.05. Read My Body
Written by Paul Stanley and
Bob Halligan, Jr., this song saw Paul delving into a rap-like vocal delivery.
Drums on the demo of this song were played by Eric Singer.
39.06. Love’s A Slap In The Face
Taking around a week to
write the song had had its genesis in Vini Poncia commenting to Gene that “love
was like a slap in the face.” According to Gene, “we kept coming back to the
lyric.... wanted to make it bitter sweet.... the good and the band.... and the
ugly” (FKLL Liners).
39.07. Forever
“Forever” was one of those
interesting collaborations for the power ballad which would be recorded for the
“Hot In The Shade” album. In an unlikely pairing Paul Stanley would write the
song with Michael Bolton, who had been a member of Bruce Kulick’s pre-KISS
band, Blackjack. Bruce had continued to do session work with Michael throughout
the 1980s, though the combination of Paul and Michael would be quite
accidental. The two would meet while Paul was living at the Sunset Marquis
Hotel, and they talked about writing a song together – so they went to Paul’s
room and did just that. Bruce recalled, “I introduced Michael to Paul. Of
course, Michael knew who Paul Stanley was but he had never met him. At the
time, Michael was just starting to break as a solo artist and as a songwriter
and Paul liked to experiment in writing with different people, so that’s how
that happened. They got together in
While the Stanley/Bolton
collaboration would create the music for the song Paul would finish it by
writing the lyrics. For the recording of the song Bruce would play bass.
According to Bruce, “Gene [Simmons] is a little heavy-handed and I cut the demo
with Paul, and the demo became the record, really” (Lotring, Roger w/ Bruce
Kulick, Starlog Official KISS Magazine #2, 1999). When the song was released as
a single from the album it would become KISS’ biggest charting single in the
39.08. Silver Spoon
Written by Paul Stanley and
Vini Poncia, “Silver Spoon” is one of Paul’s favorite tracks on the “Hot In The
Shade” album for much like Gene’s songs of “anything’s possible,” it embodies a
spirit of working hard for one’s gains. According to Paul, “I like what it
says. We should be proud of who we are, and not ever feel a need to apologize
for where we come from” (KISS Crazy #5). Backing vocalists on the recording
would include Charlotte Crossley, Valerie Pinkston, and Kim Edwards-Brown.
39.09. Cadillac Dreams
Written by Gene Simmons and
Vini Poncia. It would be easy to read much of Gene’s personal philosophy into a
song with lyrics like, “Give me money, money, more than I need, these Cadillac
dreams are waitin’ on me.”
39.10. King Of Hearts
Written by Paul Stanley and
Vini Poncia. Eric Singer played drums on the demo, though Kevin Valentine is
rumored to have played drums on this track.
39.11. The Street Giveth And The Street Taketh Away
One of the easier songs to
write for the album this song had started out with a Tommy Thayer verse lick.
Again, like “Betrayed,” there is a strong acoustic character in the demo of the
song. Gene would provide the bridge, chorus, riffs and lyrics. According to
Gene, “lyrics came later, and only after I had the title.... then the song
practically wrote itself” (FKLL Liners). This song would be a companion piece,
in terms of subject matter, to “I.” According to Gene, “It’s the usual stuff
about how to undress a girl with your eyes and other parts, repeatedly, and the
stuff I talked about in ‘I’ from our ‘(Music From) The Elder’ LP, such as in
‘The Street Giveth And The Street Taketh Away’ which infers what it’s all about
- believing in yourself” (Kerrang #251).
39.12. You Love Me To Hate You
Sadly, this song has always
suffered comparisons with Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself For Lovin’ You” which was
released around the same time. Desmond Child had co-written both songs. Kevin
Valentine has long been rumored to have played drums on this track.
39.13. Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell
Written by Gene Simmons and
Vini Poncia.
39.14. Little Caesar
After the previous year’s
re-recording of the vocal for “Beth,” Eric Carr finally got his long-awaited
opportunity to sing lead on a studio track. This would be the only song of three
Eric brought to the sessions to be released on the album. The song started out
as a piece of music written solely by Eric Carr which he had based around the
Marvin Gaye R&B recording “Ain’t That Peculiar.” When he and Bruce Kulick
originally demoed that song, they applied a metal interpretation to the piece.
As the song developed it
became “No One Messin’ With You” with a second batch of lyrics, though at least
changed from the original cover version. Lyrically, Eric would have the
assistance of Gene and Adam Mitchell to complete the transformation from cover
to demo to original song. According to Eric, “It’s basically about me because
I’m this little guy that fought his way, and doesn’t listen to anybody else,
and does what he wants to do. It’s basically saying that anybody can do that.
It was kind of a nick name I got from Gene” (Dark Light, Spring ‘90). It was
from there that the song got its final title and lyrics.
The recording of the piece
featured Eric on vocals, bass, and drums with Bruce playing all of the guitar
parts. Gene and Paul were also on the song according to Eric, “It’s me and Gene
through the whole song. Like in the chorus and stuff. In the middle where I do
the rap in there. And then it’s me and Paul at the very end” (KISS Neon Glow #1,
1992). Refer also to “Ain’t That Peculiar” in the “KISS Box Set” Section.
39.15. Boomerang
Originally written by Gene
Simmons and Bruce Kulick and demoed for the “Crazy Nights” album sessions in
1987 the song would not reach a stage ready for consideration on that album. As
a result it would be recycled and completed for inclusion on “Hot In The Shade”
in 1989 were it would essentially be recorded live in the studio. This song
would be one of Gene’s favorite songs on the album at the time, “not because I
think it’s the best song, but because it was the most fun to play.... It was
done live in the studio” (The KISS Asylum Fanzine ‘89).
39.16. Rise To It (Full Power Guitar Mix)
Being described as a “Full
Power Guitar Mix” is somewhat misleading since this version of the song is
barely different from the album version. Essentially, the fade out at the end
of the song is sharper than on the album version thus shortens the song by
nearly 10 seconds. Overall, the levels on the recording are boosted resulting
in the guitar, drums, bass, and vocals being crisper. This
39.17. Forever (Remix)
The remix of “Forever”
released as the single would not reduce the length of the song which remained
39.18. The Street Giveth And The Street Taketh Away (Remix)
Listed on the Australian and German “Forever”
7” single as a “remix” version of the recording, the differences are
negligible.
39.19. Somebody’s Waiting
This song was first brought
to KISS in a group of four demos by Eric Carr, and regardless of the song being
a monster ballad, it was rejected in favor of Paul’s “Forever” for inclusion on
the album. According to Eric, “it was a great ballad, Gene loved it right away,
and Paul really thought it was very very good. ‘Forever’ was such a killer ballad,
out of the two, that was obviously the better one” (Dark Light, Spring ‘90).
The song would finally be completed with some additions by Bruce Kulick for
inclusion on the “Rockology” album, though prior to falling ill Eric did
consider trying to work the song for the album which would become “Revenge.”
When asked about reworking the song Eric commented, “I’d like to, I’d like to
try it again.... And if not that one it will be something else ‘cause I’ve got
some other ones too” (Strike #23).
39.20. Looking Through The Eyes Of Love
Like “Somebody’s Waiting”
this track was brought by Eric Carr to the “Hot In The Shade” sessions.
However, it also ended up not being used. According to Eric, it “was like AC/DC
meets The Beatles. I had the title and the melodies and stuff, and Gene and I
worked on it for a while. We restructured the verse, and Adam Mitchell and I
worked on the lyrics. I came up with the majority of them, but there was just
something missing. We demoed it up, and had a whole thing done up on it, but it
just didn’t sound right. I still think it’s a great song, it just wasn’t right
for this album” (Dark Light, Spring ‘90). Also like 41.18, the song would be
revamped for inclusion on “Rockology.”
39.21. Run To Me
Apart from being a track
written for “Hot In The Shade,” but discarded, it is ironic that this song
shares the same title with a song which Neil Bogart had recorded in the early
1960s under his then recording name “Neil Scott.” However, there the
connections end, with this song being written by Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia, and
Bruce Kulick. According to Bruce the song was simply a throw-away track (eh,
like “Beth” was considered a throw-away in 1976) since it may have been written
too late for use on the album.
39.22. Rotten To The Core (Version #2)
In some ways the title of
“Rotten To The Core” is the song which refused to die. Gene Simmons certainly
liked it, and while the 1976 version he had recorded was never used he and
Bruce would attempt to make the song work again in 1989. Bruce felt that the
song “wouldn’t work unless it was a band that I don’t know maybe had that kind
of attitude, to use the title” (KISS Crazy #11). The song would be dropped from
consideration for the album some months before “Hot In The Shade” was released,
but was mentioned early on as a candidate for use on the album.
39.23. Nowhere To Run (Remix)
Both 39.23 & 39.24 were first released as B-sides
in 1989. These tracks were remixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero who
had also done “Forever.” Apart from boosting the recording levels, this version
is nearly the same as the 1982 song.
39.24. Partners In Crime (Remix)
Unlike the original version of the song, this 1989
“remix” lacks Paul’s shouted “alright!,” prior to the first verse. The levels
of all the instruments and vocals are boosted, to the point where one can hear
the finger-slides on the guitar strings. Additionally, the echo effects are
enhanced. While the song’s length remains about the same as the original
version, the remixing does change the character somewhat bringing the sonics
closer to the sound attained on the original release of “Creatures Of The
Night.” This version of the song would be used for the DCC Remasters in 1993.
39.25. Hold On
This title was a song written by Gene around the time
of “Hot In The Shade.” However it is not clear whether it was ever demoed.
Part’s of the lyrics of this song probably became “I Am Yours.”
39.26. Something Wicked This Way Comes
While Doro would record “Something Wicked This Way
Comes” for her Gene Simmons produced album, the song had originally been under
consideration for KISS’ use on the “Hot In The Shade” album the previous year.
It was later cut from the album, but was included in track-listings distributed
in PR material. The song was written solely by Gene. With Gene’s later writing,
both on “Carnival Of Souls” and the general theme of “Psycho Circus,” the song
shares a title with Ray Bradbury’s gothic novel which is about a diabolical
carnival, led by mysterious ringmaster Mr. Dark, that visits a small Illinois
town.
Gene’s dark and brooding demo of the song runs 5.44
and differs very little from the arrangement used by Doro on her released
version. However, some of the female perspective would be changed. In Gene’s
original: “She pulls the trigger, but I'm the bullet / Comin' out of the gun.”
39.27. Street Legal (Gene Simmons Demo)
It's not clear whether this song was ever considered
for "Hot In The Shade." It's probably more likely that this was one
of numerous Gene demos from the period that were simply ideas put on tape with
no clear purpose. The song shares similarities with "Christine
Sixteen," though the "I don't care how old you are... / You're old
enough for me" lyrics might have been too creepy being sung by a 40 year old
man...
39.28. No One Messin’ With You (Eric Carr Demo)
The second version of “Little Caesar” as the song was
transformed from “Ain’t That Peculiar” into the form it took on the album.
Discussed further in 39.14. & 51.30.